WINNERS of a poster competition took centre stage at an anti-bullying conference, organised by Hampshire County Council for young people aged nine to 16.

With them, and on show at the conference, were their 10 winning designs – which included work from Bentworth Primary School – that have been specially selected to be displayed across Hampshire to encourage young people to “stand together and speak out against bullying”.

Peter Edgar, Hampshire County Council’s executive member for education, said: “This is a remarkable event helping young people explore what bullying means and what can be done to make them feel safer. The conference is also an important way we can help to empower those young people who have been bullied and show them that they are not alone.

“Bullying can have a big impact and a long-term effect on people’s lives. One of the county council’s priorities is ensuring that children and young people are safe and feel safe. It fills me with great sadness that some young people in Hampshire experience bullying.

“By working together, we can help tackle this issue and identify ways that can be helpful to combat bullying.”

The annual conference, held this year at The Vineyard in Winchester, aimed to inspire young people and school staff, helping them to prevent and address incidents of bullying on the way to and from school. The event was attended by pupils and teachers from 36 schools around the county.

Poster design winners were presented with certificates and book tokens by Rick Jackson from radio station, Wave 105. Among the winners was Simon Bell, of St Mary’s Primary School in Bentworth.

During the event, pupils and staff were encouraged to consider how they were going to use what they had learned at the conference to address bullying in their communities and asked to consider the possible barriers.

There was also opportunity for discussion with each other and their teachers to showcase and share good practice already working in Hampshire.