Stars including Lewie Coyle, Gemma Oaten, Kofi Smiles and Jessie Roux have taken part in the reading project
Hull City Captain Lewie Coyle is one of the recognisable faces who took part in the charity project marking the National Year of Reading(Image: Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University/INIT Creative)
Famous faces from around Hull have been entertaining children with their favourite stories as part of a heart-warming project. Celebrities from TV, sport and even the world of politics have teamed up with local charity Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University and film studio INIT Creative to bring children’s stories to life for “Storytime in Hull”.
The studio – which went viral recently with its amazing Hull You’re Alright Lego video – worked with the charity on the feel-good video series especially for local schools, to mark the National Year of Reading. The project has been inspired by the popular CBeebies Bedtime Stories, which has seen everyone from Tom Hardy to Kylie lull children to sleep with their tales.
Instead of famous faces from the telly, Storytime in Hull features famous faces from the city of Hull, after each one was invited to sit down, pick up a book, and read aloud, just for the children of Hull and East Yorkshire.
The ‘storytellers’ will be just as recognisable as the tales they are telling, with local faces including Hull City captain Lewie Coyle, boxing legend Tommy Coyle, BBC Look North presenter Peter Levy, Jessie Roux from the latest series of The Traitors, actress Gemma Oaten, BBC Humberside’s Kofi Smiles and Amy Thompson and former Home Secretary and author, RT Hon Alan Johnson.
Each story has been shared with schools and uploaded to YouTube so they can be played both in the classroom and in the home.
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Rose James, CEO, Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University: “I had seen the CBeebies series and thought how fantastic it would be if we could create something similar just for our city, especially as it’s the National Year of Reading.
“Storytime in Hull is about sparking that magic moment when a child falls in love with a book and I hope that the adults will enjoy watching the videos just as much as the children. We are absolutely thrilled with how the videos turned out and I’m sure everyone will agree that our Storytellers did an amazing job.”
Adam Storch, founder, INIT Creative: “This is exactly the kind of project that reminds you why you got into creative work in the first place. Storytime in Hull is joyful, it’s warm, and it’s rooted in this incredible city we call home. Getting to work with Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University to make it happen has been a real privilege. We’ve had so much fun bringing it to life, and we hope the children AND adults enjoy seeing those famous Hull faces, book in hand, reading just for them.”
The Storytime in Hull videos are free to watch on YouTube and social media. Follow Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University online to find them or search Storytime in Hull on Youtube.
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