We're running a book gifting scheme for the second time this Christmas to help support the wellbeing and literacy skills of Peterborough's most disadvantaged children.
This year's partner is The Posh Foundation and we're hoping to match last year's donation of 500 books. To support the campaign, please donate a new book suitable for children aged 9-12 either at The Cresset or Metro Bank by Friday 3 December. Books should be wrapped in gift paper with a sticker stating the title. There are a range ofbook lists on the Words for Life website or you can select a title from the list below:
- The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
- Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura
- The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
- Skellig by David Almond
- Floodland by Marcus Sedgewick
- The Savage by David Almond
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
- Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
- This Morning I Met a Whale by Michael Morpurgo
- Beast Quest series by Adam Blade
- Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
- Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo
- When the Whales Walked by Dougal Dixon & Hannah Bailey
- Arthur and the Sword in the Stone by Mairi Mackinnon & Teresa Martinez
- Beowulf by Rob Lloyd Jones & Victor Tavares or Michael Morpurgo & Michael Foreman
45,000 children in the East of England do not own a single book of their own, making them six times more likely to read below the expected level for their age. This is felt most acutely in Peterborough as research shows that the city has the greatest literacy need in the region. For many of the children, the book they are gifted this Christmas will be their first as 1 in 11 disadvantaged children in Peterborough do not have a single book of their own.
Businesses are also invited to organise a corporate book collection and those interested should contact Rebecca Parsons at rebecca.parsons@literacytrust.org.uk
If you’d like to support the campaign but are unable to donate a book, you can still help change a child’s life story by making a donation on the National Literacy Trust website, or by texting PBREADS to 70085 to donate £7 to spark a love of reading for children in Peterborough this Christmas. (Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message).
Drop off points:
Please wrap your books, add a label including the title and then post or drop them to:
Peterborough Book Gifting Scheme: Metro Bank, 29 Long Causeway, Peterborough, PE1 1YJ
OR
The Cresset (main reception), Rightwell, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8DX.
We are asking for all books to be delivered by Friday 3 December.