In 2008, after a short but intense period of depression, Maggie, who was only 29 years old, took her own life. Her parents Bob and Kati and brother David set up the Maggie Evans Fund with OCF in her memory. 

The fund is used to help children discover interests that were Maggie’s own passions: a love of reading stories and appreciating illustrations, and the exploration of different cultures through languages and translation.

Thanks to a great many generous donations over the years, the fund has now grown to over £150,000 in total. Its primary activity is ‘Maggie’s Day’, an event held each year that allows Oxfordshire schoolchildren from many different backgrounds to enjoy a visual and interactive session with a well-known children’s author at the Story Museum in Oxford. This encourages their love of reading and of stories in general. 

As the scope of the fund broadens, it is branching out to similar projects, also focused on reading, literacy, and culture. We very much appreciate donations of any size to help realise this goal, and to help preserve Maggie’s literary legacy.