First Story

First Story We’re England’s leading creative writing charity for young people.

Our talented professional writers equip students in under-served communities with the confidence and skills to tell their own stories. First Story brings talented, professional writers into secondary schools serving low-income communities to work with teachers and students to foster creativity and communication skills. By helping students find their voices through intensive, fun programmes, First Story raises aspirations and gives students the skills and confidence to achieve them.

Great couple of days at with the brilliant
06/06/2026

Great couple of days at with the brilliant

We’re at today for our North West Connect event! Students from , and have come together for a day of workshops and pe...
04/06/2026

We’re at today for our North West Connect event! Students from , and have come together for a day of workshops and performances, with our wonderful writers .

The event is in partnership with Manchester City of Literature’s Festival of Libraries 📚

Happy ! At First Story, biscuits are so much more than a snack – they are the perfect way to fuel creativity, inspire c...
29/05/2026

Happy ! At First Story, biscuits are so much more than a snack – they are the perfect way to fuel creativity, inspire conversations, and get students sharing and writing.
 
🍪 “The humble chocolate biscuit – along with other flavours – has been central to the Carlton Keighley creative writing group’s sessions [...] students’ discussions, friendships and chats took off when the bourbon, chocolate-chip and other biscuits and juice arrived halfway through” – Irene Lofthouse (), Writer-in-Residence at Carlton Keighley 🍪
 
So much so that in December we counted down to the festive season with our 12 Days of Biscuitmas, celebrating our work through our young writers’ favourite treats, and finally crowning the humble homemade cookie as our voted winner! This National Biscuit Day, why not settle down with your sweet treat of choice and start writing?
 
Great writing needs good nourishment – sometimes biscuits, always support. Donate today to our Young Writers Programme and help nourish the next generation of storytellers. Link in bio 🌟
 

SAVE THE DATE! National Writing Day 2026 is on Wednesday 24 June and everyone is invited to join in. Sign up to our mail...
20/05/2026

SAVE THE DATE! National Writing Day 2026 is on Wednesday 24 June and everyone is invited to join in.

Sign up to our mailing list by 1 June: https://mailchi.mp/firststory/newsletter-sign-up to get advance info on this year’s writing activity, created by award-winning author and First Story Ambassador Patrice Lawrence and share your words on the day using hashtag .

07/05/2026

Young Creatives Manager Rose has had a packed April! With poetry performances, Young Creatives launch and the Cambridge Young Writers Festival, here is a snapshot of her month 🌟

Spring has officially sprung, and we’ve been busy! 🌷 Here’s what the First Story team, writers and pets got up to in Apr...
01/05/2026

Spring has officially sprung, and we’ve been busy! 🌷 Here’s what the First Story team, writers and pets got up to in April:
 
✏️ The fantastic Young Creatives Collective launched their zine, Inklings, in Nottingham
✏️ Syd basked in the sun in Llanberis 🐶
✏️ .m.dassu inspired hundreds of students as our Festival headline speaker
✏️ Programmes Assistant Ben took a break to hike The Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal
✏️ and kicked off podcasting for the London Voice project
✏️ Lovely spring flowers from .library
✏️ launched his new book, attended by Annette, Alice and Ben
✏️ Cows spotted in Cambridge after Young Writers Festival
✏️ Office birthday cake for Ellen 🎂
✏️ A very full car heading back from Cambridge
✏️ Congratulations to Festival Competition winner, Diego from !
✏️ FS cats enjoyed the garden (and the sink...)

01/05/2026

Yesterday we announced our stunning 100 Word Story Competition winners for 2026. 🥳 Today we’re sharing the insightful comments from our judges - a huge thanks to Meg, Alex and Rachael for supporting the competition.

Excited to announced the winners of our 100 Word Story Competition 2026 which once again showcased the amazing talent of...
30/04/2026

Excited to announced the winners of our 100 Word Story Competition 2026 which once again showcased the amazing talent of our young writers. Huge thanks to the team at Bonnier Books for judging the competition.

⭐1st Place - 'Helen's Secret' by Maryam, Hampstead School, London

⭐2nd Place - 'The Firework That Was Scared Of Change' by Emilia, Thomas Tallis School, London

⭐3rd Place - 'The Mud Green Jaguar' by Filip, Co-op Academy North Manchester

⭐Highly Commended entries by
Evangeline, Trinity Church of England High School, Manchester
Menekşe, St. Paul’s Way, London
Malaika, Nottingham Academy
Beth, Longcroft School and Sixth Form College, East Yorkshire
Hattie, St. Saviour's and St. Olave's School, London

Read all of the stories and judges comments on our winners on our website: https://firststory.org.uk/100-word-story-competition-winners-2025-26/

22/04/2026

What a day! Thank you to everyone who came along and took part in our Young Writers Festival 2026 at the University of Cambridge 🩷

A big thanks to for being an INCREDIBLE host and to .m.dassu for honouring us with her reading, Q&A panel and kindly signing her brilliant books for the Young Writers ✨

We had so much fun at the workshops, expo and showcase - we hope you all did too! ✨

We’re at the University of Cambridge today for our annual Young Writers Festival, in partnership with the Faculty of Eng...
21/04/2026

We’re at the University of Cambridge today for our annual Young Writers Festival, in partnership with the Faculty of English. Over 300 young people will be joining us for a creative fun day including: workshops with fab First Story writers, Q&A with headline speaker .m.dassu , campus tours, a lunchtime expo and showcase.

Address

44 Webber Street, South Bank
London
SE18QW

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when First Story posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category