Six-year-old from Epsom, Surrey wins the Big Issue’s Christmas Kids cover competition

Today (Monday 11^th December), the winner of the Big Issue’s Christmas Kids Cover Competition has been revealed as six-year-old, Arnold Sam from Epsom, Surrey.

This year’s competition, which has become an annual fixture in the UK’s festive calendar, attracted hundreds of entries from children and schools, riffing on this year’s theme: WELCOME.

Arnold’s joyful design depicting a bright and beaming Christmas tree and joyful Santa with some elf helpers in tow, stood out to the judges and was picked out for the cover.

Arnold said: “When I heard this exciting news, I felt so happy and really proud that my drawing will be on the cover of the Big Issue. The magazine helps people. I want to wish everyone a super happy Christmas and I hope Santa can bring Christmas gifts and joy to every nice kid in the world.”

Arnold is passionate about art and heard about the competition from his teacher Lily.

“He loves drawing and this opportunity was especially exciting for him,” said Arnold’s mum Queenie.

Big Issue Editor Paul McNamee said: “This year’s entries to the Christmas Kids Cover Competition were arguably the best ever. Hundreds and hundreds of fantastic festive entries flooded in, making it almost impossible to pick a winner. But after much deliberation, Arnold was crowned the winner with his picture of a very jolly Christmas tree and a joyous Santa filling us with Christmas spirit.

“Every year we’re knocked sideways by the ideas and the joy. We thank every young artist, their parents, teachers and carers who helped get this together. And special congratulations to Arnold!”

One of the judges was artist and children’s book author Oliver Jeffers. He said: “It’s always a privilege to be able to support the next generation of artists. They are brilliant, we love them.”

The full gallery of images is available to view on bigissue.com.

The Big Issue with Arnold’s cover is out now, please find your local vendor to buy a copy or subscribe online.