Christmas Stickers

This Christmas, we have a unique way for you to show and share your support for Bag Books.

Our Christmas Stickers can be used to personalise your cards and gift tags, to seal envelopes, and to wrap or decorate the presents you give. To see the different designs and to order visit our Christmas Stickers page.

BBC Radio 4 Appeal

The Actor and Comedian, John Sessions, recorded a Radio 4 Appeal for Bag Books which was broadcast on 2 November 2008. In his appeal he told the story of Emily, who was helped to begin learning and communicating with her favourite Bag Books story, "The Little Princess". If you missed the broadcast you can visit the BBC website where you can listen to it again. If you wish to donate, you can make a credit/debit card donation via our JustGiving.com page. We also have details of how you can make a donation by cheque. As of 11 November a total of £3,500 has been raised with more still to come - many thanks to all of our supporters.

Launch of Matilda

 To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication, the popular Roald Dahl story "Matilda" has been adapted as a Bag Books multi-sensory story so that it can now be enjoyed by people with learning disabilities.

The adaptation was launched at Chesham Library in Buckinghamshire on 9th September 2008 and told to children from the Heritage House Special School, Chesham. This was part of our Story-Go-Round tour of South East England which was partly funded by the Roald Dahl Foundation. The event was one of several local events which celebrated Roald Dahl Day, a nationwide celebration of the work, life and legacy of one of the world's favourite storytellers.

Chris Fuller, Director of Services at Bag Books said "Bag Books has been producing its own multi-sensory stories for 15 years but Matilda is our first adaptation of a mainstream book. It's a fantastic development and I'm sure it will be a great success with the audience."

The story is about Matilda, who is an exceptional girl, but whose parents think she is just a nuisance. When one day she is attacked by her odious headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, Matilda discovers she has a remarkable power with which to avenge herself!

The original publishers were Jonathan Cape Ltd and Penguin Books Ltd. The Bag Books Matilda story-pack has 20 page-cards with items such as:

• A rack of bones (shaped wood)
  
• Miss Trunchbull's chest and a lizard
  
• A whirring speedometer
  
• A purple wig
  
• Some fibre optics
  

The use of the story was authorised by the literary estate of Roald Dahl. The adaptation of the story and prototype development costs have been funded by the BAND Trust.

Introducing Dean

I am writing to introduce myself as the new Chief Executive and to tell you what an honour it is to be joining the team at such a unique and worthwhile charity.

I joined Bag Books in July coming from Contact a Family where I was Director of Finance and Fundraising. Contact a Family is a charity for parents with disabled children and I worked there for 17 years during which time the charity grew ten-fold. Prior to that I was the Manager of the Community Resources Unit at Loughborough Students' Union, encouraging students to raise money for charity and get involved in voluntary work. For 5 years I was also a part-time lecturer in special needs at a Further Education College.

I have an MBA and an MSc in Charity Accounting and Financial Management. I'm a member of the BBC Charity Appeals Advisory Committee and the Steering Committee of the ImpACT Coalition which aims to improve accountability and transparency in charities.

Bag Books was 15 years old a few weeks ago and I'm mindful of the tremendous amount of work and dedication that Chris and Richard have put into the charity during that time. They will be bowing out in February so I'm busy learning the ropes from them and hope to guide the charity forward with a steady set of hands in 2009 and beyond.

Dean Casswell
Chief Executive