Newark pupil wins nationwide drawing competition with Well Pharmacy
Eight-year-old aspiring artist gets confidence boost after winning a nationwide drawing competition.
Patrick Young, 8, of Newark, won a Well Pharmacy competition to design a poster for — Know Your Numbers Week — to highlight the importance of getting blood pressure checked.
As the winner, Patrick got to see his artwork displayed in Well Pharmacies up and down the country, including the pharmacy close to his house on Main Street Balderton.
The pupil at Muskham Primary has always dreamed of being an artist, however, his lack of confidence always stepped in the way, until he won the competition and a family day out as part of the prize.
His mother, Emily Nellist said: “Patrick has loved drawing or any arts and crafts since he was old enough to hold a crayon.
“He’s a very expressive boy so it’s always been in his nature, from around the age of five he’s said he wants to be an artist.
“He can sometimes lack confidence and often needs encouragement to believe in himself as much as I do, he was excited to enter the competition but was certain he wouldn’t be picked.”
The pupil was picked as the winner on August 2, and the mother said he was over the moon after receiving the victory email.
Patrick said that his favourite part about art is drawing for other people and seeing how happy they are with his work.
He knows how special it is and that it’s not something that happens to everyone. I personally think this has given Patrick more confidence, someone else reinforcing how wonderful his work is, has helped him see it too.
Patrick says his favourite part about art is drawing for other people and seeing how happy they are with his work.
Emily said: “This has encouraged him to believe in himself and not always be so doubtful of his ability.
“I think sometimes when it’s your own friends and family telling you you’re great, you don’t feel it as much as an outside party actually agreeing.
“I think it’s a wonderful way to give little ones that confidence boost, it has definitely helped Patrick.”
Emily works in a pharmacy and also suffers from high blood pressure, which is one of the reasons that she had the idea to sign her son for the competition, combining their family reasons with Patrick’s art skills.
The mother added: “I’m just so proud of him, he really deserved it after spending such a long time and taking so much care to design the poster.
“You always want your children to succeed naturally, but when things like this happen and it’s something they’re truly passionate about, it really fills you with pride as a parent.
“Patrick always does so much for other people and prides himself on making others happy, so it’s lovely to see something filling his own cup back up as much as he does for others.”
