Schoolyard bullies have a host of new opponents to stop them in their tracks.

Sergeant Stop, Captain Mat, Commander Confidence and Anti-Bullying Annie are among the superheroes who were designed by schoolchildren from schools across Bedfordshire, in a competition run by Bedfordshire County Council.

The 12 new super characters took their place in the pantheon of superheroes this week as a result of the Anti-Bullying Superhero competition for Anti-Bullying Week.


The 12 winners, aged nine to 12, were chosen from 200 entries to the competition organised through 17 Bedfordshire libraries between September and October 2008.

Entrants had to design a superhero that highlighted positive anti-bullying messages. Besides being asked to give each superhero a name and one super power, they were challenged to design a superhero that was:

a super friend
a super protector
super kind.

Coun David Reedman, Bedfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "I want to congratulate our Anti-Bullying Superhero winners for their great achievement and all the young people who took part in this competition.

"All these Anti-Bullying Superheroes show us all that you don't need to be born on Krypton or be bitten by a radioactive spider to be a real anti-bullying superhero to combat bullying. It's marvellous to see young children use their imagination to convey the importance of increasing understanding and raising awareness of anti-bullying."

The winners were invited to a special Anti-Bullying Superhero prize ceremony today, (Thursday, November 20), at the Rufus Centre, Flitwick.

Each of the winners received prizes for their amazing art work that included a £10 book voucher, Captain Underpants memorabilia, and an Anti-Bullying Week goodie bag. The winning designs can be seen on the Library Services virtual portal at the end of the month.

This year's Anti-Bullying Week theme of 'being different, belonging together' involved schools and local communities. The intention of the week is to raise awareness of bullying and take positive action to combat the problem. The week links in to the National Anti-Bullying Week campaign.