THE children are back at school and the uniform is bought, but it won’t be long until we start thinking about Christmas.

With so many demands on the family purse, the Medway Messenger and KM Walk to School charity have teamed up with Asda Chatham to give away £500 of George clothing vouchers to help readers make the most of the party season.

All our readers have to do is get their children to design a poster encouraging families to walk their youngsters to school.

The children’s road safety charity KM Walk to School has been working hard to encourage families to switch from the school run to walking to school to improve their health, the environment and to ease congestion on our roads.

Schools are invited to send entries too, and the top designs will appear on this website where an online poll will take place to select the winners.

There will be four overall winners, with the first prize of £200 in vouchers and three runners-up prizes of £100 each. The winning poster will be made into a banner for the child’s primary school and that is why designs must be A4, landscape in format and show that it’s cool to walk to school.

Asda Chatham will be unveiling its new-look store on Monday. The modifications will mean the 15,000sq ft store will boast a mezzanine floor and offer the full George range as well an extended home and leisure range, music, DVDs, electrical equipment and toys. The store will also have a pharmacy.

Manager David Jones is looking forward to the big day. He said: “The store will go back to

24-hour trading and will have so much more on offer. Asda Chatham is really pleased to be supporting KM Walk to School team as it is such a worthwhile community cause.

“Keeping children safe and healthy, helping the environment and reducing traffic congestion benefits everyone in the community.”

To enter the poster design competition, simply cut out the form below, complete the entry details and attach the form to the back of your poster design and send it to us.

Entries will only be accepted if accompanied by an original coupon from the Medway Messenger, which must be completed in full.

Posters must be A4 and landscape in orientation.

They can be sent directly to: KM Walk to School, Gazette House, 5-8 Estuary View Business Park, Boorman Way, Whitstable, CT5 3SE alternatively to Sarah Clarke at Medway Messenger, Medway House, Ginsbury Close, Sir Thomas Longley Road, Medway City Estate, Strood, ME2 4DU.

The closing date for the design competition is Wednesday, October, 29.

Entries must be accompanied by a completed coupon from the Medway Messenger.

The judging panel will meet at the end of October to select the top illustrations

These will then appear on

www.medwaymessenger.co.uk for an online poll

This will close at noon on Thursday, November 27, when the winner will be announced.

For information on the competition contact the Medway Messenger charity team on 0844 264 0292.