Words of Wisdom winners announced!

Read on to find out who the winners of our inaugural poetry competition are.

At Abbeyfield, we take great pride in recognising the exceptional creative talents of the whole Abbeyfield family, whatever they may be. We recently ran a poetry competition for our residents, which saw over 70 excellent submissions. Nine winners were chosen, listed below. 

Download the book

Winning entries:

  • My Son, by Muriel Bradley of Abbeyfield Girton Green, Cambridge
  • Shy Sleep, by Jim Nicholls of Abbeyfield Clifton House, Isle of Wight
  • The Song that Orpheus Sang to the Dragon, by Mary Handscomb of the Abbeyfield Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead Society
  • My Doggerel, by Joy Tupling of Abbeyfield House, Beccles
  • Our House, a team effort by Residents of Abbeyfield House, Downpatrick, assisted by Support Manager Hilary Hamilton
  • Care Home Blues, by Peter Driscoll of Abbeyfield Victoria House, Kew
  • Nettles are Forever, by Berenice Shellard of Abbeyfield Westall House, Hornsted Keynes
  • I Think of You These Long Lonely Days, by Philip Gibson of The Old Bakehouse, Chadlington

One of our judges was a published poet and former Abbeyfield Chief Executive, Foster Murphy. The Foster Murphy Special Recognition Award, named in his honour, was given to Valley of the Moon, by Robert Brunning of Abbeyfield House, Hadleigh. 

Well done to all of our Abbeyfield Poets for taking part!

The full book with all 70 submissions can be read here, or if you'd like your own hard copy, please email our PR team – there is a limited stock available! We will also be sharing some of the poems across our social media platforms as part of #WorldPoetryDay, so keep your eye out for them! 

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