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Sponsorship Packages

‘I can say that the creation of The Manchester Book Festival in 2010 has been one of the highlights of my time in Manchester thus far. Not only did it allow my 8 year old daughter to meet an author… and his dog (Andrew Cope and Lara: Spydog)… in the flesh it also spurred her on to more reading and creative writing. As a business it also opened The Midland Hotel up to a brand new audience. A super event that can only go from strength to strength’
Paul Bayliss MBE Resident Manager, The Midland Hotel

The following list of sponsorship packages offers a wide range of opportunities to be involved and associated with the 2012 Manchester Children’s Book Festival. As we are in the planning stages, we are happy to discuss developing any combination of activities or events which may better suit your organisation’s requirements.

All sponsors will receive tickets to the Festival Sponsor and Partner Launch event on Friday 29th June 2012. With a performance by Festival Creative Director and Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and guest speakers, this wine reception, held in the Manchester School of Art’s Holden Gallery to coincide with their ‘Out of Schools’ exhibition, will be an excellent networking opportunity for partners, sponsors and their clients.

To discuss any of these packages or for further information about the Festival or about becoming a headline sponsor please contact Festival Directors, James Draper or Kaye Tew on 0161 247 1787/1966 or mcbf@mmu.ac.uk.

Choose a package to find out more…

Package	Cost
Gala Dinner	£1,000 / table
Main event sponsorship	£2,000 / event
Family Fun Day	£500 – £5,000
Schools’ Programme	£500 – £20,000
Festival Projects
Reading and Writing Relay	£500 – £1,000
Young Journalists	£3,000
Festival Tweeters	£3,000
The Starting Line	£3,000
Continuing Professional Development	£500 – £5,000

Gala Dinner

Friday 6th July 2012

Hosted by the Poet Laureate, this event will be held at the four star Midland Hotel, with guest speakers, musical entertainment, dancing and an eclectic mix of diners from the media, education and arts sectors – including actors and writers.

VIP pre-dinner drinks reception – sponsors will be invited to pre-dinner drinks with the Poet Laureate and her celebrity guests.
The Gala Dinner menu – this is being devised in conjunction with the North West Chef’s Association project which matches professional chef mentors with aspiring chefs from Salford school and community groups.The menu served on the night will be created by winners of the Salford Cook Off competition.
Advertising package – a half-page advert in the MCBF brochure worth £500 with more than 50,000 printed copies distributed to businesses and organisations with a child and family market including schools, bookshops, toyshops, libraries, theatres and other cultural and leisure organisations from January – July 2012.
Limited tables – there is a maximum of 50 tables available on a first come, first served basis.

Sponsor package £1,000 for table of 10

Main event sponsorship

A programme of high–profile author events will take place at venues across the city throughout the 11 day Festival. This is an opportunity for your organisation to sponsor single events and take advantage of the many commercial openings this offers as well as being a key part of the festival.

Commercial partnership – we will work closely with you and your organisation to identify a suitable event from the programme for your target audiences – the level of sponsorship will be determined by the size of the event (audience numbers) and the author.
Premium tickets – as a sponsor of a main event the package provides your organisation with premium tickets to your event; these can be used for staff, customers or other groups you wish to invite.The number of tickets is to be agreed depending on the event.
Programme advertising – the event will be billed in the printed programme, on the website and in other associated literature – sponsored by [your company name].
Festival association – your company name and logo will appear in our list of Festival sponsors, in the printed programme and on the Festival website, with a link to your company website.
Advertising opportunities – you will be invited to display your company banner and other marketing and publicity materials at the event and be invited to give an introduction at the event or to suggest a form of words to be read out on your behalf.
Introduction to the author – where possible the event sponsors and their guests will be given exclusive introductions to the writer before/after the event and will receive a signed copy of a book written by the author.

Confirmed authors and events include:

Michael Rosen (Family Fun Day)
Carol Ann Duffy and John Sampson performing a newly commissioned piece (The Gift)
Cathy Cassidy reading with ‘mocktails’ (non alcoholic cocktails) at the Cloud 23 bar of the Hilton Hotel
Zombies v Werewolves
Ian McMillan musical performance
Philip Pullman, reading from his new book Grimm Tales
Jacqueline Wilson
Justin Somper –Vampirates
Andy Cope, Spy Dog motivational talks

See our programme for author biographies and detailed event descriptions.

Main event sponsorship £2,000

Family Fun Day

Saturday 30th June 2012

The highlight event of the Festival will see approximately 5,000 visitors from across the region attend for a full day of events, workshops and activities with families, authors and favourite fictional characters. This is an opportunity for your organisation to sponsor a stall, a series of activities or brand the entire event and engage with a wide audience of artists, cultural organisations and families.

The Festival Family Fun Day will take place from 10am to 4pm in the Geoffrey Manton building of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Advertising packages – you will be invited to display your company banner and other marketing and publicity materials at the event. We will also provide a link to your organisation on the main Festival website and half page in the Festival programme.
Premium tickets – as a sponsor of a main Family Fun Day event, you will receive premium tickets to your event; these can be used for staff, customers or other groups that you wish to invite.
Festival association – your company name and logo will appear in our list of sponsors in the printed programme and on the Festival website, with a link to your organisation and company website.
Programme advertising – you will be invited to display your organisation’s logo on one of the stalls, and other marketing and publicity material for the event, (including the Festival programme) with an opportunity to introduce one the main writer events or activities of the day.
Introduction to the author – where possible for full event branding, you will get to meet all of the artists, writers and entertainers involved in the event and received signed copies of their books.
Table at the Gala Dinner – for sponsorship of £1,000 you will receive a table for ten at the Gala Dinner, be invited to the VIP pre–drinks reception, where you will have the opportunity to meet the Poet Laureate and other high profile authors and guests.

In addition to the main events of the Festival programme, there is also the opportunity to take part and sponsor a series of smaller, more localised events which may be more suited to the needs of your organisation.

Sponsorship packages from £500 to £5,000

Schools’ Programme

A programme of integrated events taking place in libraries and schools across the city in the lead up to and during the eleven day festival. This is an opportunity for your organisation to support children from disadvantaged areas, offering the possibility of funding visits by writers and artists into schools to promote literacy and personal development.

Full sponsorship of the Schools’ Programme would cost £20,000 and offer full branding of all school and library events with acknowledgements on the Festival website, in printed materials and in all other media publicity.
The Schools’ Programme – a week of performances, readings, events and activities featuring major writers, artists and illustrators, taking place at the University and in cultural organisations and schools across the city. These events will be offered to our school networks, offering the opportunity to promote your organisation to over 900 primary and secondary schools.
- Sponsor a single visit by a writer, artist or illustrator to a school for £500
- Involvement in and branding of extended work and projects coming out of the writer’s visit from £1,000
- Sponsor a main event by one of the major authors in a school of your choice for £2,500
Gala dinner – a table for ten at the Gala Dinner, invitation to the VIP reception hosted by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.
Premium tickets – we would work with your organisation to identify suitable events for your target audiences, providing a range of premium tickets for your staff, customers or other guests to attend.
Festival association – your company name and logo will appear in our list of Festival sponsors in the main Festival programme and on the Festival website, with a link to your organisation’s website.
Author visits – as part of your sponsorship, you would support author visits and extended activities in schools for which your logo would be displayed on all promotional materials.
Single event sponsorship – support a single event or visit during the Schools Programme, and follow up activity to run as part of the core Festival programme or at another venue – packages from £1,000 to £2,500.

From £1,000 to £20,000

Festival Projects

Festival Projects is the collective banner for a number of extended Manchester Children’s Book Festival projects running throughout the festival and in the preceding months. They are mainly programmes working with pupils from targeted Greater Manchester primary and secondary schools. The main projects to date are listed below with the sponsorship opportunities that they offer.

Reading and Writing Relay 2nd – 6th July 2012

Continuous coverage – a unique event, encompassing a variety of activities and opportunities to promote your organisation across the region and beyond. Starting at a city–centre venue, with a reading by a celebrity author, a baton will be run (by an MMU Sports’student) to the next venue ready for the next reading to begin and so on…
Community involvement – be involved in a series of readings, performances and workshops at local libraries, bookshops and community centres.
Have a virtual presence – in the form of a blog on the Festival website, which will follow readings across the region and beyond – in schools, libraries, bookshops, museums, galleries and in people’s homes.
International links – this project will have an international and national reach and will give opportunities for companies and individuals to blog their readings and promote other, related activities a global audience.
Be an official supporter – be listed as the official supporters of the Relay and have your organisations’ logo on the Relay blog.

£500 – £5,000

Festival Young Journalists

Professional training – working in three Manchester primary schools a professional journalist will train 12 year 5 (age 9/10) pupils to be our official Festival reporters.
Published articles – their articles, reviews and interviews will appear on the website and also be published in a Festival News publication which will be distributed to schools across the region after the 2012 Festival.
Sponsor logos – these will appear on the young journalist’s t–shirts. In 2010, this project attracted a great deal of local and national media attention.

£3,000

The Starting Line

This project will comprise a new performance poetry show for teenagers which addresses healthy eating and fitness issues.

Target audience – we will work with your organisation to identify target primary and secondary schools and use the activities generated to promote your organisation to both local and national media.
Established poet – Kate Fox, former poet in residence for Radio 4’s Saturday Live show – who has been appointed writer in residence for the Great North Run, is developing a new show, linked to a number of school–based workshops, which will be led by Kate and reported widely in the local media.
Sponsor logos will be displayed on publicity and marketing materials related to the event, in the Festival programme and on materials related to the school workshops.

£5,000

Festival Tweeters

Twitter coverage with two Manchester secondary schools a writer will train 12 year 8 (age 13/14) pupils to report on the festival via Twitter.
Festival news coverage – as with the young reporters, tweets and accounts of the project will appear in a Festival News publication which will be distributed to schools across the region after the 2012 Festival. Sponsor logos will appear on the tweeters’ t–shirts.
In 2010 this project attracted a great deal of local and national media attention.