Bristol hospital charity Above & Beyond has launched a special children’s anthology featuring work by some of the best-loved writers of the past 100 years to raise much-needed funds for the city’s Royal Hospital for Children.
Among the authors whose short stories, poems and illustrations appear in Don’t Be Scared are Jacqueline Wilson, Roald Dahl, Michael Morpurgo and Quentin Blake and Carol Ann Duffy. 
In total work by more than 30 authors, poets and illustrators contributed to Don’t Be Scared, which is published by Redcliffe Press and dedicated to all the children and families cared for at the hospital.
Filled with tales of thunder claps and walking chalk, dark nights, dare-devil sheep and huffy cats, the book shares the magic and fears of childhood for children and grown-ups to enjoy. Some are fables, some adventures, some are wickedly funny; all of them fizz with imagination and a child’s sense of wonder.
Award-winning contributor Geraldine McCaughrean, who read an extract from her story ‘Sidecar’ at the launch, also spoke about why she decided to get involved with the project:
She said: “There are times when we just need to get out of ourselves – when we’re ill, when we’re miserable, when we’re stuck in one place for too long…
“Reading is one way. Open the cover of a book and it’s like opening a door on to a bigger world full of possibilities. So what better than to fill a book with a heap of different stories and pictures that transport you somewhere else and cheer you up?
“Above & Beyond is all about making people feel better: brightening the sky, pruning problems, planting some cheerfulness and generally making everything in the garden rosier. Write a story for them? Who wouldn’t?”
The book was launched at Bristol Royal Infirmary with the support of hospital staff, charity fundraisers, former patients and BBC Bargain Hunt presenter Thomas Plant, who led an auction of original illustrations.
Don’t Be Scared was the brain child of author and former Above & Beyond trustee Caro Ness, who wanted to create something extra special for the patients and staff of the children’s hospital.
Clinical chair for women’s and children’s services Bryony Strachan told the launch event: “My childhood memories are full of the wonderful stories that my father read to me, and that I read under the covers at night with my torch. It is lovely to see such creative stories together in one book, to inspire the next generations’ imaginations.”
Don’t Be Scared is available to buy online from Redcliffe Press at www.redcliffepress.co.uk, at Foyles in Cabot Circus and at the Above & Beyond Fundraising Hub inside Bristol Royal Infirmary (next to Marks & Spencer). All profits from the book, which is priced at £20, will be donated to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. It is aimed at children with a reading age of 7-8 years.
Pictured above: Above & Beyond CEO Sarah Talbot-Williams with award-winning author and contributor Geraldine McCaughrean. Photo by Dee Robertson.
