Spring Term 2023

A seriously busy term started with a visit to Unity Academy, Blackpool at the beginning of January and ended back at Unity just before Easter. Between those visits, I stopped off at just short of thirty schools as well as eight libraries. Visits to Bolton, Wigan, Redditch, Preston, Stockport and Stoke-on-Trent to name but a…

Autumn Term 2022

Another Autumn term has drawn to a close and what a cracker it’s been! I’ve visited loads of schools across the North West working with thousands of children, delivered storytelling sessions in libraries and even participated in a community project in Rochdale. I’m going to take some time out over Christmas to rest and recharge…

Summer Term 2021

The final half term of the academic year saw a flurry of visits as I rebooted my in-person visits. I had the pleasure of working with the Year 3 pupils at Unity Academy, Blackpool, creating fearsome pirate characters. An afternoon visit to St Catherine’s Academy, Bolton, was spent telling stories and answering lots of questions…

World Book Day 2021

If I’m honest, I was worried that WBD 2021 might not be able to happen. Covid and repeated lockdowns had changed everything and rather than visiting schools I was busy creating virtual options to keep the book buzz alive. Well I need not have worried! Schools and youth groups adapted, evolved and completely embraced the…

National Storytelling Week 2021

National Storytelling Week 2021 evolved into a two-week storytelling extravaganza! All visits were virtual this year, because of Covid-19, but the storytelling action wasn’t affected. I spent time working with a range of ages, from Nursery to Year 8 in the UK and even overseas. Zooms with schools in Bedfordshire and Lancashire, plus an international…

It’s Great To Be Back!

After six months out of schools due to Covid-19 it was wonderful to reboot my school events with a visit to St Johns CE Primary, Blackpool. Year 4 had been studying one of my Impossible Tales and reading Eric Appleby: Zero To Hero as their class reader. During the morning, we picked apart an ‘unseen…

Spring Term 2020

2020 kicked off with a busy first half-term! I visited ten primaries and two libraries across the North West, delivering storytelling sessions and writing workshops. Highlights included a first-time visit to Wigan when I shared stories at Standish library as part of National Storytelling Week – what a treat that was! Hopefully I’ll get to…

Autumn Term 2019

It’s been a flying start to the new academic year. I’ve visited seventeen schools, some multiple times, during the Autumn Term. There’s been a few that I’ve previously visited, as well as sharing stories and writing with pupils in schools that were new to me. I even took part in the celebrations to open a…

Summer Term 2019

The academic year finished with a blur of events! I visited eleven primary and high schools to share stories and write with the pupils, delivered a guest speaker presentation at a reading conference and performed my stories at reading festivals in Blackpool and Barrow-in-Furness. Writing the books is ace, but getting out on the road…