Earlier this year, Bringing Words to Life was invited to submit a proposal, along with eight other organisations, to the Community Foundation North East to be considered for their Giving Network. If selected to be one of the final four, we would then have to present to members of the Giving Network at an event on the Quayside where donations from the network would be shared between the four organisations.
We were honoured to be selected alongside Hand Of, Reviving the Heart of the West End, and Bright Futures, and we spent a day working with these organisations on pitching what we do and ensuring the impact is understood.
Being selected has been extremely beneficial to us here at BWtL. Not just for the unrestricted financial gain, but also for the opportunity to work and learn from the other groups we were up against. It also gave us time to really think about the message we want to deliver when talking about what we do.
At the event, hosted by Ward Haddaway, we were very fortunate to speak with several people who wanted to find out more about what we do and our approaches to engaging young people with literacy. It was a pleasure to talk to interested people about what we have learned over the years.
A big thank you to all the people who donate to the Giving Network and to the Community Foundation for their continued support with the work we do here at Bringing Words to Life.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with six Newcastle University students since October. As part of their final year project, they provided findings that will help us develop new strategies in both delivery and marketing.
These students have really blown it out of the park and we are so very thankful of both them and the university for selecting us to be apart of their final year programme.
Speaking on working with Bringing Words to Life, final year Accountancy student Bethany Cosgrove said “I am incredibly grateful to have worked with such an impactful charity on this project, to see first-hand the wonderful things they do in the community and beyond. I am thrilled that it will also bring valuable benefits to the business!”
“The report the students presented to us last week is undeniably a vital tool in helping us expand and continue to support the North East when it comes to literacy. We were delighted with their findings and will be implementing it into our marketing and development strategy,” shared CEO Melanie Cornish-Fleet.
Northern Butterflies have recently just finished this month’s newsletter! They have done an amazing job and we couldn’t be more pleased 
We have been working with them on building confidence around literacy now for a number of years and we wanted the group to take ownership of a project and what better than their own newsletter where they decide and write the content.
Sam, Northern Butterflies founder, said ‘We’ve needed a newsletter for a such long time to share and promote our work. Mel has worked brilliantly with learners to make this happen, I’m thrilled we have got this off the ground and it has excelled my expectations.’
Now onto next month’s…
One school we’ve had a long-standing relationship with is Emmaville Primary in Crawcrook, Gateshead 
Over 10 years, we’ve worked with almost 100 pupils ranging from year 4 to year 6 on their school magazine, and over 1,200 students have participated in our annual writing competition.
Being involved in creating a school magazine allows the students to write about what they love, which is what writing is all about 
Here’s a snapshot of one of the many newsletters we’ve done together 
This past year we have been working with local school children and community groups to create a magazine celebrating the history of Cramlington. The project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and involved over 180 people. Memories were captured and stories were shared, local ‘community diamonds’ were interviewed while celebrating the town’s 60th birthday. We were asked to create this body of work by Cramlington Town Council who supported us every step of the way.
To access the online version of this magazine please CLICK HERE.
As December is fast approaching, it only seems right we launch our Winter Writing Competition. Having had almost one thousand entries last year we expect to surpass that number this year and our judging elves are at the ready. The focus this year is on the place where we live. For anyone interested, please contact [email protected].
In 2022 I was invited back to my primary school in Whitehaven, Cumbria, where my writing journey started. The school was celebrating its 70th birthday and the new Head Teacher was keen to create a collection of stories to commemorate the history of the school and the students over the years.
For me, it was an absolute pleasure to return to my home-town and the school where I spent the first eight years of my life, to work with the students and staff on the project. We were fortunate to receive funding from the Well Whitehaven fund in conjunction with Cumbria Council to create the project and print copies for the local community.
Huge thanks goes to our team of volunteers who supported the students with their writing and gave up their time to be interviewed and lead workshops in creating the magazine which you can read here.
This right here is the epitome of job satisfaction. I provided a reference for a young woman I started working with at Bringing Words to Life when she was ten years old.
Having soared higher than she possibly ever thought she would, Lauren passed her GCSEs and A Levels easily. She went on to secure a first from Durham University and just completed her Masters’s in Journalism. Dedicated, determined and dynamic are only a few adjectives that can be applied to Lauren and her passion for the written word and the craft of journalism.
An honour to see her move on to the next chapter of what we know here at BWtL will be an illustrious career. Congrats Lauren White. You worked hard for this.
Earlier this month we welcomed two students to the team at Bringing Words to Life from Ponteland High School and Thorp Academy. Both were keen to secure experience in the world of media and jumped at the opportunity to create content for the Beep website.
Here at Bringing Words to Life, we pride ourselves on being able to offer young people the opportunity to develop their skills and love for writing through our projects. Beep was established for those reasons only. We identified that there was a lack of provision for students who wanted to write outside school. So we took it upon ourselves to create a platform where writers and content creators could experiment and hone in on their ideas while being able to promote their work and contributions on their UCAS forms and CVS.
So, welcoming Holly and Bethan for a week where they contributed informative and hugely entertaining content for the site was a great feeling for us. Beep was set up for young people just like them, to nurture their writing skills and use their opinions to educate their peers. The opportunity to experience life as one of the Beep/Bringing Words to Life team is open to any young person. For more information on this opportunity contact [email protected].
For some of the content Holly and Bethan created, follow the links below.
Five Women in History Robbed of their Legacy
Awaiting Exam Results and how to Enjoy the Summer
The Assassination of Harvey Milk
Write2 is our stand-alone resource that can be used by anyone to encourage literacy and communication. Developed so it can be utilised by any age group, schools and community groups can benefit from this module-driven programme which encompasses writing for an audience, review writing, interviewing, blogging and more.
Write2 allows your team of writers to take ownership of their project, whether it be a school magazine or content for a school website or community newsletter/paper. Our top tips and tricks on how to create this content along with countless resources to bring out the best in your team have been used successfully in a number of North East schools.