The South Wales Guardian is delighted to announce the winner of its Spirit of Christmas short story competition.

The competition received a a wide range of entries - far more than was expected, but editorial staff unanimously voted Geoffrey Veale's tale "Christmas is about the gifts we give not what we receive" the winner.

"I am absolutely delighted with the response we received to the competition," said editor Steve Adams.

"Wales has a long history of story-telling and as a country we have produced some fine writers.

"Unfortunately there seems fewer and fewer platforms these days for amatuer writers to get their words to a wide audience.

"We hope that our short story competition will be the first of many and encourages people to tell their tales by giving them a platform in print and online.

"Geoffrey's story is a great example of the Christmas story. It was exactly the type of tale I had in mind when I decided to host the competition."

To read Geoffrey's story - "Christmas is about the gifts we give not what we receive" - click here: http://bit.ly/1C9grhY