1998 May: Princess Anne in West Swindon to learn more about Story Sacks

Her Royal Highness, as patron of the Basic Skills Agency, visited Westlea Primary School to meet volunteers parents who helped establish the innovative Story Sacks project.

Invented by Westlea headteacher Neil Griffiths in the early 1980s to boost early years literacy, the creative parents designed and made stuffed toys and games, and recorded tapes based around a story in a single children's book.

Neil had recently left the school to join the Basic Skills Agency to promote Story Sacks in a wider range of places beyond education, such as hospitals and prisons. He later took the sacks worldwide where they are used in education and cultural settings that he never imagined.

Neil also established himself as a successful author of children's books and can be found at www.redrobinbooks.com