Christmas Card Design Competition for Under-18s

August 4, 2023

Competition is now closed – thank you to everyone entered.

This summer, your coloured pencils could create CLAPA’s next Christmas Card!

We’re looking for budding young artists to create the design to feature on our Christmas Cards due to go on sale later this year. All the profits will go towards supporting CLAPA’s work, and your design will be enjoyed by thousands of people all around the UK.

To join in, create a drawing or painting based on this prompt:

“What makes you smile about Christmas?”

Maybe you love decorating the tree, visiting family, or even peaking at presents! Whatever it is, let it inspire you to create a design that will make others smile too.

The competition is open to under-18s who live in the United Kingdom and have a personal connection to cleft lip and palate.

The winning design will be sold as a Christmas Card this winter to help raise money for CLAPA’s work supporting people affected by cleft all around the UK.

You must submit your design by 12 noon on Thursday 31st August 2023.

Submit Your Design

Use this simple form to send us your design:

Submit Your Design

You can also post your design to us at: CLAPA, The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, LONDON E2 9DA.

If you’re posting your design to us, please allow plenty of time for delivery. Please also email us at [email protected] so we know to look out for it!

By submitting your design by the form or through the post, you agree to the terms and conditions stated on this page.

Tips for Submitting Your Design

If your design is digital, send the original file in its original format – please don’t compress it, or it might not be clear enough for us to use
If you’ve got a physical drawing or painting, if possible, please scan it using the highest possible resolution
If you’re taking a photo of your drawing or painting, make sure there’s plenty of light (but watch out for reflections!) and hold your camera as still as possible. Take a few pictures and pick the one that looks the clearest.

Make sure you read the below terms and conditions in full before submitting your design!

Terms & Conditions

In short:

You need to be under 18 years old, living in the United Kingdom, and have a personal connection to cleft lip and palate
You need to get the consent of a parent or carer and provide their contact details
You can only submit your own original work, and it can’t be a design that’s been sold before.
If you’re feeling especially inspired, you can submit more than one design.
The deadline is 12:00 noon on Thursday 31^st August 2023. Our judges will pick a winner within ten days of the competition closing and we’ll notify the winner by email.
The winning design will be produced as a Christmas card and sold to raise funds for CLAPA’s work. The published cards will include the first name, age and connection to cleft of the winner (e.g. ‘Jane, aged 13, was born with a cleft’).
Even if you don’t win, we might share your design online or in print when publicising the competition.

In detail:

Please read these terms and conditions carefully to ensure you fully understand them before submitting your design. By submitting your design, you are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions.

The CLAPA Christmas Card Design Competition (“The Competition”) is owned and run by the charity The Cleft Lip and Palate Association.
The Competition is open to people who (at the time of the competition deadline) are under 18 years old, live in the United Kingdom, and have a personal connection to cleft lip and palate (e.g. they were born with a cleft, have a family member or friend with a cleft).
You must gain the consent of a parent or carer to take part and provide their contact details.
You must own or have permission to use the photo, image, painting or design you submit. All entries must be the entrant’s original work and must not infringe the rights of any other party. Designs must not use stock imagery or AI-generated assets.
Your entry must not have been previously printed for sale.
Entries must be submitted through the designated form on the CLAPA website. Entries may also be made via email to [email protected] or by post to CLAPA (CLAPA, 244-454 Cambridge Health Road, London, E2 9DA); these entries must contain all the information required by the form and must be received by CLAPA by the deadline.
Entries close at 12:00 noon Thursday 31st August 2023. We will acknowledge receipt of your email submission via email. Please ensure you give us the correct email address and mark our email address as a safe sender. No responsibility is accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed as a result of any network, computer hardware or software failure of any kind, or due to postal service delays or failures.
Each of the shortlisted entrants will be contacted by email by a CLAPA staff member. The judging will take place within ten days of the competition closing date.
Winners will be notified via email in September.
In the event of any dispute, the decision of CLAPA is final. No correspondence or negotiation will be entered into.
The winners may be asked to send their original artwork in so that it can be professionally photographed. CLAPA accepts no liability for any artwork lost during transit.
CLAPA reserves the right to edit or adapt the designs submitted once the winner has been chosen.
The winning card will be available to purchase from CLAPA’s card collection, both online and through the catalogue supplied by DASH UK.
The entrant grants CLAPA an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive right to use the images submitted for the competition for CLAPA’s promotional and charitable activities. Entrants agree their image (if a winner) will be used by CLAPA for its cards available for the public to purchase as well as other activities.
CLAPA will publish the first name, age and connection to cleft of the winner as and where deemed appropriate when publicising the competition and/or the cards, including on the card itself.
The proceeds from the sale of the cards will go towards the charitable activities of CLAPA and no royalties will be payable to the winning entrant.
The prizes are as stated; no cash equivalent will be offered.
Designs submitted may be used by CLAPA for general marketing purposes and may appear in magazines, local, regional and national communications, both in print and online.
We will collect, store and process your data in line with our data protection policies (clapa.com/Privacy)
CLAPA reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions and deadline. Any changes will appear on our website. Please direct any queries to [email protected].