Southern Railway is calling on children aged between 5 and 13 to enter a poem into a free children’s poetry competition for a chance to have it displayed on trains and at stations.

This spring, to encourage kids to step away from screens and challenge their creativity, the train operator has teamed up with children’s poet and author Joseph Coelho to launch a poetry competition.

It is asking people aged between 5 and 13 years old to write a poem that is between 50 and 150 words long.

It needs to be about a place they enjoy visiting on the train with Southern, Thameslink or Great Northern, and it can also be about the place they live and want others to come and visit by train.

Southern says: “By entering into a national draw, 10 lucky winners will have the opportunity to have their poems displayed at stations and on trains across our network over the summer. Additionally, winners will also receive complimentary return rail travel for themselves and four family members, perfect for a summer’s day out!”

Submissions are open from 25 March 2024 and close at 23:59 on 10 May 2024.

To kickstart the Poetry in Motion competition, Joseph Coelho has written his own piece called ‘To Hastings We Go!’ inspired by an exciting trip to Hastings via train.