CLOSED - Blue Peter Enigma Competition
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. Keep an eye on the BP website for future competitions.
Blue peter is giving three lucky viewers the chance to visit the GCHQ headquarters and take part in a puzzle-solving adventure in London. To be in for a chance at winning this incredible prize, you must create a simple code to spell ‘Enigma’ and hide it within a poster you’ve designed to mark GCHQ’s 100th anniversary.
THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ENTERED!
The Prizes
1st Prize: 3 x Winners
Exclusive visit to GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham.
Take part in a puzzle-solving adventure in London.
A Blue Peter Orange competition badge.
A framed copy of their entry.
Top 30
The top 30 entries that go through to the second round of judging will receive a Blue Peter Orange competition badge.
Terms and Conditions
It's very important that a parent or guardian reads the competition terms and conditions before they tick the box on page one of the competition entry form!
Privacy notice
Your trust is very important to us. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information.
It is important that you read this notice so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information. This privacy notice describes how we collect and use personal information about you during and after your relationship with us, in accordance with data protection law.
You can find out more about your information and privacy here.
What will we collect and how will we use it?
The BBC will collect and process the personal information that you have provided to us about yourself and your child by submitting your application including your child’s name, age, date of birth, address and a contact telephone number. We will request additional information from you if your application is shortlisted.
The BBC is the “data controller” of this information. This means that the BBC decides what your personal data is used for, and the ways in which it is processed for the purposes of the competition. Where not overridden by your interests, the BBC processes your personal information for this purpose on the basis of the BBC’s legitimate interests in administering competitions in a fair and proper manner.
Retaining your personal information
The BBC will retain your personal information until 31st October 2019. If you are successful with your application, we will retain your personal information for two years.
Sharing your information
If you are successful, your name will be disclosed to the public. Due to the nature of the competition, if your application is shortlisted, we will request additional information from you. The additional information will be shared with our partner, GCHQ, to conduct background checks.
Your rights and more information
If you have any questions about how the BBC handles your personal information, or you wish to find out about your rights under data protection law, please visit the BBC’s Privacy and Cookies Policy. You will also be able to find out more information about how the BBC processes your information and how you can contact the BBC’s Data Protection Officer.
If you raise a complaint with the BBC about the way it has handled your personal information and you are dissatisfied with the BBC’s response, you are entitled to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. In the UK, the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which can be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.
The GCHQ building in Cheltenham
GCHQ Factfile
To enter the competition you need to design a poster celebrating GCHQ’s 100th Anniversary and then hide the word ‘Enigma’ in it using a code. Below are some fun facts about GCHQ and a code quiz to inspire you to make up an amazing code to hide in your poster!
Fun facts about GCHQ
GCHQ stands for Government Communications Headquarters. They are an intelligence, security and cyber agency and work with MI5 and MI6 to keep Britain safe, including from cyber attacks.
The organisation has been around for 100 years this year! Originally they were called the Government Code & Cypher School, which was a cover name to disguise their top secret work!
GCHQ has four core values: Integrity, Ingenuity, Impact and Teamwork
During World War II, GCHQ was homed in Bletchley Park, which is famously where the famous mathematician Alan Turing worked as a codebreaker. Using the famous Enigma machine, the Alan and his team helped to end the war early, effectively saving millions of lives.
GCHQ’s intelligence reports are extremely important and very top secret! Did you know, Her Majesty the Queen has been receiving GCHQ’s intelligence reports for longer than anybody else in the world?
GCHQ’s iconic headquarters in Cheltenham is also known as ‘the doughnut’ because of its unique shape! (Can you see why?) There are also GCHQ buildings around the country, including Bude, Scarborough, Harrogate, Lincolnshire and London. Another new building will open in Manchester later this year.
The Enigma Machine
Code-creating inspiration!
There are thousands of different types of codes in the world. Some codes are simple and swap letters and numbers (e.g. The Caesar Shift). Other codes require a ‘key’ to solve them, sometimes called a ‘cypher’. In World War II, GCHQ codebreaker Alan Turing and his team helped end the war by breaking secret messages being sent on Enigma Machines by the enemy. But the keys for codes have also been found on stones and in books, sometimes even colours can have coded messages!
Why not try this Blue Peter code-breaking quiz for inspiration?