Mountaineer, film maker and author Matt Dickinson – a Wells resident when he's not off adventuring – will soon be engaging local children in global awareness, creative writing and reading for pleasure.

The enthusiastic supporter of Wells Festival of Literature educational projects, will soon be inspiring pupils at Kings of Wessex Academy for a day this term, along with a week at St Benedict's Junior School in Glastonbury.

Not only have his explorations taken him from the summit of Everest to the Sahara Desert and the Arctic, but he has made his adventures accessible to youngsters through his entertaining series of books The Popcorn Eating Squirrels.

A registered charity, the festival – which this year runs from 27 October to 4 November – uses proceeds from ticket sales to its public events to fund these and other educational projects in local schools.

Among them best-selling children's author MG Leonard will be appearing during the festival week at the annual Year 6 school event in Cedars Hall. Thirty local schools are due to take part, between them bringing nearly 900 children across several sessions to hear her talk about her latest book The Ice Children.

Leonard's books have been translated into over 40 languages, and Beetle Boy has just been released in the United States as a live-action series for TV.

After each talk and a Q&A there will be a book-signing session when the children can buy copies of her books at a discount, including the latest title before it goes on sale in bookshops.

Also funded by the festival and coming up this term, is a Poems by Post project at two schools in Chewton Mendip and Chilcompton which will both receive a new poem on a postcard each week from award-winning children's poet AF Harrold.

Meanwhile, youngsters at St Paul's Junior School in Shepton Mallet are busy rehearsing for an abridged performance of a Shakespeare play at the Merlin Theatre in Frome under the auspices of the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation.

This will give the youngsters an opportunity to appreciate the language of the Bard in a fun way, and to perform in a professional theatre.

Trained volunteers from Coram Beanstalk, a national literacy charity dedicated to helping children read for pleasure, will also visit eight local schools and read with children.

These are just some of the festival-funded projects underway for the current school year – along with the donation of 300 books to Kings of Wessex Academy at the start of this term.

The books donated to Kings of Wessex

All pupils taking part in the school's Tutor Time reading scheme will have the joy of owning and reading from their own books.

All events at Wells Festival of Literature take place at Cedars Hall in Wells. To find out what's on, or to book tickets visit www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk or call 01749 834483. Brochures can be found at Waterstones in Wells and in various venues across the area.