First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively for pleasure and agency. First Story's strap line is 'Changing Lives Through Writing'. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find their own voices and, in doing so, to thrive in education and in life. The charity primarily works in state secondary schools serving low-income communities and its operating regions are Greater London, the East Midlands and the North of England. First Story's flagship programme places professional writers into schools for one or two terms. These Writers-in-Residence work intensively with a group of students and their teachers to develop confidence, creativity and writing ability. The programme culminates in the publication of an anthology of students' writing, edited by their Writer-in-Residence. First Story professionally produces over 60 new publications every year and each anthology has a unique cover design and ISBN. In addition to its core programme offer, the charity also runs creative writing competitions and events for programme participants. The charity's current Chief Executive is Antonia Byatt, a former head of arts organisations English PEN and the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Its current Chair of Trustees is Ed Baden-Powell and Patron is Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall. In the 2018-19 academic year, First Story worked in 73 schools across England and 1,565 students completed its intensive Writer-in-Residence programme.
History
First Story was founded in London in 2008 by a former Teach First teacher, Katie Waldegrave, and a professional writer, William Fiennes, to provide young people in state education with extra-curricular support to develop their confidence, creativity and writing ability. Fiennes and Waldegrave met in 2007, when she was a history teacher at Cranford Community College in west London, and he was the Writer-in-Residence at the fee-paying American School in London. Together they developed a plan to bring Fiennes' creative writing expertise into Waldegrave's less well-resourced state school. Based on the success of this pilot project, a year later the pair founded First Story. The organisation's registered charitable objectives are:
To advance the education of students in secondary schools in low-income communities by providing facilities for education in creative writing that aren’t required to be provided by the local education authority.
To help young people advance in life by providing support, opportunities and activities which foster their creativity, literacy and talent, in order to build self-confidence, skills and aspiration so they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society.
To promote the arts and, in particular, literature, poetry and creative writing, by inviting, commissioning and maintaining the services of British writers, and by encouraging and assisting in the promotion, advancement and publication of the works of British writers.
As First Story's first Executive Director, Katie Waldegrave oversaw the charity's growth from one school in London, to more than 50 participating schools nationally. She stepped-down from day-to-day running of the organisation in 2014, but remains actively involved as a trustee. The organisation still adhere's to Fiennes' philosophy and creative writing pedagogy and he remains close to the organisation as a trustee.
