We are very pleased to announce the winners of this year’s writing competition as Pam Brown from Newton Abbott, Devon with her short story 1916 and Alan Hill from Trinity, Edinburgh with his poem Evening Class.

The two runners-up were Jeff Nottingham from Kilburn, London with his short story Harvey and Carolyn King from Ventnor, Isle of Wight with her poem The Mouse Whisperer – well done to both of them.

A big thank you to everyone who entered, once again we were overwhelmed by the high standard of the entries we received and the generosity of all those who sent in accompanying donations which totalled well over £2,500.

A special thank you also goes out to Shena Mackay, our expert judge who had the tough job of choosing the overall winners, “Each of the entries had something special – ” said Shena, “brilliant observation, humour, pathos – and they all illustrate and celebrate the unique relationship of cats and humans.”

Here are the winners, runners up and the best of the rest – the stories that made the shortlist for judging. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did.

Short Story	Poem
Winner 1916 by Pam Brown	Winner Evening Class by Alan Hill
Runner Up Harvey by Jeff Nottingham	Runner Up The Mouse Whisperer by Carolyn King
The best of the rest The Constant Parent by SFJ Williams The Curious Tale of the Cat up the Lamp-Post by Nicolas Jackson The Lost Souls of Cats by Emily Veinglory	The best of the rest The Gift by Melanie Banner (Highly commended) Gingerbits by Dennis E Bryant Lucky Break by Lorna Gulston