In 2020 I ran an after school club at Morpeth School, with Ben Jonson Primary School, focused on fictional diary writing. We turned their writing into a brilliant anthology – Blue Sparks Sizzling – hear some of them read their stories in our launch video to the right!

In 2021 – still in lockdown and via email, video and worksheets – I ran a Gothic storytelling club for students at Bishop Challoner School. Lily Ash Sakula and I created an illustrated workbook full of tips and activities, and the Ministry’s amazing volunteer mentors and I supported the young people through ten weeks of imagining and writing. The result was The Shadow Within, and Other Tales – a thrilling and chilling collection of stories, including conflicted vampires, zombie hunters, and a sorrowful spider hybrid. I was so impressed with what they managed to create in the midst of the pandemic.

I have a particular love for Ministry of Stories, having volunteered with them before becoming a freelance member of their teaching team. The experience I got from being a volunteer mentor was invaluable, and their particular brand of monster-themed imagination is a total joy.