A mother and daughter raised £3,417 for the Baytree Centre after writing and selling their own book.
During lockdown, 7-year-old Anouska started to write a story as part of her English home school work. Her mum, Sarah, thought it was so good that together they continued to write the story for her teacher and their loved ones.
The book ended up being longer than they had planned and Sarah had the idea to publish it and to raise money for charity.
“It became clear that the story Anouska was creating was as good as some books for her age group, we thought that it would be amazing to get it properly printed and bound,” Sarah said.
What started out as an alternative to home schooling, took on a life of its own as Sarah and Anouska would constantly chat about their project and sometimes act out plot lines of the story together in the kitchen.
“We looked for a local charity. When I read what Baytree did and how they helped girls like me, I knew that I really wanted to raise money to help,” Anouska said.
They paid for all the printing and distribution costs themselves in the hope that some of their friends and family would be persuaded to make a donation to Baytree for a copy.
Anouska’s school supported them throughout the process and their local bookshop, Tales on Moon Lane put up posters in the shop to advertise the book. “We have been absolutely overwhelmed by people’s generosity,” Sarah said.
The story follows a girl called Rosie who gets stuck in a book with an evil sprite who is attempting to destroy the South Pole. Will Rosie and her friends be able to save it?
Sarah has handled all sales of the book herself and although there are only a few copies left, is keen to publish more as the feedback has been so positive.
This generous donation will allow us to continue running positive activities for girls in Brixton this term, allowing them to reach their full potential.
You can still pick up a copy at Tales on Moon Lane to support Baytree Centre and Anouska and Sarah.
