2025 Poetry Competition

For this year’s Poetry Competition, we are welcoming poems on the theme of 'caring, family and community'.

If you enjoy creative writing and want to submit a poem or two, we would love to hear from you – and you will be in with a chance of winning a prize by entering!

 

• 1st prize = £100 voucher
• 2nd prize = £50 voucher
• 3rd prize = £30 voucher
• Carers UK member prize = £50 voucher

 

 

Our judge for this year's competition is Cheryl Moskowitz – a writer, poet, creative translator and educator, as well as a former carer.

If you're looking for a bit of inspiration to unlock your creativity, please join us for our Share and Learn session on Thursday 20 February.

We will be joined for a relaxing, informal creative writing class by Fiona and Susan from Open Book, who can help you to prepare your poems for the competition. Register here.

When you're ready to submit your poem(s), please read the following guidelines and then click the 'submit your entry' button below.

The competition deadline is 20 April 2025.

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Competition guidelines

Eligibility:

• Entrants must be over 18 and resident in the UK.
• Submissions must be the entrant’s own original work and not have been published elsewhere or won any previous competitions.
• We welcome entries from Carers UK members and the wider public.
• We welcome entries from new writers and more experienced writers.
• Poems should be in English; typed in a font such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri; and be in at least 11 point.
• Entries should be submitted using the ‘Submit your poem’ button – however, if you have any difficulties using this button please email your entry to membership@carersuk.org or send it by post to Carers UK, 20 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4LX.
• Entrants must not indicate their identity on their poem. The entrant’s name, email address and contact number should be provided on the online form or (if submitting by email or post) on a separate sheet.
• It will not be possible to revise poems after they have been submitted
• Entrants must be willing for their entries to appear on our website and any other Carers UK communications.
• Entries must not say anything slanderous or offensive.

Winners will be announced in June 2025 and we will be holding a celebration event in central London in July to present prizes to the winners and hear a selection of the poems read by winning and commended entrants.

If you would like to read the winning poems from our previous creative writing competitions, click here. 

 

Submit your entry

Want to know more?

If you have any questions about the competition, please get in touch.

Contact us