.svg){kind=icon}
Seven Stories
Celebrating and sharing Britain’s rich literary heritage for children
Founded: 1996
Charity Details
Full Name: Seven Stories – The National Centre for Children’s Books Limited
Field: Arts, Culture and Heritage
Founded: 1996
Headquarters: Newcastle, NE1 2PQ
Charity No: 1056812
History and Activities
Seven Stories is one of the jewels in the crown of the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector of the North East that plays an important role on the national literary stage. It is based nearby the quayside in central Newcastle. The Centre’s £6.5 million visitor centre opened in 2005. The Seven Stories charity was established in 1996 by Elizabeth Hammill and Mary Briggs to “collect, champion and celebrate children literature”, which is seen as fundamental to a healthy society because of its impact on literacy and learning.
Seven Stories runs “a lively museum with daily programmes of exhibitions, author and illustrator talks, shows, storytelling, arts and learning activities and courses.” Recent events have included Spectacular Drag Story Time and Rainbow Rave, both part of the Curious Art Festival, an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ culture across the North East. In 2016/17, three new exhibitions were curated: Michael Morpurgo, A Lifetime in Stories; Bears!, exploring the enduring presence of bears in children’s literature; and, 80 Years of Little Tim, displaying classic Edward Ardizzone illustrations.
Seven Stories boasts an impressive archive of rare and interesting examples of children’s literature from world-renowned writers. In 2015, Michael Morpurgo donated several unpublished manuscripts. The War Horse and Private Peaceful author praised Seven Stories for filling “an obvious gap in our culture by founding a national children's literature archive and by using it to make amazing exhibitions". The charity owns rare works from other iconic children’s writers such as Enid Blyton, Phillip Pullman and Judith Kerr, many donated by authors. Its collections are used to put together touring exhibitions, which are enjoyed by children and adults in all parts of the UK. These exhibitions are in high demand, require a lot of skill and imagination to curate, and justify the designation of Seven Stories as a national centre.
In the accounting year 2016/17, Seven Stories welcomed 62,778 visitors. It successfully applied in 2017 to Arts Council England (ACE) for inclusion in its National Portfolio as a funded organisation. The majority of its funding now comes from ACE. Additionally, Seven Stories received generous support from many charitable trusts and foundations, including the Gillian Dickinson Charitable Trust, Idlewild Trust, Sir James Knott Trust, Hadrian Trust and the Ballinger Charitable Trust.
Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2017)
| Total Income (TI):
| £1,683,902
|
| Philanthropic Income (PI):
| £188,196
|
| PI as % of TI:
| 11.2%
|
| Employees:
| 62
|
| Volunteers:
| 43
|
| Charitable Spending:
| £4,147,049
|
| Investments at Year End:
| £9,741
|
Website
https://www.sevenstories.org.uk/
References
Almond, D. (2015). David Almond: The tale of Seven Stories. The Guardian, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
BBC News. (2012). Seven Stories book centre given national status, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Charity Commission. (2017). Seven Stories- Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Flood, A. (2010). Rare Enid Blyton manuscripts acquired by Seven Stories museum, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Hutchinson, L (2015). Newcastle’s Seven Stories centre for children’s books to get £750,000 refurbishment, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Seven Stories. (2018). Seven Stories – Home, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Wikipedia. (2018). Seven Stories, Available at: here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).
Youngs, I. (2016). Michael Morpurgo archive yields unpublished books. BBC News, Available here (Accessed: 02/08/2018).