At Bridport Literary Festival our impact extends beyond the festival itself. Through bursaries, school programmes and community partnership projects, we support young people, emerging voices and make literature accessible to the wider community. From helping local students pursue higher education to inspiring creativity through initiatives such as The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares, we believe in the power of stories to educate, connect and transform lives.

The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares is a Bridport-based charity that runs free, child-led creative writing workshops for young people from all backgrounds, encouraging them to use their creativity in a safe space, explore different worlds, and express themselves without fear of being judged.   Each child creates a story that gets released into the real world, as a published book, anthology of poems, podcast, or even a play. They want children to see that their writing will be taken seriously, show them the possibilities of what can be achieved, and make those achievements a reality. As a result of this initiative Bridport children have become published authors, newspaper journalists, podcast creators, written campaign videos to inspire local change, and even been part of creating a play for a national puppet touring company.