Rotherham United

On October 9th New York Stadium was the venue for a celebration of football and reading. 

Author Tom Palmer spent the day inspiring local youngsters, who enjoyed a reading quiz and a penalty shoot out followed by a tour of the grounds.

Hundreds of local children attended, including classes from Herringthorpe Junior School, High Greave School, Thorogate School, Roughwood Primary School and Greasbrough Primary School. They had the opportunity to ask Tom all about his hugely popular books, and they also got some great tips on how to improve their writing themselves!

Tom, who has published 41 books, many inspired by the world of sport, said “It was great to meet so many young people from Rotherham, I was really impressed by the sorts of questions they asked.”

The day was organised by local literacy charity Grimm and Co, who work in central Rotherham to support children’s reading and writing through unique and inspiring projects. Creative Learning Manager Sally Thomas said “The children were clearly thrilled to meet a real author, and, as many of his books are about football, Rotherham United was the ideal venue. Grimm and Co’s mission is to “change lives, one story at a time”-  and if Tom inspired some children to become authors themselves in the future, that’s our mission achieved.”

The event was the first partnership between Grimm and Co and Rotherham United’s very own Community Sports Trust. Jamie Noble, Head of Community at RUFC said “We want Rotherham United to be at the heart of the local community, so working with organisations like Grimm and Co is really important to us, to ensure we support local children’s education in a fun and inspirational way.”

Rotherham United Community Sports Trust and Grimm and Co will be working together on future projects, to find out more go to ... or follow Grimm and Co on facebook.

Visit www.rucst.co.uk for more information on the Community Sports Trust