12-21 September 2025
Celebrating Literature & The Arts by the Sea
The Charlotte Aitken Trust
Schools' Week 2025
22-26 September
bringing 25 inspirational authors, poets & illustrators
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Winners
"As one of the largest schools outreach programmes in the UK,
our aim is to delight and inspire the readers and writers of the future."
Our amazing Schools Week, run entirely by volunteers, covers schools across Torridge and North Devon.
Last year we took 25 authors into 72 schools and libraries and delivered 213 inspirational events with thousands of children taking home a book to keep following a visit.
In addition to the books given to primary school children, as part of our Books at Home Scheme, we were also able to provide Secondary School libraries with copies of books by their visiting authors.
None of the above would have been possible without the financial support we received to subsidise events and purchase books.
We would like to extend an enormous thank you to all our supporters:
The Charlotte Aitken Trust - Appledore Book Festival - Torridge Councillor Grants
Fullabrook CIC - Travel Chapter - North Devon Carpentry - Bideford Bridge Rotary Club - Bideford Rotary Club - Ilfracombe Rotary Club -Ilfracombe Round Table - Barnstaple Round Table - Ilfracombe Lions Club - Ilfracombe Compass - Barnstaple Soroptimists
Many of the authors gave vivid accounts of their own lives, focussing on their very ordinary
backgrounds and describing how they followed their dreams and ambitions.
In every case, the stories were aspirational yet grounded in real life accounts. These were inevitably followed by many interesting questions and answers.
Books at Home Scheme
A new development has been our Books at Home scheme. Thanks to generous donations we have
been able to supply hundreds of our visiting authors’ books to all participating schools to furnish
the school libraries and to enable some children to take home and own a book - possibly for the first time.