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Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Writing Competition Winner Announcement!

November 25, 2022
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile Writing Competition Winner Announcement!
We recently ran a competition to win a trip to New York in partnership with Sony for their new film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. We asked children to write a short story on the writing prompt, “Sam the Stagecoach Bear meets Lyle the Crocodile” and we received over 500 entries! We had a blast reading them all and want to thank every single person who took the time to write and submit a story. It was really tough to pick just one winner but after much consideration, we’re now ready to share the winning story with you all. 
 
We are so excited to announce that the winner is 9 year-old Evelyn from Isleworth – congrats Evelyn! We loved the tone and message of this entry and we’re so impressed with Evelyn’s storytelling skills. Evelyn’s mum Helen submitted her story to the competition and when she found out Evelyn wrote the winning story, she said “Thank you to everyone at Stagecoach. We are super proud of Evelyn and the trip to New York is an absolute dream come true!”
 
Helen also told us that Evelyn is a student at Stagecoach Isleworth so we contacted Principal Valerie who said, “We are so incredibly proud of Evelyn, she is a lovely student who has been with us since Early Stages and loves performing - especially singing. Our Stagecoach school at Isleworth gave her a big cheer when they heard the news that she had won. I was also so glad to see that the Stagecoach values of Creative Courage made it into her story to help Lyle!  Well done Evelyn!!”
 
Have a read of Evelyn’s story for yourself…
 
Lyle was feeling blue. He’d been in New York for months, but everywhere he went people still looked at him like he was from outer space. It was lonely being the only crocodile in the city, and Lyle longed for a friend. Walking dejectedly through Central Park, trying his best to ignore the people who stared in horror, Lyle kept his eyes on the ground hoping nobody would notice the tears that were starting to fall. Desperate to drown out the gasps of shock that surrounded him, he started humming his favourite tune. 
 
“Oh, I love that song!” exclaimed a friendly voice. Lyle spun round, but no one was there. 
 
“Great”, he thought, “now I’m hearing things!” 
 
The voice squeaked again, “Down here, Lyle!” 
 
Lyle jumped in surprise because there was a little teddy bear smiling up at him. “I’m Sam, the Stagecoach Bear”, said the furry, friendly bear. “You look sad…what’s the matter?” 
 
Although he wanted to answer, Lyle was too embarrassed tosing in front of this strange bear. He shook his head sadly, hoping Sam might understand. 
 
“You know what always cheers me up?” said Sam kindly. “A song! I LOVE to sing and dance.” 
 
Lyle, who had been staring at the ground, looked up with a huge smile on his toothy, crocodile face. There, in the middle of the park, surrounded by strangers, Sam and Lyle began to sing. As their song grew louder, a crowd began to form around them. Shyly, Lyle looked around at the people’s faces, and was amazed to find that instead of the usual looks of fear, they were smiling and swaying and even starting to sing along! When the song ended, everyone cheered enthusiastically. Lyle grinned at Sam, and hugged him in thanks. He felt so much better, because he realised now that even in a city of complete strangers, singing always brings people together!
 

 
We hope Evelyn and her family have an amazing time in New York! Also, keep an eye on our social media tomorrow for an extra Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile giveaway to win some film merch!