Elected Mayor Oliver Coppard has announced the winner of his 2023 Christmas card competition.
The winning design was created by Emily Smith, a 15-year-old student at Doncaster Deaf Trust.
Her design uses decorations representing the sign language for ‘I love you’.
In a post on the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Oliver Coppard said: “I’m delighted by the response to the competition this year, It was difficult to choose a winner, but Emily’s was the one that stood out for me.
“Christmas is a special time to spend with family, friends and loved ones, and I think that Emily’s winning entry captures that perfectly, using decorations to represent and display love; particularly the love that deaf families share with each other at Christmas.”
Emily Smith said: “I’m happy to see my design chosen this year. The sign on the decorations is linked to love and the family sharing love with each other. It was something different and I wanted to spread this sign so hearing people could understand what it means!
“I love Christmas – we have lots of presents! I have a traditional Turkey Christmas dinner with my family and I love the stuffing balls! I am excited to see people happy, and I hope they will be happy when they receive a card from the Mayor with my design on it.”
In a Facebook post, Oliver Coppard said: “The card illustrated by Emily will now be sent far and wide, as an e-card and in print.
“I’m genuinely proud to be able to share South Yorkshire’s talent with the world.”
Doncaster Deaf Trust has been providing specialist education for Deaf children for almost 195 years.
Jane Goodman, the headteacher of Doncaster School for the Deaf, said: “We are absolutely thrilled for Emily that her design was chosen for the mayors official Christmas card. She is over the moon.
“Our pupils loved taking part in the competition and all enjoy art and the chance to be creative.”
The competition is in its second year of running and has an aim to foster community engagement. It launched on November 17 and the winner was announced on December 7.
