What we Do

The Story Works is a charity which delivers fun and transformative creative writing workshops to young people across Dorset.

When children have experience of their voice being heard, they develop the self-confidence to seize further opportunities and achieve their true potential. Our mission is to help young people in Dorset do exactly this, through creative writing. We provide them with the guidance, space and tools to tap into their imagination and create something wonderful, in their own unique style. And the aim is that they leave our workshops feeling seen, valued and, maybe, with something they feel proud of to take home. 

Schools and community groups/other charities, can select their preferred choice of workshop in advance from the Workshop menu, with choices ranging from Super Heroes or Cosmic comics, to Word Karaoke and being a Sports Journalist for a day! Click here to see the whole range on offer, and then get in touch.

Where we are

Our partners, Bournemouth University, kindly offer us the use of their rooms and facilities on the Talbot Campus, near Wallisdown Road, in BH12 5BB. This allows us to provide our workshops in an accessible, well-equipped space, and offer schools and community groups a chance to see and experience a university campus.

We also take our workshops into local schools, so that school children can benefit from our workshops, without the need to travel.

Who we are

We are a registered charity which, thanks to our partnership with Bournemouth University, is able draw from a wide pool of talented and creative students, who volunteer to assist us during our workshops. We are also lucky enough to have a dedicated panel of trustees with years of experience in writing, publishing and education, plus a strong, shared belief in the transformative power of creative writing.

The Team

Dee Hughes

Dee is a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Bournemouth University and professional scriptwriter with both film and television credits to his name. Dee has a particular interest in education and is presently studying for his Ed Doc. His research is centred on teaching methods with a particular focus on Team Based Learning. He is also the showrunner for a joint staff-student film-making collaboration to be filmed at Bournemouth University.

Emma Scattergood

Emma has worked as a writer and editor for both book and magazine publishers. She was responsible for designing and launching the MA Creative Writing and Publishing at Bournemouth University, as well as BU’s Fresher Publishing, which runs The Bournemouth Writing Prize. For many years she managed the Writing Witches, which delivered free creative writing workshops in primary schools.

She also has a particular interest in writing for wellbeing and personal development and delivers workshops on reflective writing to GPs, in association with the Wessex Deanery.

Emma lives in Highcliffe and can usually be found walking the cliffs or having a quick dip in the sea.

Ali Sparkes

Ali is the author of the Shapeshifter series, Car-Jacked and the Blue Peter Award winning Frozen In Time, among more than fifty other titles for children and young adults. She’s a regular performer at Hay and Edinburgh Festivals as well as in schools all over the world. Starting out as a local newspaper reporter, she spent several years as a BBC broadcast journalist before her first children’s novel was published in 2006. A mum of two implausibly grownup sons, Ali lives in Southampton with her husband and a labradoodle who loves too much…

rick broadbent

Rick Broadbent

Rick is an award-winning author and sportswriter for The Times. He has covered six Olympic Games, as well as World Cups, Champions League Finals, Wimbledon and Formula One. His books cover football, motorsport, boxing and the maverick primate expert who co-founded Monkey World. He has also ghost-written books with Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill and has written two books for children, Sports Legends and People Power. Away from the day job Rick set up www.presspackers.com to help children with their literacy via journalism workshops. He lives in Bournemouth with his wife and dog and has two grown-up (ish) children. His favourite adult book is The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. His favourite children’s book is When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle.

Supported by

Liselot Smulders – Volunteer Co-Ordinator

From an exotic destination in an entirely different time zone (The Netherlands), Liselot helps out as the first point of contact for volunteers. She has a background in media and entertainment management and, in 2018, spent a semester at Bournemouth University in order to dive deep into the world of scriptwriting. She is eclectic, loves to salsa dance, and – although very down to Earth – spends much of her spare time hanging off climbing walls!

Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane champions the joy of learning and the freedom to express ourselves as a tool to increase our wellbeing. She has a background in health and social care project management, currently working for Community Action Network as the Wellbeing Collaborative Lead. SJ has lived and worked in Dorset all her life, and has a passion for life long learning. She can generally be found paddling in the sea or getting lost in the woods which inspires her to write freeform poetry.

Beth Mathews

Schools Liaison Officer at Bournemouth University. Beth and the Schools Liaison & Partnerships Team support the delivery of workshops by connecting the charity with our brilliant Student Ambassadors. Relatively new to Dorset, Beth enjoys exploring the local area with her collie Ziggy (Stardust).  

Christian Edwardes

Christian is the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Illustration course at AUB. He studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Art, and work, where he developed a real interest in art theory. Besides writing about art, he has a particular love of abstract comics and visual narratives. He is currently reading In Waves by A J Dungo, a graphic novel about surfing (although he can’t surf!).

PLUS all of our lovely workshop volunteers! Get Involved!