Winners of 'Find Your Voice' announced

Find Your Voice was an exciting competition that we ran recently which gave visitors to our churches a fun and empowering way to engage with their surroundings by climbing up into the pulpit and giving a speech.

We provided inspiration in the form of a few suggested passages to read, including Winston Churchill’s powerful “we shall fight on the beaches” speech or the reflective biblical description of true love from 1 Corinthians. Alternatively, participants were encouraged to bring along their own favourite extracts to perform such as film scripts and books.

We were delighted with the high quality of the submissions and the variety of readings we received, so judges Loyd Grossman, Chairman of the Churches Conservation Trust, and Crispin Truman, Chief Executive of the Churches Conservation Trust had a tough decision picking a winner.

The winning entry was by Diana Krasovska from London with her reading from the film Labyrinth. Diana was thrilled with the winning prize of tickets to see the Lion King plus a backstage tour. Diana, who is a drama student, says: 'Labyrinth... Its such a great film! I always loved Sarah, and as an actress I always wanted to play that part myself. Find Your Voice gave me that chance in some way.'

The runner up was Tristan Smith from Northampton with his portrayal of King Henry II from the play 'Becket' by Jean Anouilh. Tristan wins tickets for a family audio tour of the Houses of Parliament.

Speaking after the winner had been chose, Crispin Truman said: 'This was a very difficult call as all the shortlisted candidates had chosen well and had perfect delivery. We selected the winner because of the sheer energy and passion she put into the speech and the runner up because of his professionalism, excellent delivery and of course the costume!'

Thank you to all those who took part in our competition and we hope you had fun reading from the pulpit. Please watch this space for more Find Your Voice news and latest competitions.