Hundreds get stuck into chewing gum poetry competition

Something of a literary gauntlet was thrown down to budding Croydon poets a month or so ago - compose a piece encouraging people to throw chewing gum in a bin.

Croydon Business Improvement District (BID) who organised the competition as part of anti-gum campaign admit they did not expect to be swamped with entries.

As it turned out several hundred people got stuck into the mystique of the subject and sent in their gems.

This week the organisers have announced the top three gumbuster poets.

First place and £150 worth of shopping vouchers went to Penelope Boxall, second prize plus £100 of vouchers to schoolgirl, Tamara Isted while Pamela Pope took third place and with it £50 worth of vouchers.

Winner Penelope said: "I am absolutely delighted, as well as surprised as this is the first poem I have written.

"It was great fun to write something positive about Croydon. I may have to write some more now."

Tamara has little time for inconsiderate people saying: "I do hate the way people drop gum on the streets. It gets all over my trainers."

The BID team launched the competition as part of a wider drive to discourage people from throwing gum on to the pavements.

The campaign included issuing town centre visitors with packets into which they could place gum before putting it in a bin.

And it had a tougher side by working with the council to hit gum throwers in the pocket, issuing offenders with an on the spot £50 fine.

Ros Morgan, the BID manager, said: "The reaction we received to the competition exceeded our expectations.

"There were hundreds of good poems to sift through and it was very hard to pick out a winner."

Penelope Boxall's winning entry:

Finished gum ain't your chum!

Sometimes, there's bad press about Croydon

and this can be very depressing.

So let's start with the small

though we think it nothing at all,

and make Croydon the best place to be in.

Sure, gum might be tiny and small

but it's a real pain and mess for us all.

For when stuck on your shoes,

it's a like a strong glue

and picks up all manner of things!

So when you have gum

and the flavour's all gone,

and you want to get rid of it quick.

Wrap it to scrap it including the packet

and find it a home in a bin.

A bin is your friend, not your foe

as it tries to keep Croydon litter-low.

So in making our BID

we'll save on our quids

and be the gum-free-est borough on show!

Tamara Isted's poem

On the pavement, on the roads,

on your trainers, on your clothes,

in the playground, in the park,

you don't see it after dark.

Chewing gum is not a sin,

but put the goop in the bin.

Spitting it out is so not cool

so be good and follow the rule!

Pamela Pope's verse

Spitting out chewing gum is a devilish sin,

PLEASE be an angel and put it in the bin.

For it clings to our shoes and sticks to the street

And often it's found on a table or seat.

So come on you chewers, please have a heart,

And let's keep our Croydon looking smart.