Registered with national organisation Artists in Schools, Norman and Pam frequently visit primary schools for workshops and readings and are delighted to be included in a book addressing that audience, but welcome the challenge of working with high school and college pupils. Most recently, students of Beardwood and Darwen Vale high schools worked with them to consider the Second World War and its impact.

'One of the most moving pieces was written by girl who imagined herself as the daughter of a father who had killed others during the war,’ says Norman. ‘Knowing how much he would have hated having to do so, she wonders in her poem what goes through his imagination when he is alone. Another girl imagined herself as a soldier having fought for his country returning to unemployment.’

Some of the work produced went on to be included in the exhibition Their Past, Your Future, on loan from the Imperial War Museum, when it was on display at Blackburn Museum. ‘Our prime objective is to show people the joy of writing poetry and how rewarding such self-expression can be,’ says Pam. ‘We encourage people to write to explore issues rather than to explain them.’