Mentor Magic Moments
We couldn’t deliver our clubs and workshops without the support of our amazing team of volunteer Story Mentors and Illustrator Mentors.
Over the past year they have collectively given 62,490 minutes (1042 hours! 43 days!) of their time across 6 clubs and 8 standalone projects!
To celebrate their invaluable contribution here is a selection of heartwarming (and hilarious) Magic Moments they’ve shared with us - reflections from their experiences of supporting and inspiring our young writers. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have such a dedicated, passionate and talented team.
“My favourite moment was connecting with a child who had a fantastic character - a donkey who was “a bit full of himself” and was quite condescending to the other (imaginary) donkey on the farm!” - Bryony
“Ahmed has progressed so much since I first started working with him. It’s great to see him grow in confidence.” - Jackie
“Watching Clara come out of her shell and share her ideas. I love that she wrote her scrunchie turns into a dress all inspired by the word ‘rhubarb’” - Amelia
“Issa wrote a great paragraph about a boy who came to a party in a bin!” - Namse
“The child I mentored today is very shy and has not yet spoken to the group. However, she was full of ideas about her characters, and was able to whisper the information for me to share with the group. My magic moment was seeing her proud secret smile as the group listened carefully to her ideas” - Nancy
“I was particularly impressed with the comics drawn by the children. It was clear that last week’s illustration session had a lot of influence on their work.” - Himaya
“Today’s session was amazing. All the mentors have become close like a family. The children really have my and everyone’s trust. And all the children wrote the most I’ve ever seen before. But more importantly - they feel safe at Little Green Pig. And after attending for two years they have trust in me” - Ellie
“The child I have been working with completed an amazing story about her imagined two cats who live on the farm, she was particularly impressive in her empathy and understanding of life from her characters’ perspectives. She worked very hard throughout the project and is a skilled writer. She is quite shy, but she has increasingly gained confidence over the past few weeks to the extent that today she was able to read out and record her story herself.” - Jill
“Elena independently came up with a fantastic idea for a nature themed puzzle sheet. She had clear ideas, creative direction and had some clever ways to make her puzzles more challenging. It was a privilege to spend the whole session helping facilitate her great ideas!” - Bryony
“I worked one to one with Layla today. At first she wasn't keen to engage with the activity but after chatting with her she opened up to the idea and started to get really creative with the arts and crafts. She showed me a completely different side to her, and was so lovely to spend time with. She had lots of ideas, was very chatty, and ended up making 3 things after not wanting to make anything. She made a mask, a potion bottle and some sunglasses. Really great work!” - Amelia
“Lucy wrote an amazing story today after being inspired by the trip last week. Her confidence has grown so much, it’s such a wonderful thing to see. She wanted to draw the pictures herself and tell me everything in her words about her experience of everything she had remembered about being in nature and what had inspired her story ' The Princess in the forest' “ - Ellie
If you’ve been inspired by these Magic Moments and you’re interested in joining our wonderful team of volunteer mentors, please visit our Volunteering page for more details, or email sally@littlegreenpig.org.uk