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 (……) 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 to 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

A new book titled ‘Space, Hats & Magic’ was released to a group of excited young authors.  During the event, children read their stories and poems, celebrated their work and ate lots of cake.  In addition, there was a book signing where the authors, aged 6 to 14, signed each other’s books.  The event began at 11.30am.

‘It’s the best book yet!’ said one young mum, proud of her son’s literary achievements, with the comments ‘Awesome!’ and ‘I love it!’ posted by the children.

One young author, Gerrard, was quoted as saying:- “The Space Hats & Magic Book is hilarious and very imaginative!”

Entry was free, but the book, containing 210 pages and 50+ illustrations, cost £9.99. All proceeds from book sales go back into creating more spaces for children at creative writing group, Putting Pen To Paper.

For further information or to order a copy of ‘Space Hats & Magic’, contact Sarah on 01420 587351 or email her at puttingpentopaper13@gmail.com.

Watch out for our new snail link. It has been designed to inspire children to explore and appreciate what lies beyond their walls. With a mix of inspiring readings by our young writers of the future, to snails emerging from hibernation, creeping feet filmed in slo-mo, there’ll be a host of fun things for children of all ages to get involved in. 

The scratching is fierce. The noise drills into my brain. In the darkness of the kitchen, the slit of yellow from the hallway light running up the far end of the wall my only companion, I sit afraid.

I close my eyes. I pull my tentacles into my foot.

Before I disappear inside my shell, something dark pushes up against the outside of my tank.

The black blob is back. My tank moves. I shrink.  Head down, I dig into the peat. Something is coming. I’m falling. Ouch! Slime comes to my rescue. I am flung against the plastic wall of my tank – SPLAT! I cling on. Somehow …

There it was again. The scraping noise in the wall. Everyone had gone to bed. Not me. There I sat, in near-darkness on my bed of peat, my friends fast asleep below me. The light from the hallway cast a long, triangular beam of yellow onto the kitchen wall just around the corner. All I could see were shadows.
If I had a clock or a watch, I’d be able to tell you what time it was. But it was, literally, the middle of the night. Everywhere beyond the yellow slit was DARK.
The noise echoed around the kitchen which means it must have been loud. I am a snail after all and quite deaf.
All I know is, whatever it was, it was not walking around in the kitchen. If it had been walking, I would have felt the vibrations from its feet on the ground. They would have ricocheted all the way up the stool. They would have pulsed right into my tank.
I fell into an uneasy sleep. My foot felt cold inside its shell. And when morning came and I flung out an eye, there was no big, black blob hovering on the other side as before. Nothing steamed up the outside of the tank.
Whatever it is that scrapes in the wall in the night, I hope I never see it. There is only plastic between me and a certain death. There are only a few air vents keeping me in.
Do you know what’s in the wall? Do you know what scrapes at night? If you know where the big, black blob went, tell me, won’t you? I’m finding it hard to close my eyes.
Old Mac

There I was sitting in my tank, waiting for some food to arrive through my trap door when, blow me down, if it didn’t start raining sprouts! Not whole sprouts of course. Not those tiny pellets of nasty green. They would have damaged my foot. They could have damaged my shell. No. Someone had peeled sprouts and sent them in. And that night, when everyone was fast asleep tucked up in their beds, something happened.

I was about to get my teeth into the leaves when I heard a scraping noise in the wall next to my tank. It was so loud it echoed around the kitchen. Sounded like something was trying to get out of the wall and get into my space.

When morning came I saw this big black blob on the other side of my tank. I couldn’t see what it was. Just saw the blob, some steam frosting up the plastic, the blob again and then the steam. If only I could see!

There was no noise. Not this time. Then the blob just, well, it just disappeared. I’ve not seen it again. But I’ll be ready for it next time. I’m going to sit right where I saw it. And if it comes back, I’m going to be brave. I’m going to face up to it. I’m going to bare my teeth if it scares me.

Did you know we have teeth, snails? Did you? Most people don’t. They think we spit slime on our food and suck it up like a hoover. Or that it magically disappears into our body if we sit on it. Weird, hey?

Thank you for sending me sprouts. They’ve all gone you know. Now, if I could just catch that black blob again …

I hid from the fireworks in November. Not that I saw them, sitting as I was in my tank in the kitchen. I heard them. Not that we snails have ears. The ground shook. I felt the quivers all the way up the stool where I sat, high up in my tank, watching the world go fuzzily by. Even the dog shivered. She hid under the bench next to my stool and of course everyone came in to comfort her. But they forgot about me, quivering alone in my peat.

I say ‘alone’ but that’s telling a lie. And I know it’s bad to tell lies. My friend Slomo is here. As is Gary. And Shelley. But they’ve gone to sleep. And it’s getting darker. You might think that suits me. Well, it doesn’t, sliding around as I do in a cold tank in the dead of night when everyone’s in their beds. That’s when I’m active, busy looking for food, the snoring of the dog underneath my only company.

And in the daytime? Well! The kitchen is full of comings and goings and of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’. Everyone is cooking. I can see there are things getting wrapped on the kitchen table. Can anyone tell me what’s happening? There is much excitement …

I think they’ve forgotten me. I think they think I am already asleep, hibernating for the winter. I will, you know, hibernate. I’ll decide it’s way too cold, like Slomo, Gary and Shelley have already done, and bury myself deep in the soil. I’ll curl my foot into my shell. I’ll make a front door of slime. It’ll have a tiny breathing hole in its middle. But before I do any of that I need food. And lots of it 🙂

If you’re reading this and you feel sorry for me, will you send me some cucumber? Can you post me some sprouts? I love sprouts. Not sure they love me. I blew the lid off my tank once and anyone who has a snail tank will tell you the lids can be hard to get off. Oh, the things we do for the love of food!

If you know what’s going on … if you know why everyone’s getting so excited, can you tell me? I am just a lonely old snail in a tank. And everyone knows that snails are not just for Christmas …

Yours in hope,
Old McSlithers Tank on the Kitchen Stool, 1 Riseley Cottages, Selborne Road, Newton Valence,, Alton, Hampshire GU34 3RN

How time flies! We had a wonderful Alresford Show earlier this month with plenty of recipients of our baby snails at just one week old. How cute were they? So, here is the result of the Name the Snail competition. With 63 entries it was a record year and we are happy to say that the entries were not all from children. Without further ado, we are thrilled that the winning name is Afri, followed by (drum roll …) in second place, Slimie Fisher (see, keep on trying and you will get there 🙂 ) followed in third place by Pippy. 

And guess what? When we came back from Alresford we found eggs at the bottom of the tank a day later.  Hmmm … so we will have yet more babies to give away soon.

The bad news? We have a snail on the loose in the house. Even with a dog on the prowl, it’s been missing for two days. We’ve looked everywhere – I mean everywhere.  We’re laying cucumber traps tonight …

Thank you to everyone who supported our Green Token slot at Waitrose in Alton during the month of February. You helped to collect a wonderful £238.00 which will go towards providing more places for children aged 7-11 to engage with writing through community creative writing organisation, Putting Pen to Paper. A big thank you to Waitrose for selecting us as one of their local charities in the first place – lucky us! 🙂