Bath Festivals
Bath Children's Literature Festival Children's Appeal: Free Books 2024
Help us give a FREE book to EVERY child who attends our Schools Programme 2024 to take home to ensure our legacy continues across homes in the South West.
Story
Be part of something exciting: join our Bath Children’s Literature Festival's
SHARE THE STORY : OUR 2024 CHILDREN’S APPEAL
Books Should Not Just Be A Luxury
The annual Bath Children’s Literature Festival is so highly regarded and enjoyed that many families travel hundreds of miles to come and meet their favourite authors and illustrators at the festival each year. However, we are painfully aware that not all families are able to enjoy this privilege.
Having worked with hundreds of children across the South West over the years, we know that Bath is a city with one of the highest ranges of socio-economic indicators. We know that many families in our county and across the South West may never have visited a library and many don’t even own a book, making it harder to share stories and encourage children to read.
Recent government statistics show that 1 in 5 children in BANES are living in relative poverty. This shocking statistic has motivated us to reach out. Every child should have books, they are not a luxury, they are an essential part of learning about our world, exploring the imagination and a place to discover stories and the freedom to express yourself with an open mind and kindness.
Our Schools Programme invites local schools to come to festival events, with an author or illustrator, giving the children the excitement of attending a live event and fostering a love of reading. However, due to competing and funding commitments, not all schools are able to take part.
Providing a legacy beyond the festival
We are excited to launch our new 2024 Children’s Appeal. This appeal isn’t to help us print our programme, put up a stage or pay for staff. This is a fund that will help us to create a legacy that goes far beyond the festival and its ten days each year.
Our initial target is to raise £20,000 to give EVERY child who attends our Schools Programme in 2024 a free book to take home.
This would give 2,500 children the chance to take home their very own new book and to foster a love of reading in their homes. Sharing that renewed love of books with parents and wider family can also encourage new patterns of reading together for all generations.
And if we can raise up to £30,000, we will take the books to even more children!
We will pay for our visiting authors to go into schools within a 45-mile radius of Bath (taking in South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire) to take thousands of free books to schools who would never otherwise be part of the schools programme.
“After experiencing the magical moment of meeting their favourite author or illustrator, children will be able to take the story home. Ensuring that the pages of each book go on to give them a safe place to explore their imagination and experience other worlds. We want to give every child the opportunity to take the joy of reading home and establishing a lifetime of discovery for every child.”
Please help us leave a legacy to be proud of, together.
Gill and John McLay x
About the Bath Children’s Literature Festival
The Bath Children’s Literature Festival is now in its 17th year and is Europe’s largest dedicated children’s festival, running a variety of author and illustrator child-centred talks, workshops and events over 10 days, aimed at the ages of 0 - 14. For 2024, it will once again be launching an impressive line-up of author and illustrators, including internationally recognised names such as Katherine Rundell, Cressida Cowell and Michael Rosen.
Gill and John McLay, (founders of the Bath Children’s Literature Festival as well as Events of Wonder) have worked in the book industry for a combined 50 years. After years of attending literature festivals, they became increasingly aware that authors and illustrators of children’s books weren’t being given the spotlight and headline status they deserved for themselves and children. Gill and John aim to deliver a festival that puts everyone’s favourite authors and illustrators centre stage and which celebrates young readers to be the future readers and changemakers of tomorrow. They write,
Meeting the creator of your favourite story or characters is an experience that will not only be remembered for a lifetime, but can help to ensure that the love of storytelling is here to stay. . .”
They also run a Schools Programme, which allows local school groups to visit their local authors and illustrators as part of the festival.
