A lifelong Wolves fan who wrote a children’s book about the history of the club has donated hundreds of copies to the Wolves Foundation to distribute to local schools to help pupils learn more about all things Molineux.
‘My First Wolves Book’ was penned by 81-year-old Nick Balmforth, a former teacher, and includes mascots Wolfie and Wendy taking young readers on a journey through Wolves’ history, achievements, star players and much, much more.
The first books have now been distributed by Wolves Foundation to Stowlawn Primary School in Bilston, and follows many other activity packs and online resources which the charity have passed on to schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Having been a Wolves supporter all my life, since I first went with my Dad and stood on a soapbox in the crowd to cheer them on, it struck me that there was very little in terms of literature about the club for children,” said Mr Balmforth.
“There were a lot of books for adults, but I thought that children might be interested in how the club started and the history and achievements, and this was my contribution to a club which has given me so much pleasure over the years.
“The book was first published a couple of years ago, but with how difficult it has been over these last 12 months, I just thought it would be nice to make this donation to Wolves Foundation to give them something they can pass on which can link the club to local schools.”
Stowlawn Headteacher Kate Charles was delighted to receive the books and very appreciative to both Nick and the Wolves Foundation, who have worked closely with the school over the last year.
“One of the drivers of our curriculum is ‘Bilston and beyond’, where we encourage our children to learn about the local area and these books will be perfect for that,” said Mrs Charles.
“Wolves Foundation have been really supportive of our pupils and families throughout this year, and we are very grateful both to them and to Nick for this donation.
“The children had done so much for the local community during the last couple of weeks before Christmas, collecting food for the Good Shepherd charity, making Christmas cards for local care homes and writing letters to the Foundation’s Wolves Elders club, so it was really nice for them to have something back.”
Anna Wilcox, a Sports Development Coach with Wolves Foundation, leads a weekly session at Stowlawn as part of her role.
“It is great that the children will be able to learn more about Wolves by reading this book and forms another part of the support we have delivered to Stowlawn and many other schools during this challenging year,” she said.
Photo courtesy of the Express & Star.
