On Tuesday, 15th September, the Beyond Words team celebrated a major milestone: the launch of our 79th and 80th titles, ‘Being Safe Online: Ben’s Story’ and ‘Being Safe Online: Amy’s Story’. It was a wonderful occasion to mark this growing chapter in our series.
To celebrate this milestone, we invited as many people as possible who have been part of Beyond Words’ journey, including past authors, illustrators, and people with learning disabilities. The event at the House of Lords was a wonderful celebration of what we have achieved, filled with reminiscing, connection, and afternoon tea.
Attendees enjoyed talks from our founder, Professor Sheila Baroness Hollins; lead author, Beeban Baroness Kidron; illustrator Mike Nicholson; and Director Lucy Alexander. The event focused on the importance of creating inclusive resources on vital topics.
In her speech, Baroness Kidron reflected on the development of ‘Amy’s Story’, saying: “Grooming is a hard story to tell without words, because it first feels like friendship and only later it goes bad. But I am immensely proud of the book, and I hope that the lesson it tells about insisting on keeping boundaries and not feeling you have to keep feelings of abuse or shame secret—is something that can be shared across the Beyond Words community.”
Scott Watkin, co-author of these books, was unfortunately unable to join us in person but shared his thoughts on his involvement:
These books were created simultaneously, with illustrators Rachael Ball and Mike Nicholson bringing each story to life. With changes to laws and policies around the world, keeping both titles current and relevant throughout the development process proved challenging. As Mike Nicholson reflected: “It has been fascinating to see how rapidly our subject matter gained traction in the public arena during the process of making the books – to the point that final images had to be re-shaped to better reflect reality. I really felt this was a vital subject to address and explore in this way.”
“[these books are] really close to my heart as it allows everyone to stay safe online and from my own experience, I know what it is like to be affected by issues of this kind. I really hope that this helps lots of people with a learning disability to stay safe.” — Scott Watkin, Co-author of the ‘Being Safe Online’ books
Rachael Ball added: “Telling stories visually is a long-standing passion of mine, and creating a word-free book provided an exciting and rewarding challenge… Together, we ensured the book is well-informed, realistic, clear, and compelling.”
We were also fortunate to have the sun come out just in time for our post-event photos. Our wonderful photographer, Sean Kelly, captured some amazing images of the team and guests who joined us to celebrate this milestone, including 20 people with learning disabilities who have been advisors on our books.
https://www.booksbeyondwords.co.uk/newsroom/online-safety-books-release-at-the-house-of-lords
Barry Carpenter Education 
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