The Gateway’s Got Talent competition came to an end on Friday 4 August and selected a winner.

The group ‘PR5’ is a rock band made up of four friends, aged 14 years, who share a love for rock music.

Preston’s Got Talent is a competition organised by Gateway Central and Community Gateway, along with Big Star Events, to scout the local talent, and hopefully provide a ticket to stardom.

Community engagement was a key aim for Gateway Central as an organisation as they hosted the event.

The event started off with three heats, held at Grange Primary School, Ribbleton Park and St Gregory’s Primary School.

7 acts got through to the final which was held at the Brookfield Shops Green.

A spokesperson for Gateway Central said: “The seven finalists were Grace, Lexi, Millie, Scarlet & Grace, Elliot, PR5 & Liam.

“It was a fun day  with a bouncy castle, face painting, henna & craft stalls and a stall with Community Gateway Association Volunteers and staff.

“All the events were well supported by the local communities which was very pleasing and the weather was good.

“The Judges decided that the winners are PR5, a local band who impressed with their performance.

“We wish to thank all the acts for getting through to the finals, and a special thank you to all the acts who took part in the heats.

“They were all brave to get up in front of strangers and did their best.”

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Diane Bellinger, Chief Executive of Community Gateway Association presented the winners PR5 with a cheque for £500 to help them develop their futures.

Mum of one of the PR5 boys said: “Our son is the drummer in PR5 as you can imagine we are all delighted that they have done so well.

“The Mums of the 4 boys Jude Harry Bobby and Rohan are administering their page as they are still only 14 and as you know social media needs close monitoring for young people.”

PR5 said: “Performing in Gateways Got Talent 2017 was a great opportunity for us to play live & to share our original material.

“It was amazing to see such great crowds at each round of the competition and the other finalists showed what incredible talent there is in Preston.

“We were absolutely delighted to be announced as winners, for such a brilliant competition to recognise our potential is awesome.

“Our prize of £500 to further our musical development will mean we can upgrade some of our equipment in order to support our live performances as well as recording our first EP of original tracks.

“We will also be playing at Preston Guild Hall for the Gateway AGM!

“We are four 14 year olds who only formed our band in March this year!

“We are called PR5 because that is the postcode where we live and go to school, we are very proud to be from Preston and we are looking forward to performing live across the city over the coming months.

“Thanks so much to Gateway & Big Star Events for this incredible opportunity.

“We are still on a high!”

Gateway Central would like to give a special thanks to Big Star Events who provided the audio and stage managed the event, to Preston City Council for the staging and to Community Gateway Association who promoted the whole event.

They also want to give thanks to staff and volunteers from Gateway Central.

You can follow the winners PR5 on Facebook.

Did you take part in Preston’s Got Talent? Do you know the winners? Let us know in the comments below