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LOCAL CHILDREN are spreading Christmas joy throughout Wellington Square as their winning decorations light us up!

From dazzling dinosaurs to sparkly Santas, the lights are illuminating the mall and bringing smiles to customers faces.

The community project saw us ask children to design their Christmas lights earlier in the year. With over 1000 entries from schools and community groups across the Stockton borough, we had difficulty picking a top ten.

Chantal Taylor, Marketing Manager at Wellington Square, said: “It was very hard to pick only ten winners from the 1046 entries we received, the talent of the children throughout Stockton is undeniable and I loved going through them all.

“In the end we went with a mixture of traditional decorations and ones which are a bit quirky! The lights are truly spectacular and its lovely to see all the smiling faces from our customers when they look up and see the lights” added Chantal.

One of the winning schools was Tilery Primary where three pupils were chosen as winners. Catherine Cook, Reception Teaching Assistant, helped lead the competition in school.

She said: “This was an excellent opportunity for the children at Tilery Primary to get creative. The kids loved designing the entries and when I told the winners that they would soon see their entries up in lights, they couldn’t believe it!”

Harrison Lumb was one of the winners from Tilery Primary, whose candy cane is now proudly shining above Superdrug, said: “I’m very proud of myself for winning the competition and my light makes me very happy. I have been to see it with my family, and they love it!”

The full list of winners were: Sophia James, Harrison Lumb and Scarlett Thomas from Tilery Primary, Amalia Hutchcraft and Georgia Nealon from Kirklevington Primary, Lucy Watson from Junction Farm Primary, Harper Chambers from Layfield Primary, Keeley Jones from St Francis of Assisi C of E Primary School, Logan Ibbotson from Bewley Primary School and Charlie Wilkinson from Butterwick Hopsice Children’s Unit.