An essay contest for students at five Bermuda senior schools will be a special feature of the 20th International Churchill Conference being held here November 6-8 at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel.

The grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses paid scholarship for a 27-day summer programme in London and Oxford, England in July 2004.The winning student will also be taken on escorted visits to the Churchill Archives at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England, and Churchill?s home at Chartwell in Westerham, Kent, England. The award is valued at $5,000 (US). Students selected by their schools will write a 2,000 word essay on some aspect of the conference theme, ?Summitry and the Special Relationship?, which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the historic 1953 Bermuda Summit attended by the British Prime Minster, Sir Winston Churchill, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and French Prime Minister Joseph Laniel.

The deadline for entries is December 12, 2003. The grand prize winner will be announced in January 2004.The participating schools include Bermuda High School, CedarBridge Academy, Saltus, Berkeley Institute and Bermuda Institute.

After a preliminary selection process by history teachers at the five schools, each school will submit two essays to judges appointed by The Churchill Centre and the International Churchill Societies.

Each essay submitted for the final judging will be given a prize of $100 and each participating school will receive $200 due to the generosity of XL Foundation, Axis Capital Holdings and Jardine Lloyd Thompson.

Special emphasis is being placed on the educational aspects of the conference program in order to encourage Bermudian students to participate in celebrating this history-making event,? said John Plumpton, Education Programme Chairman and a Governor of The Churchill Centre. In addition to the grand prize winner, selected students will attend major conference events, including the Commemoration at Government House and the Summit Dinner at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.On Monday, November 10, following the conference, Churchill?s daughter Lady Soames will visit participating schools to talk to students about her father?s life. Additionally, books on Churchill will be donated to each senior school with further resource material made available at www.winstonchurchill.org.

?We are extremely grateful to the XL Foundation, Axis Capital Holdings and Jardine Lloyd Thompson for their sponsorship and to the Churchill Archives, Churchill College, Cambridge, for their partnership in presenting this educational program to the students of Bermuda.

?Teaching the next generation is integral to the mission of The Churchill Centre and the International Churchill Societies and has been a vital part of each conference; however, this is the first time we?ve conducted a student essay contest, which was made possible due to the generous support of our benefactors.?

The educational programme will focus on Churchill?s early years, his education and training for leadership, his advocacy of summit diplomacy and the important role Bermuda played in the Second World War.

For further information please contact John Plumpton at jplumptonrogers.com

The XL Foundation was established in Bermuda in December 1992 to express appreciation to the local community in which XL Capital operates and to help in areas that benefit all residents of the island. In November 1997, the XL Charitable Trust was created. The conference is also being supported by Axis Capital Holdings and the Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group PLC of London.

In 1929 Winston Churchill, as Chancellor of Bristol University, England, commented on the importance of education. ?I never myself had the advantage of a university education. I was not thought clever enough to profit by it to the full. I was put to be trained in technical matters of a military college, and almost immediately afterwards things opened out very quickly into action and adventure?.. During years appropriate to study and the accumulation of knowledge, I was a pack-horse that had to nibble and browse such grass as grew by the roadside in the brief halts of long and wearing marches. The most important thing about education is appetite. Education does not begin with the university and it certainly ought not to end there. I have seen a lot of people who got cleverer until about 21 or 22 years of age, then seemed to shut down altogether and never made any further progress. Take full advantage of these years when the wisdom of the world is placed at your disposal, but do not spend too much time in buckling on your armour in the tent. The battle is going on in every walk and sphere of life.?