Six-year-old Thomas Mitchell has dust mite drawing brought to life in national competition

Thomas Mitchell with his drawing of a dust mite

Thomas Mitchell, six, from Smithy Bridge has been crowned a winner of a nationwide competition asking youngsters to draw what they think a dust mite looks like.

Thomas had his ‘dust mite with a deadly tail’ drawing transformed into a real life cuddly toy, after being chosen as one of three winners from around the UK.

The ‘MiteyCreation’ competition was launched in a bid to educate the nation on the main trigger of night time allergies and asthma, which is dust mite faeces. Research conducted by Slumberdown revealed over 90% of allergy and asthma sufferers in the UK don’t actually know what triggers their symptoms, a problem which affects over a third of the population.

Slumberdown asked children to design their own weird and wonderful dust mite creations, in a bid to give parents the tools to spend some time having fun with their children.

Thomas’ creative, colourful drawing, was shortlisted by the judges and was selected as a winner in a public vote.

Gill Mitchell, Thomas' mum, said: “Thomas is so excited to have won this national competition. He can’t wait to see his design created into a real toy.”

Sally Hotchin, brand manager at Slumberdown said: “At Slumberdown we understand that time with the kids is precious and it needs to be spent having fun, not tending to allergy symptoms. That’s why we launched this competition, and we were overwhelmed with the fantastically imaginative entries we received.”