The last few months have been hard for everyone, both physically and mentally. However, looking at my personal experiences and those of the people around me, the most obvious struggle has been dealing with social limitations. Not being able to leave the house and see friends or colleagues takes a toll on mental health, especially impacting loneliness (for more information, take a look at the COVID and Loneliness page).

This realization -- that lots of people are struggling with loneliness and could use an outlet for self-expression while helping others in a similar situation -- is the foundation of the competition.

1. To submit, email your piece to competitionwritebright@gmail.com

2. There is no minimum word count but submissions should be no more than 2,000 words long

3. Entries can take any form you like (e.g. essay or poem), as long as it's about loneliness during COVID and how it's been managed

4. Only 1 submission is allowed per person

5. All submissions must be in by the 28th of February

6. You must be aged 13-18 to take part

Because of the health focus of the competition, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Applicants should be aware that any concerning pieces will be looked over by a safeguarding member.

20 entries will be selected for the shortlist at the end of the competition, all of which will be published online so that people can see what they have to say.

1st place: 1 hour one-on-one with Latymer alumn Dan Jude for writing help. Dan Jude started his career as a consumer journalist, writing for titles like Bauer and Conde Nast. He now runs advertising, content and creative for Google and YouTube across the US and UK.

2nd place: £25 book voucher (kindly donated by the London Review Bookshop)

3rd place: £20 book voucher (kindly donated by the Latymer Upper library)

28th February 2022: the competition closes (no more submissions accepted after this point)

March 2022: winners are announced

If you have any questions about the competition, you can reach us at competitionwritebright@gmail.com or go to our instagram page @writebrightcompetition

To submit, email your piece to competitionwritebright@gmail.com