Aspiring Welsh innovators have swept the board at this year’s Cracking Ideas competition.

After receiving over 6,000 entries from across the UK the three overall winners have been announced by Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Wilcox.


Children between the ages of 4-16 were asked to come up with ideas for a theme park or theme park ride as part of the Intellectual Property Office’s Cracking Ideas campaign.

Eleven regional winners visited the Newcastle Life Science Centre today in July, where the IPO sponsored Wallace & Gromit present... A World of Cracking Ideas exhibition is currently on display. The overall winners were presented with a bespoke Wallace & Gromit trophy created by Aardman's model makers and a family day pass for Chesssington World of Adventures.

The overall winners, who were selected by Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director for Wallace and Gromit at Aardman Animations, are:

• Arianwen Skyrme-Croft, Cwmbran for ‘Toy World’, 4 to 7 age group;
• Sula Maclean, Chepstow for ‘The Ocean Park’, 8 to 11 age group; and
• Heather Rigby, Haverfordwest for ‘Levitation Space Coaster’, 12 to 16 age group.

Are you a budding inventor who missed out on the competition?
The new 2011/12 Cracking Ideas competition is now open! Submit your ideas for a sports-themed contraption to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic goodies in this year’s competition!

To find out more, visit the Cracking Ideas website »