Barnes Children’s Literature Festival receives The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

  • Friday, June 4, 2021

Barnes Children’s Literature Festival has been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. The award recognises their outstanding voluntary work towards improving the lives of children and families through the promotion of literacy and literature in the community.

Image - Barnes Children’s Literature Festival receives The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service

The University is the Festival’s official Creative Partner and every year supports the event which takes place during the summer in Barnes. This year the event for families will take place over two days in late June. There are a wide range of events taking place, including talks from Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson, Sir Michael Morpurgo and Frank Cottrell-Boyce and the UK's favourite comedian Julian Clary.  

The Festival also runs a successful Primary Schools Programme which this year received Arts Council funding to expand to boroughs north of the river. This month they will be providing 2000 free places for primary schools in north London to attend their programme which will be held at the Genesis Theatre in Tower Hamlets.  

This expanded programme is in addition to the sessions provided to primary schools in Richmond, Wandsworth and the surrounding boroughs, which will take place at the London Wetlands Centre this year.  

The Schools Programme is broken down by key stage, with different days tailored to different groups. The line up is different for each location, and each day and is tailored to the age groups. This year it includes former Blue Peter presenter Connie Huq and Roman history expert Caroline Lawrence returns with internationally bestselling author, comedian and former doctor, Adam Kay, and the winner of the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Funny Book Award, poet Joshua Seigal.  

You can find out more on the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival and book your tickets here.  

At Roehampton we offer postgraduate degrees in Children’s Literature, Creative Writing and Publishing, and undergraduate programmes in English Literature and Creative and Professional Writing.