York schoolgirl wins NHS logo design competition (From York Press)

York schoolgirl wins NHS logo design competition

8:13am Friday 1st February 2013 in News By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

A HAPPY heart designed by a ten-year-old schoolgirl has been chosen as a logo for the new NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The picture by Alyssa Hood, from Wigginton, was picked from more than 300 entries in a competition run by the region’s health authority. Her design will now feature on posters, stationery and the website of Vale of York CCG, which comes into existence in April.

Dr Cath Snape, a York GP and member of the CCG’s shadow governing body, revealed the chosen design to an audience of nine to 11-year-olds at Wigginton Primary School, where Alyssa is a pupil.

She said: “The logo competition has been a great way to get children thinking about what health actually means, and the kinds of things they need to do to stay healthy and happy.

“We were overwhelmed by the response and received some brilliant entries which the children had really put a lot of thought into.

“Now that we have a winning logo, we’ll be taking this and using it across a range of our printed materials including leaflets and posters, and on our website. Alyssa has done a great job and we really love her design.”

The competition was launched late last year, with Year Five and Six pupils from schools across the area invited to take part by creating an image which depicted what ‘health and happiness’ meant to them.

Alyssa said: “I was thinking about a healthy heart and then something which made me happy so I did a rainbow and mixed them together.

“I wasn’t expecting to win at all – I was very surprised to find out.”

As well as having the pleasure of seeing her logo form part of the CCG’s forthcoming corporate design style, Alyssa also won herself a £50 sports voucher and £500 in equipment vouchers for her school.