In 2023 Lucy R from Wakefield won the UK national prize and was awarded £450 for herself and £900 for Wakefield Grammar Pre-Preparatory School in total.
When receiving her prize, Lucy’s Head Teacher, Emma Gill, said: “Lucy winning the competition has helped spread awareness around the dangers of CO and how to ensure CO safety across the school community.
“We are extremely proud of Lucy and delighted that she’s become an advocate for promoting the dangers of CO poisoning. We are looking at incorporating the video into school life with a plan ready to roll out in September.
“On behalf of the school community I would like to say a massive thank you to Lucy for teaching us all about CO safety.”
You can watch Lucy’s CO video entry for the 2023 competition below.
The Prize
We’ll pick a winner from Key Stage 1 & 2 in our region, which covers most of Yorkshire, the North East or northern Cumbria, who will each receive £150 for themselves and £300 for their school or organisation, such as Cubs or Brownies.
Our area winners will then go forward to a national competition where they have a chance to win a further £300 for themselves and £600 for their school or organisation.
All entries must be received by 10 May 2024.
Email all entries gdnco_competition@northerngas.co.uk
Full terms and conditions can be found below.
Carbon Monoxide FAQs
What is CO?
Known as the silent killer, accidental – and therefore preventable – CO poisoning is responsible for around 40 deaths and 200 visits to hospital each year.
You can’t see it. You can’t smell it. You can’t taste it. CO is a colourless, odourless, tasteless poisonous gas that is released when any fossil fuel that burns – not just gas – doesn’t burn properly.
In the UK, there are more than 4,000 visits to Accident and & Emergency for treatment of CO poisoning – which can often lead to lasting neurological damage.
Symptoms of CO poisoning are often confused with flu, especially in winter, as they include severe headaches, a sore throat, dizziness, coughing, feeling sick, and a general lack of energy
Did you know?
- 22 million homes in the UK have gas appliances, with likely 14 million gas boilers and around 40,000 faulty appliances releasing CO
- 5% – 10% of households have a CO alarm, with this figure dropping to 2% in areas of multiple deprivation
What to do if you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning
- Get everyone outside into fresh air immediately
- Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999
- And if there is a medical emergency, don’t delay, ‘phone 999
- More information on carbon monoxide poisoning can be found here
Competition Terms and Conditions
1. The competition is coordinated by the Energy Networks Association (ENA) on behalf of the Gas Distribution Networks (GDN’s) across Great Britain.
2. The competition asks entrants to produce an informative, accurate and eye-catching piece of media warning of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide(CO) poisoning and/or fumes and/or how to avoid them. Material about CO and how to avoid it and other fuel toxins can be found at
https://www.energynetworks.org/keeping-you-safe/carbon-monoxide-awareness.
3. Entrants are eligible to enter the competition if they are currently in Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 at a school/organisation (which can include mainstream or Special Educational Needs schools and uniformed organisations such as Scouts, Brownies and Guides etc.) in Great Britain, or are 5-11 years of age and home educated in Great Britain.
4. Entrants can use any medium (poster, video, short story, poem, model, painting etc.) provided it is the individual entrant’s own individual and original work.
5. Entries must be submitted in the form of a JPEG photograph or coloured scan or as a link/attachment (if entry is in video or digital form), and emailed along with the entrant’s name, age, school/organisation and post code to: COSafetyCompetition@energynetworks.org or gdnco_competition@northerngas.co.uk l (1 entry per entrant). Please note that submissions received by other means will not be entered into the competition.
6. Entries are required to be submitted by midnight Friday 10th May 2024 .
7. There will be ten area winners, one from Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 within each area represented by Cadent, Northern Gas Networks and SGN, and one from Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 within each of Wales and West Utilities areas. The GDN’s and their corresponding areas are as follows: Cadent = North West of England, East of England, West Midlands and London; Northern Gas Networks = Northern England; SGN = Southern England, Scotland; Wales & West Utilities = Wales, and South West England. There will be one national winner from each Key Stage chosen from the pool of area winners.
8. Winning entries will be judged on their creative merit and effectiveness of their carbon monoxide poisoning safety awareness message. Area winners will be judged by representatives from their corresponding GDN and then the national winner will be judged by a panel of representatives from the four GDN’s including an independent member whose name is available on request. The judges’ decision on all matters will be final.
9. The area winners will receive £150 each and £300 for their school/organisation*. The national winner will receive £300 for themselves and £600 for their school/organisation*.
10. The area winners will be notified in writing to their school/organisation or home school contact by the end of June 2024. The area winners will be publicly announced via a local press release from the corresponding GDN and their entries may be put on display in the media or used to create further awareness.
11. The national winning entry will be notified in writing and publicly announced via press release by the end of July 2024.
12. The competition is being sponsored by Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, SGN, and Wales & West Utilities.
13. Upon entry, all entrants agree that all copyright and other intellectual rights to the entries will become the property of the Energy Networks Association.
* For those entrants who are home educated, parents can nominate either a school/organisation, Local Education Authority, or carbon monoxide safety charity to receive the winning prize for the ‘school/organisation’.
For further information please email COSafetyCompetition@energynetworks.org
