Spring Term 2024

What a term that was! The school visits kicked off in January with three days spent in Worcestershire – the third visit building links with three fabulous schools in Redditch. The rest of the term was spent in 30+ schools across the North West. From Blackpool to Wigan and Warrington to Lytham, I had a…

Autumn Term 2023

Ten school visits and two library events finished off the year in style! From Oldham to Blackburn, Lytham St Annes to Liverpool and all stops between, I had a mega time. I even managed to perform a story at The Octagon Theatre, Bolton – what an experience! We’ve told stories, made stories and hopefully inspired…

Summer Term 2023

The academic year ended with a flurry of visits including trips to Blackburn, Leigh, Fleetwood, Padiham, Wigan and Barrow-in-Furness to name but a few. I even squeezed in a visit to Oldham libraries to take part in the Children’s Literature Festival. This school year, I have visited over fifty schools stretching from Cumbria to Worcestershire…

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…