Pen a poem to boost Help For Heroes

Now’s your last chance to praise your hero, because the closing date for the competition to write a poem on the theme of ‘Help for Heroes’ is fast approaching.

The competition closes on November 11 and the writer of the best poem will win £250 in vouchers kindly donated by Primark.

This national competition is being run by publishers United Press. All you have to do is post your poem to arrive before the closing date.

“We have had several submissions already,” said Joanna Cummings of United Press, one of the people who will judge the competition. “All the poems are full of praise and admiration for our national heroes.”

Entries are only accepted by post, accompanied by a cheque made out to Help for Heroes. You can donate as much as you like and enter as many poems as you like.

“We’re looking for poems related to Help for Heroes,” Joanna said. “It could be a poem about an individual or it could be a poem with a message. It can be any length, from an epic poem to a short ditty. The minimum donation we’re asking for is a pound, but I think people feel so passionate about this subject that many donations will be much more and many people will send several poems.”

A representative from Help for Heroes will be at the presentation to give the winner their prize, and the winner will have the honour of handing over the donations to Help for Heroes.

The winner will also have their poem published in a general collection of modern poetry and will receive a free copy of the book.

So far, the competition has already raised over £1,000 in generous donations from poets from all over the UK.

Post your entries, along with your donation for Help for Heroes, to United Press, Admail 3735, London, EC1B 1JB, by the closing date of November 11th 2011. You do not need an entry form but make sure you put “Help For Heroes” at the top of your entry, and include your name, address and telephone number.