Night of entertainment anything but Grimm

Hundreds attended Graham Grimm’s Glorious Grand Gala at Barnsley’s Civic Theatre, to see youngsters’ imaginations turned into professional plays and prose.

Authors, soap stars and award-winning stage actors all donated their time to perform the pieces — with the young writers in the best seat.

An almost-full house was treated to three short plays, one short film and several short stories, all created in workshops run by Grimm and Co.

The literacy charity welcomed writing mentors over the summer holidays for story masterclasses at its town centre shop.

These produced a whole evening of entertainment, directed by Paul Clayton — TV soap veteran and charity patron.

Some of Paul’s showbiz friends — including David Mitchell and Sophie Ellis-Bextor — appeared on video to wish the cast, crew and charity well.

Young writers sat in an onstage throne while their celebrity supporters breathed life into their works.

Their original comedies met with laughs, cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Some had paid for VIP tickets, which entitled them to meet the celebrities backstage.

The evening was paid for with a Kickstarter fundraising campaign, which took over £3,000 online.

Raffles and tombolas raised £3,800 more for the charity on the night, with prizes including West End theatre tickets and a holiday to France.

This cash will help to run more children’s writing workshops, the likes of which produced the gala.

After the event, Paul said: “I was thrilled that this was such a success, made so by so many people’s efforts.

“How brilliant it was to create a night of magic all inspired by and centred around the writings of young people who had worked with Grimm and Co.”

He added: “It was wonderful to see the joy of the children seeing their stories performed — and the audience rise to their feet and cheer\!q at the end.

“Our guest actors and storytellers had a ball and loved being part of something so special. Truly there was magic in the air on Saturday night.”

Charity founder Deborah Bullivant said: “The night was spectacular, with children and young people as the stars of the whole occasion.

“Professional actors had taken their scripts and stories seriously, learning their lines in just the same way as they would for the likes of Alan Bennett.

“The young writers were thrilled, proud and inspired by the response to words they had created in their heads just a few weeks before.”

She added: “This show was Paul’s brainchild — he raised the funds, put his own money towards it and brought the expertise together.

“Paul is such a fabulous patron, as are fellow patrons Joanne Harris and Jeremy Dyson.

“We are proud to have such talent, belief and generosity supporting our charity.”

Grimm and Co hopes to make the gala an annual event. For more information on the charity, visit www.grimmandco.co.uk.