A charity has appealed for St Albans and Harpenden schools to "write letters to the Queen" to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

But most of the letters will not actually go to the Queen and will instead be shared by the charity YOPEY with care home residents.

YOPEY used to run the Hertfordshire Young People of the Year competition and now oversees befriending schemes between schools and care homes.

YOPEY founder Tony Gearing said: "Elderly people living in care homes are big fans of the Queen.

"They will love to be included in these imaginary conversations between schoolchildren and the monarch."

There are plenty of different ways youngsters might approach the challenge. For example, a primary age pupil might send the Queen a drawing of a pony to connect with her love of horses, and a secondary school pupil might discuss the different Commonwealth countries they have both visited.

"In other words, the young will be writing about their lives and making connections with what they know about the Queen," added Tony.

"Even people living with dementia may not have forgotten older events from the Queen's 70-year reign such as her coronation. Having the young people's letters read to them will help them to remember."

YOPEY will choose around 20 letters to be sent to the Queen, which may get a reply as they will be forwarded to Her Majesty's Private Secretary by the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire Robert Voss, who represents the Queen in the county.

The Lord Lieutenant said: ““What a wonderful idea to write a letter to The Queen about your life and Her Majesty’s very long and full life. I know that she will be delighted to read some of these letters with great interest.

“What an amazing life she has led, but I still think she will be very interested in your life and what you do so I would encourage you all to write to her and I will ensure that she gets to see the best letters.

"Well done YOPEY for a great idea which will also be of huge interest to many of the care home residents.”

Each letter should be on a single side of paper, photographed or scanned, and emailed to hello@yopey.org. Certificates will be awarded to schools who take part but not individuals.