Blue Peter Medals

Here we are the first month of 2017, I have vowed to post more of my work on here and so I thought it was about time I shared 'my' medals with you, starting out with the Blue Peter medals.

For the benefit of anyone outside the United Kingdom it might be best I explain that the Blue Peter badge is an iconic award presented to viewers of the much-loved children’s television programme and British institution that is Blue Peter. Since 1963 the programme has been awarding these merit badges (a shield containing the Blue Peter ship logo designed by the late, great and not forgetting hero of mine Tony Hart) to anyone that took part in the programme be it winning a competition, having a letter read out or appearing as a guest on the programme. Aside from it being an accomplishment to be proud of, these badges also granted the recipient free admittance to many attractions across the British Isles for many years and this is when the corruption set in. Badges were being bought online and used as away to gain free admittance to these attractions, eventually resulting in the programme withdrawing them! Thankfully they managed to sort the problem out and restore this wonderful tradition but never the less I couldn’t help asking myself the question, “why sell them?” If I had one I would treasure it! Sadly despite several attempts I never actually achieved a Blue Peter Badge. (However my dear lady wife is a Blue Peter badge winner! achieving it for inventing no less! She is very proud of it and rightfully so! However I shan’t dwell on it as I said I NEVER got one! grumble!) So, I turned to eBay. I must stress that I am in not passing these off as my own awards, they are not for sale and I shall not be using them to gain free entry to any venues, I am simply celebrating this great institution and the accomplishments they represent. 

The Blue Peter Medal

An original 1970's badge customised and now hanging on a medal ribbon. You can be certain that this award was awarded for excellence at one time but to whom and for what we will never know.



The Blue Peter Medal: Green

The show's environmental award, Green badges are awarded for any correspondence regarding the environment, conservation or nature.

 

My other Blue Peter related posts can be found here:

 

The time I visited the Blue Peter Garden

 

Seeing Anthea Turner’s Tracy Islandat Lowry’s ‘Here's One We Made Earlier’ exhibition

 

Our Blue Peter Advent Crown

 

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.