Tom's Trust Supports

The Ministry of Stories was started in 2010 by Nick Hornby, who still takes an active interest. "The Ministry of Stories is a local writing and mentoring centre in east London, where anyone aged eight to 18 can come and discover their own gift for writing." They do this through a range of innovative writing programmes, and one-to-one mentoring, to help young people discover and realise their own creative potential. They engage the children's imagination -e.g. the entrance is a secret door with a password to get in, which they all shout out in unison.

They have visiting classes from Primary Schools in Hackney, Islington & Tower Hamlets and run 3 two-hour school workshops a week. The schools make a small financial contribution. (About £200, much less than the session costs to run.) Sometimes it will be a whole class with 8 mentors for 30 children, or sometimes the school will chose a group of children who would benefit from the experience. They have basic rules like obedience, respect and using their imagination..

There is also an after-school Club (running from 3.45pm to 5.00pm), for children who live within 500 metres of the Shop or attend one of 7 local schools. The Club meets on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and there are usually 15 to 20 attendees. The children commit to attending for a term. The idea is to introduce the children to books and publishing and to learn how to communicate well. They explain that writing is relevant not only to books, but also to films, songs, video games, etc. On one occasion a group were taken to Parliament to talk about the refugee crisis..

The children are not means-tested to take part, but the area is surrounded by tower block estates and many of the children have English as their second language. The sessions are run by two former teachers, who are keen that children should use their creativity. Most of the mentors are volunteers. There are around 300 active volunteers, mostly recruited by word of mouth. Tom's Trust has provided the Ministry of Stories with a small grant to help with the continuation and growth of this imaginative project..