Course 66, ‘A Rock and a Hard Place: Underground Mysteries’ has just finished and we look forward to the start of Course 67 at the end of this month and which will be based on the topic of ‘Gaming’. More details to follow.
These 6-week courses last for 9 hours each and are based around school term times, avoiding holiday weekends wherever possible. We charge a nominal fee of £42.00 per child, per course. We are full but you may APPLY NOW to go onto our waiting list by downloading the Application Form APPLICATIONFORM2025
Pen to Paper cannot exist without our volunteers. We are exceptionally lucky to have a friendly, sensitive and super-supportive group of secondary school and college students who come to support the children. Thank you to Anneka, Hayden, Henry, Nathan and Polly for all your help and to Liam and Gerrard for pitching in from time to time. We wish our outstanding volunteer, Eleanor, and former pentopaperer, all the very best with her new Saturday job. Come back and see us sometime and bring your smiles 🙂
The NEW Bonkers Book, series number 7, launched in October 2025. The book, The Big Book of Bonkers, is a celebration of work by children and adults aged 7 years upwards who have attended our creative writing courses over the past year. There are fantasy stories, scripts written about Sherlock Hamster, The Party Invitation, Camp Half-Blood: Glam, Chaos and Romance, Little Peacock, The Haunting of Toadstool Shack, to give just a flavour and a whole section on Jane Austen’s times, with poetry, beautiful maps and even a script written by one group, a collaboration entitled Mr. Darcy and His Wives. With fantasy stories such as Cat Girl, Countless Secrets, Bonkers House Party and Stupendous Snail, Parts I – III, the first print run has SOLD OUT. Further orders can be placed at £9.99 per book (+p&p at £2.40 per copy = £12.39) by contacting Sarah Lucas direct on puttingpentopaper13@gmail.com.
When and Where: Courses run on Saturday mornings from 9.30 am to 11.00 am at the Alton Maltings Centre, Alton, with the occasional double. Places are strictly limited at a cost of £42.00 per child, per six-week course.
Self-Development: Secondary school-age children they have the opportunity to come back to work with us as Young Mentors and then at sixth form/college age they are able to come in to work as Volunteers which helps with the volunteering category of such schemes as the Duke of Edinburgh. More recently we have attracted interest from the wider community who wish to ‘give something back’. Do get in touch if you would like to volunteer (an Enhanced DBS check is an essential if you are aged 16+) for a three-, six-month or ‘see how it goes’ commitment.
Who We Are: Run by course leader Sarah Lucas – writer, publisher, workshop provider and language tutor – courses are held during weekends and school holidays only. Now in its eleventh year, Pen to Paper would like to extend a big ‘thank you’ to all who have supported us over the years, East Hampshire District Council, the National Lottery, The Rotary Club of Alton and Medstead, to mention but a few.
Where to Find Information: Contact Sarah on 01420 587351 or at puttingpentopaper13@gmail.com for more details.
Want to talk to us about your child’s literacy or volunteering needs? Do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
Sarah Lucas
Pen to Paper, 07500 359308, puttingpentopaper13@gmail.com
TESTIMONIALS – P2P
1.‘Isla was never given the time in school to fully explore her imagination whilst writing and was starting to feel frustrated. P2P has rekindled and grown her love of reading and writing and helped her to feel proud of herself. She has even read her published p2p story to her class at school which was very special for her.’ T.
2.‘Not all children like loud, sporting activities. P to P has given my child the space in a small group environment to be creative. He has attended for many years on a Saturday.’ F.
3.‘Hannah loves her weekly writing. She likes to show us her creations and share her ideas. She is able to share news and use words beyond her age. The support and encouragement she receives has helped her confidence to grow. The group is an enormous treasure trove of fascinating young minds who share their amazing imaginations, they inspire further writing/and illustrating of fiction and non-fiction during the week. This opportunity for sheer creativity is not offered in school time. It is the most important and valuable activity that Hannah does (my two older children benefitted in so many ways from attending P2P in past years, ie their confidence and ability in reading and writing and sharing ideas publicly.)’ N.
4.‘Your group is truly valuable which stimulates the children’s imagination and creativity.’ L.
5.‘A huge thank you to you and your fabulous dedicated team at putting pen to paper. Edward’s confidence in writing has boosted his belief in himself. Edward loves coming to the class every week, and has formed some lovely new friends too. What’s more, his teacher spoke to me this week commenting on Edward’s writing skills. What a wonderfully empowering workshop you’ve created. So special.’ S.
6.‘No words can describe how grateful I am for such a Saturday writing club. It is not only nurturing the little one’s imagination but also another way to express themselves in the writing world rather than another time on a soulless gadget. Thanks a lot for your initiative!!!’ L.
7.‘Thank you for another year of delightful opportunities to delve into the imagination. Thanks for all of your time and energy that you give to p2p. A determined “yes please” from H. to the next course.’ N.
8.‘Yes please to Beth next term and any summer workshops please. She LOVES it! Thank you for your dedication and fun way of learning & writing ’ A.
9.‘We love your sessions. Amberly gets so much from them and she is always up for chatting about what she’s been doing and the characters/work she’s created with her group of friends. We are also really grateful that you are still running the sessions without funding, they really should be funding you because there is nothing like this for kids anywhere else, and it gives creative children the opportunity to really express themselves, listen to each other and see just how much fun writing can be.’ L.
10.“We have been bowled over by Patrick at the moment, within the last few weeks it is like a switch has been flicked on inside his head, I mean in his thinking about words and their meanings, and then he is coming up with rhymes, and he has been composing poetry. On his last parents evening Mr Wilson told us that Patrick’s reading age was 11, this was amazing news to hear. He enjoys working with the young mentors at PP2P too, their enthusiasm and help has been invaluable to him. We credit PP2P with Patrick’s thorough enjoyment of both reading and writing, he is having these things modelled outside of school and in a very fun way with themes he can access.” & Mrs. N.
11.“Hi Sarah (…) Henry won the half term award for English and one for Drama for his first half term at secondary school – I think only two people were selected for each subject for his year. He was also chosen to be a part of the small group who took part in the school’s submission to the “write path” writing competition and his school won! They won £100 of books for the school library. In his final term at his previous school he also starred in the production of jungle book as Mowgli and at his last Christmas production he sung a lovely solo in a cockney accent (as a chimney sweep) – something that I am not sure he would’ve done a few years ago! That’s what Pen to Paper has done for him.” S.
12.“… Ana is absolutely loving your sessions and cannot wait for Saturdays to come. We know she loves writing so we are glad she can share this hobby with other passionate peers and to learn from you.” P.
13.“It was so good for Harry to be able to express himself amongst his friends and do something that was just for him, not involving school friends or his brother. We are very happy with how pen to paper has boosted our son’s writing confidence. Massive thank you to you and your team!” N.
14.‘Once again thank you for the brilliant course that you run… The Bonkers Book V was great … look out David Walliams!’ D.
15.‘I will photocopy Ella’s school report page to show you on Saturday – her English marks have shot ahead! Thank you for providing such an inspiring club.’ M.
16.‘Just wanted to drop you a line as I don’t tend to drop off then it’s manic at pickup and I don’t cope with lots of people. Jack absolutely loves the course. He doesn’t see it as work at all and looks forward to Saturday mornings. He also really enjoys being part of something so popular and with your updates in between classes. He goes to a poorly attended karate class and it’s made him realise how good your communication is. He felt the reception was warm and welcoming from week 1 and that means a lot to me.’ H.
17.’Since my daughters have attended Putting Pen to Paper, I have seen them grow in confidence with their writing, to the extent that my younger daughter now writes for pleasure and my elder daughter has overcome her problems with English at school. As a teacher, the confidence and enthusiasm that students show for writing and sharing their ideas, having attended PP2P, has been very pleasing to see. The scheme has also proved to be very enthusiastic in welcoming young people participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, providing a stimulating and rewarding volunteering experience.’ C., (teacher and DoE school contact)
18.‘As a volunteer it is a joy to be part of P to P and see individual children growing in confidence and ideas from week to week.’ Grace, 18-year old college student
19.’Pen to Paper does more than just develop creative writing skills. Working towards publishing a book each year builds up pride and confidence as well as teaches transferrable skills. It gives a window into how the grown-up world of publishing works. Sarah professionally steers the course whilst managing to keep it child-led with ideas. The knock-on effect is that the kids become a team, each one having a say and a vote when making decisions.’ Linda, volunteer and grandmother of 4
20.‘Having the opportunity to go to pp2p makes my town and community a happier place to live, it is like opening a treasure box, but actually it’s your own head that holds the treasure, pp2p helps you find the key. First I was a young pp2p writer, now I am a ‘young mentor’. The group has always welcomed me and everyone else. It is a safe and happy place to freely share ideas. My confidence in both writing and reading aloud has grown so much. I am so happy that I have helped to publish three books.’ Etta