Milton Keynes pupils get the festive feeling at Christmas storytelling event

Milton Keynes pupils have been getting that festive feeling at a special Christmas storytelling event.

Schoolchildren at Bow Brickhill C of E Primary School attended the event organised by Barratt and David Wilson Homes. Bow Brickhill C of E Primary is a catchment school for the Barratt and David Wilson’s Woburn Downs development in Milton Keynes and the event is another part of the firm’s outreach to the local community.

The pupils were treated to a storytelling of A Christmas Carol and other stories by experienced storyteller Mark Fraser, to help them get into the festive spirit ahead of Christmas.

Mark said: “It was a great privilege to be able to share these wonderful stories with the pupils at Bow Brickhill C of E Primary School. It always amazes me that children will engage, create and be enraptured by storytelling. It is wonderful to see large corporate businesses supporting and encouraging such creativity."Elinor Wiemer, School Business Support at Bow Brickhill C of E Primary School, said: "It was fantastic to see the look of joy on the children’s faces as they listened to Mark retell the story of Scrooge. They laughed along as he constantly changed hats to help depict the different characters and said how much they enjoyed it as they went back to their classrooms.”A pupil at the school commented: “It was really funny when Mark kept changing all the hats and stacked them all on his head at the end and he used loads of expression to bring the story to life!”The children experienced first-hand how oral storytelling has allowed stories to survive and evolve over thousands of years, and across continents.

Alison Raine, Sales Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Northampton, said: “It was a pleasure to host a storytelling session for pupils from Bow Brickhill C of E Primary School and Mark’s stories really enchanted the children which was great to see.

“Events such as these give us the opportunity to make a difference in the communities in which we build and encourage skills such as reading, writing, listening and creativity amongst local children.”

More information about Mark’s work visit the website.