A SUCCESSFUL businessman-turned author who grew up on a Bradford estate has written a hotly-anticipated book in aid of children's charities.

Glen Hall, who was raised by his single mum on Holme Wood, will donate money raised from the sales of fantasy series The Last Druid.

The trilogy is a result of a lifelong love of books that began at school in Holme Wood, and a desire to raise money for local charities and invest in socio-economically deprived regions by donating books to schools.

His ambition is to raise £1 for every word printed in book one, amounting to £100,000 for charity. The money will go to Cash for Kids.

A spokesman said: "Judging by the response to pre-publication awareness of The Last Druid, he is on track to meet this goal. Excerpts and illustration reveals on dedicated social media channels have generated over 250,000 hits and likes so far."

Mr Hall, 43, now lives in Newcastle. But on a visit back to Holme Wood he was able to make an impromptu visit to his former school, Carrwood Primary, a place he credits with inspiring his love of books.

"It was quite emotional to be fair," said Mr Hall. "I don't think I've been that emotional for years.

"I was blown away by how energetic the kids were."

Mr Hall said a pivotal moment in his life was when a former teacher called Mrs Flather gave him, and his class, books. He said that led to a lifelong love of books and a desire to write.

"It is about inspirational moments, where a pivotal moment comes from that one act of kindness," said Mr Hall. "It gave me that inspiration to become something different.

"I thought it was beautiful buying the whole class a book."

Mr Hall’s book happened to be Prince Caspian, which inspired a love of fantasy, in particular CS Lewis and then JRR Tolkien.

With support of his mother, a nurse who fostered children with severe learning and physical disabilities, he excelled at school and became the first member of his family to enter higher education, reading English at Leeds University.

On his writing, Mr Hall said: "I took a detour into business. I set up a company called the Wright Research Group in 2000, which I later sold to Capita.

"This 20-year detour into business gave me the opportunity of giving something back.

"I hope I have written a decent book. There are 8,000 pre-orders and that will put us in the top five just behind JK Rowling."

He added: "It is not just about raising money and giving it to anyone. It is about giving something back to kids that have come from a similar background."

Mr Hall said the book had a message, which features a wood modelled on Black Carr Wood in Bradford, "that if you have enough faith and belief you can pretty much do what you want".

Mr Hall said he had based the main character in the book on his life growing up on Holme Wood.

He said: "The Black Carr Woods are in the book under a different name. A lot of my experiences from the estate are in the book's main protagonist, Sam."

Mr Hall added: "I have got friends and family in Bradford. I have lots of friends on Holme Wood, my cousin owns Parade Fisheries on Holme Wood.

"I drove round the estate. It was quite an emotional experience to say the least. It was my world. I thought it was all that existed."

The Last Druid, priced £7.99, is released on April 20, 2017. Visit www.thelastdruid.co.uk for more details.