I am happy to do virtual or face to face author talks. As a trained teacher and public speaker I have given numerous talks to schools, colleges, community groups and museums on the topic of child labour and education in the Victorian Era. All talks are interactive and involve the children and young people in the session. I include activities such as quizzes, pictures, and other resources, in order to bring the talks to life ! 

Sessions can last anything between 30-60 mins. As school budgets are stretched at present, I am offerning my talks for free, to coincide with the launch of the second book in the series: Children of the City: Life and work in Victorian London. (due September 2025). 

​Many schools et tasks for children to do, after the talk. For example The Plover School in Yorkshire launched a creative writing competition and the children wrote letters to Queen Victoria, complaining about conditions in the mines. You can see some of the results below. The winners of the best letters were awarded a signed copy of the book.

Another school created drawings of life down a mine, and the various aspects of the working day for young children. Whilst Cople School in Bedfordshire (Sheerhatch), wrote pieces imagining what it was like for Tim to be there on his first day down the mine, and the thoughts that might have been going through his mind at the time.

One school set up an activity where some pupils played the part of the mine owner and his wife, whilst others took the parts various characters in the mine. The play was then recorded for parents to watch during covid. 

Happy to set up a zoom call to discuss other ideas. 

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