School Visits – please help me spread the word

I’ve been visiting some fantastic schools lately, but I’d love to visit more. Most of my visits come from word of mouth, so if you could help me out by sharing this fancy pants leaflet I’ve spent ages making, I’d be as happy as Princess BMX at the National Cycling Centre.

I’m currently offering a 10 percent discount to schools in Greater Manchester, Halton, Liverpool and the Wirral. If the school lets me know they heard about me through this post, I’ll even throw in free travel.

With themes of resilience, smashing stereotypes and developing a positive attitude, my assembly presentations have inspired thousands of children to defy the limits others place on them and #BeMoreBMX. Expect flying tea bags, awesome video clips and lots of fun. My creative writing workshops are just as inspiring and are ideal for KS2.

Here are some nice things people have said about my visits:

“It was brilliant and I would highly recommend it to all schools. Marie is fabulous!”
Tami Wylie, Teacher, Holy Cross Primary School, Oldham

Excellent communication from the very start. We met up in Manchester and Marie took great care to ensure that the workshops were relevant, inclusive, inspiring. Delivered with an excellent mix of input and then activities to ensure children maintained interest. […]The event was exciting, creative and successful in engaging the children, in a new way, to be writers. The volunteers from Friends of Marsden Library, the benefactor , Imbolc and our local councillor were all agreed that this had been a great event. One that the children will remember.
Sheila Bates, Friends of Marsden Library / Imbolc Festival

We were thrilled to be visited today by @riewriting who shared her book, Princess BMX, with us and led marvellous workshops on creating characters which challenge stereotypes. She left us with a clear message to be more BMX -be resilient and believe in ourselves! Thank you Marie!
Christ Church Primary, Birkenhead

Download the leaflet for further details. Shares, likes and general Princess BMX love are extremely welcome.

school-visits-leaflet-october-2022Download

Back to School Promotion

Book a full-day school visit for the autumn term and receive a 10 percent discount. 

As we enter the new school term, I am running a promotion offering a ten percent discount on my usual school visit fee.

Told by a careers advisor that girls like me don’t become writers, my school visits focus on encouraging others to smash stereotypes and defy the limits put on them by adopting a BMX mindset. To get a feel for the energy of my events, check out this photostream of my #BeMoreBMX assembly at St Oswald’s. I can’t promise a BMXer – St Oswald’s were lucky enough to have their very own – but I do promise flying teabags, bouncing eyeballs and lots of empowering fun!


Endorsements:

“It was brilliant and I would highly recommend it to all schools. Marie is fabulous!”
Tami Wylie, Teacher, Holy Cross Primary School, Oldham

 “Marie, Thank you so much for today’s virtual assembly. We LOVED it! The inspirational advice, breathtaking videos, fun quiz…the list goes on. We are all going to try and #BeMoreBMX”
Faye Cooper, Teacher, Adlingnton Primary School!

“Completely bonkers but a consummate professional, not a bad mix in my book.”
Kaye Tew Director of the Manchester Children’s Book

BOOKING & FEES

Please visit my events page for the latest information on fees. My school visits are competitively priced and I often run promotions offering a discount to schools within an hour from my home in Manchester.

You can also contact me to discuss fees and availability via e-mail – riewriting@gmail.com – or use the contact form on my website  https://mariebasting.com/get-in-touch/

School Visits Information


I’ve updated my website to ensure you can now find everything you need to know about booking a school visit – including fees and content – in one place.

Told by a careers advisor that girls like me don’t become writers, my school visits focus on encouraging others to smash stereotypes and defy the limits put on them by adopting a BMX mindset. An Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Met University, Outreach Tutor for The Portico Library and Writer in Residence at Writing on the Wall, I have extensive experience of delivering both virtual and in-person events to children and adults.

To get a feel for what I offer, check out this photostream of my #BeMoreBMX assembly at St Oswald’s. I can’t guarantee a BMXer but I do promise flying teabags, bouncing eyeballs and lots of empowering fun! Interested? Then full details of my school visits can be found here.

***** And I still have limited availability around World Book Week ****

Signed and Dedicated Copies of Princess BMX Available Now

It’s exactly one month until Christmas and we all know books make the best presents! Especially signed and personally dedicated copies of Princess BMX which you can now purchase from my local indie bookstore, Chorlton Bookshop.

Email, call or use the contact form on their website to order. Don’t forget to include details of who you’d like the book dedicated to and your delivery address. One of the lovely Chorlton booksellers will then be in touch to confirm postage and payment details.

Merry Christmas and an Extreme New Year!

Free Princess BMX Event Marks Countdown to 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships

With two years to go until the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships take place in Glasgow and across Scotland, I’m super excited to help mark the countdown, alongside two-time Olympic gold-medallist and Track Cycling World Champion Katie Archibald, with a free event hosted by Glasgow Life’s Aye Write and Wee Write book festivals.

Katie’s event was broadcast live on the 24 August and be available to watch on demand for three weeks.  To watch for free, please subscribe to the Glasgow Live Vimeo account.

My event, pitched at children 7+ will be available to watch from 10am on Monday 6 September until 10am on Monday 18 October 2021. You’ll find full details here but I’ve also pasted the blurb below!

As part of the celebrations over 2000 copies of Princess BMX will be given away for free and distributed throughout Glasgow Life’s libraries across the city. Books can be picked up from Monday 6 September from any open library.

But if you don’t live in Glasgow there’s good news for you too as Princess BMX will be back in stores very soon and I’ll be offering some free virtual Q and A sessions to schools along with the opportunity for children to buy signed books. More details soon!

#BeMoreBMX with Marie Basting

#BeMoreBMX with Marie Basting

Join Marie Basting, author of Princess BMX, in her quest to find the extreme sporting hero within all of us. 

With their resilience and team spirit, there is so much we can learn from BMXers. Marie talks about her own childhood and the limits others tried to put on her.  She will talk about how she came to write a book about a BMXing princess and why adopting an extreme sporting mindset is the key to achieving your ambitions.

Also get a chance to create your very own upside-down fairy-tale adventure, and lots of laughs, learn all about this world of bikes and radical adventures while discovering why you too need to #BeMoreBMX!! 

Suitable for: Ages 7+