“I have always been a champion for creative arts as a solution”

For #cminvest Sheffield’s creatives are in the eaves of Jaywing’s city centre office. But Deborah Bullivant AKA Grimm & Co is used to somewhere a little more magical…in the centre of Rotherham.An apothecary to the magical, Grimm & Co’s shelves are stacked with traditional and unconventional remedies, curses, hexes, tonics, potions, cures, spells and elixirs. It’s a magical shop for magical beings, but humans are allowed in too.“The most important thing is we take fun seriously. We’ve never strayed from that”As well as being the place to pick up ‘Luck of The Irish’, ‘Condensed Enthusiasm’ and ‘Extract of Genius’ Grimm & Co is a place where children can unleash their imaginations. The apothecary doubles up as a place for literacy, where children can learn and be creative.“Writing is a really good tool for resilience. We do it in lots of unusual ways”In Rotheram, children’s literacy levels are 5% lower than the national average and 28% of adults struggle with literacy . Through Grimm & Co, Deborah wanted to give children a place to be playful and create an environment where children could have the courage to try without fear of being wrong.“In the hidden writing room you’re in the middle of the story.”By immersing themselves in the magical world of Grimm & Co, children are taken away from their everyday chaos. In a place for magical beings, their imaginations are provoked and they can learn in an authentic, creative way.“The emphasis is on teachers but its important that community and parents and everything around them gives children the things they need to learn.”As well as the shop, Grimm & Co’s mobile classroom brings the magic of the apothecary to school halls. In five years, almost 10,000 children have visited the shop or been visited at school.With the impact of Deborah and her team (including previous CM Sheffield speakers Side by Side!) being felt across the town, Grimm & Co doesn’t need a magical praise potion.“In the three hour visit I saw faces light up as children went from disengaged writers to published authors of a collaborative text. It’s an amazing experience that EVERY child should have.” – Laura Atkinson at St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary SchoolWords by Molly McGreevy.