Look To The Stars News: Children's High Level Group

Beedle The Bard Breaks Sales Records For Charity

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:00:00 -0000

JK Rowling's new book, The Tales of Beedle The Bard, has created history by raising over £4 million (US$8 million) for charity in its first week of release.

The Children's High Level Group – the charity Rowling established in 2005 to improve the well-being, health and protection of vulnerable children – has said that 2,629,000 copies of the book were sold in the first week, generating £4.2 million for the organization.

“I am absolutely delighted that so much money has been raised,” Rowling said. “I would like to thank everyone who has so far purchased a copy of the book. All royalties will be going to help children without families, many of them with disabilities, whose voices have been unheard for many years.”

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of five tales first referred to in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final part in the author’s series of wizarding masterpieces. It was initially produced as seven handwritten copies, six of which were given away by Rowling as gifts, and one was bought by Amazon.com at auction last year for $4 million.

“We had no idea what to expect in terms of sales figures so we are thrilled by such impressive sales in the first week alone … the project will certainly raise a huge amount to fund our work,” said Richard Alderslade, chief executive of the CHLG.

JK Rowling To Create Magic For Charity Tomorrow

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Harry Potter fans around the world will have a very restless night as they wait with eager anticipation for JK Rowling's new book, The Tales Of Beedle The Bard, which is being released tomorrow, December 4.

Proceeds from the book will go to Children's High Level Group, a charity founded by JK Rowling and Emma Nicholson in 2005 to improve the well-being, health and protection of vulnerable children. The charity works at a political and practical level to ensure that UN minimum standards for the care of children are implemented across the whole of Europe and beyond. Their Children’s Voice campaign wants to end the neglect and abuse of children and teenagers that still exists in many countries.

JK Rowling To Hold Beedle The Bard Reading

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Author JK Rowling is to read from one of the original handwritten fairytales she wrote in a special charity tea party.

The Harry Potter creator will read extracts from The Tales Of Beedle The Bard at the event – to be held at the National Library of Scotland on December 4 – being hosted by the Children's High Level Group. Local school children will be invited to attend the event, with 10 local schools each being able to bring 20 pupils to the party.

December 4 will also see the public release of The Tales Of Beedle The Bard in bookshops around the world, with royalties going to the Children’s High Level Group, a charity established by the author to help vulnerable children in Eastern Europe.

“Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children in Eastern Europe are living in appalling conditions in large, residential institutions,” she said. "Contrary to popular belief, fewer than 4% of them are orphans, but are in care because they are considered disabled or their families are poor or from ethnic minorities. The charity is publishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard to raise money to fund our work in helping these children out of institutions and in to loving families or community care homes.

“I hope that The Tales of Beedle the Bard will not only be a welcome present to Harry Potter fans, but an opportunity to give these abandoned children a voice. It will encourage young people across the world to think about those who are less fortunate and help change many young lives for the better.”

As part of the celebrations for the book’s release, Scholastic USA is giving away the chance for five lucky children from America to attend the tea party. All they have to do is write an essay of 200 words or less describing how they have helped others. The competition ends on October 30, and more information can be found at the Scholastic website.

Harry Potter Returns For Charity

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A book of Harry Potter-related fairy tales written and illustrated by JK Rowling is to be published for charity.

“There was understandable disappointment among Harry Potter fans when only one copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard was offered to the public last December,” said Rowling. “I am therefore delighted to announce that, thanks to the generous support of Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon – and with the blessing of the wonderful people who own the other six original books – The Tales of Beedle the Bard will now be widely available to all Harry Potter fans.”

The book will be released on December 4 by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the United States, and Amazon plans to sell a leather-bound collectors’ edition priced at $100. Rowling has generously signed over all her royalties from the book to the Children's High Level Group, a charity founded by JK Rowling and Emma Nicholson in 2005 to improve the well-being, health and protection of vulnerable children. The charity works at a political and practical level to ensure that UN minimum standards for the care of children are implemented across the whole of Europe and beyond. Their Children’s Voice campaign wants to end the neglect and abuse of children and teenagers that still exists in many countries.

Harry Potter Returns For Charity Gala And Prequel

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:38:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Witches and wizards galore crammed a castle in the dark depths of Scotland on Friday night, all in the name of charity.

Harry Potter creator JK Rowlingplayed host to the goulish guests at the ghastly gala held at Harburn House in West Lothian to raise funds for the Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Society. And as well as monstrous music and disastrous dancing (ok, sorry, the alliteration is just getting silly now), there was also an auction with a very special prize donated by the author – the chance to be immortalized as a wizard or witch in a portrait at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida.

The event, which was attended by guests such as Charlotte Church and author Ian Rankin, raised a massive $632,000 for the charity.

Rowling is a longtime supporter of the MS Society, and became patron of the organization after losing her mother to the disease.

The gala follows the announcement last week that Rowling has penned an 800-word prequel to her seven-book Harry Potter series as part of a charity auction to be held next month.

The auction will take place at Waterstone’s Bookstore in Central London on June 10, and will feature a selection of short stories written by famous writers on special cards. Money from the auction will go to English PEN, the writer’s association, and Dyslexia Action.

The auction follows the sale of a handwritten, leather-bound book of fairy tales the author sold for $4 million in December to raise money for Children's Voice.

And for any diehard Potter fans out there – the prequel is said to be a conversation between Harry’s father, James, and Sirius Black.

JK Rowling Spellbound By Charity Book Sale

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:12:32 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

Originally expected to bring in around $100,000, JK Rowling's book “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” instead raised nearly $4 million… in just ten minutes of bidding. It is a price unheard of for a children’s book at auction and forty times what was anticipated.

The book is one of only seven in existence. Rowling gave the first six to friends as thank-you gifts, and the last one was auctioned by Sotheby’s for charity. The books, hand written and illustrated by Rowling, are bound in leather and uniquely embossed with silver and moonstones. “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” is a collection of wizarding fairy-tales alluded to in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book of the Harry Potter series. In The Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore left the volume of tales that provide clues to defeating Lord Voldemort to Harry’s friend Hermione.

The winning bid went to the London painting and drawing dealership Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. Says Rowling of the record-breaking bid, “I’m stunned and ecstatic. This will mean so much to the children desperately in need of help. It means Christmas has come early for me.”

The Children’s Voice campaign, beneficiary of the proceeds, is run by the Children's High Level Group, founded by JK Rowling and Emma Nicholson in 2005 to “improve the well-being, health and protection of vulnerable children. The Children’s Voice wants to make life better for young people in care; across Eastern Europe and ultimately across the whole of the modern world.”

Rowling Hand-Writes New Potter Stories for Charity

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:23:18 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

JK Rowling hasn’t rested since finishing the Harry Potter series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The author has hand-written and illustrated seven copies of a new book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of wizarding fairy-tales mentioned in the final Potter book. Rowling gave six of the books as thank-you gifts, and the seventh will be auctioned to raise money for The Children’s Voice campaign run by the Children's High Level Group (CHLG).

Although one of Beedle the Bard’s stories, The Tale of the Three Brothers, is recounted in the last Potter book, the other four tales were only alluded to. Rowling had these books of never-before-told stories bound in leather with uniquely embossed silver and moon stones, and in her dedication at the front of each wrote that the proceeds of the auction will go to help institutionalized children.

In a BBC interview, Rowing stated, “I could not think of anyone with less of a voice, or more disenfranchised, than a child with mental health issues or handicapped, who has been taken from their family or given by their family to an institution and then placed in a cage. I couldn’t think of anyone more vulnerable, or anyone more in need of an articulate voice.”

JK Rowling and Emma Nicholson founded the CHLG in 2005 to “improve the well-being, health and protection of vulnerable children. The Children’s Voice wants to make life better for young people in care; across Eastern Europe and ultimately across the whole of the modern world.”

Says Rowling, “Large amounts of wealth bring a certain responsibility. If you’re any kind of human being, then once you fulfill your family’s needs, you think, well how do I do some good with this?”

The seventh Tales of Beedle the Bard book will be auctioned by Sotheby’s on December 13, and is expected to fetch up to £50,000 ($100,000).

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