Dane rewards young writers for World Book Day

To celebrate World Book Day, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation hosted a ‘Spurs Story’ competition at the Stadium to inspire and motivate students to write.

Five classes from three local schools, Lea Valley, Lancasterian and Devonshire Hill primaries, were tasked to create a Spurs-themed story with a total word count of 442.

Participants from the three schools were treated to an exclusive tour of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a workshop on women’s impact in sport - tying in with International Women’s Day - and the prize-giving ceremony, with special guest Dane Scarlett.

Author Dan Freedman, a passionate Spurs fan and creator of CBBC football drama ‘Jamie Johnson’, joined the event to act as the judge of the stories after he had taken part in a Q&A with the attendees.

Dane said: “Reading’s so important for kids as it allows them to express themselves as well as being a good skill for the future. I heard some amazing stories today and was even getting goosebumps listening to them!

“It's brilliant the Club and the Foundation provides these opportunities, and for the kids to be able to meet Dan Freedman. I've seen some of his books whilst growing up and I’m so pleased to see them all enjoy their day.”

There were 150 children in attendance at the Stadium to compete for different awards run by the Foundation.

The overall winner was Skylar from Devonshire Hill, who wrote about a fan attending a game and finding a secret key to open a portal.

Prizes included three home first-team shirts, three Spurs-branded backpacks and scarfs, and three Premier League footballs.

Maria Kokotsis, Head at Lea Valley, said: “This is all about inspiring our future generation. I always say we’re lucky at Lea Valley because of the relationship we have with Spurs and also the inspirational Stadium – it’s the best in the world. The opportunity to meet authors and talk not only about sport today, but also about writing and reading, was amazing. One of our children actually said this was the best trip they’d been on!”

In addition, some children received free books, as part of the Premier League Primary Stars giveaway for World Book Day, supported by the National Literacy Trust.

Andrew Wands, Education Manager for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, said: “All these pupils have worked so hard on their stories, as part of their Premier League Primary Stars sessions, and what a day this has been to reward them. We’re very fortunate to be able to host them here at this world-class stadium and to have had Dane join us was exciting for everyone.

“Not only have we given out a free book to children here, but we’re also delivering stacks across other local schools.”

Premier League Primary Stars uses the appeal of football to help children to be active and develop essential life skills, and the Foundation has delivered the programme to thousands of children in schools across north London.

Dan Freedman added: “The Foundation’s done a magnificent job with this writing competition and I know it does equally incredible work in local schools as part of Premier League Primary Stars.

“We know teachers are amazing and some of what’s told here will be a repeat, but when you do it in the context of one of the best stadiums in the world, when you’ve got Dane Scarlett, when you’ve got the badge, the power of these elements, I think we can realistically hope to change the outlook of these local kids for the rest of their lives.”