Councillor Luthfur Rahman quote
In a monumental effort, more than 20,000 books have been gifted to help keep children reading during the summer.
Read Manchester and Manchester City Council have been working with partners over the summer to deliver a huge number of books and resources to children in Manchester.
This follows on from the Read Manchester ‘Bee Ready, Bee a Reader’ transition read which gifted a book to all year 6 pupils..
Read Manchester and Manchester City Council have been working with partners including The National Literacy Trust, The Reading Agency, WHSmith, and KPMG over the summer to deliver these books and resources to children and families, including Early Years magazines, stationery packs and Creative Care Kits. Organisations benefiting from the donations included playschemes, foodbanks, community groups, summer schools, SureStart Centres, refuges and youth groups, as well as families of children with special educational needs.
Jo Warmington from MSC Foodbank, said: “So excited to be sending all these books out with school holiday hunger packs next week. Thanks to Read Manchester, more children will have access to books at home this summer.”
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure, said: “While schools have been closed as part of the restrictions in place to combat Covid-19, it’s been more important than ever to do all we can to help our young people to keep reading for pleasure, for the educational benefits this brings and for the sheer enjoyment of a great story.
“While there’s been a big focus on promoting online resources and access to books electronically, there are many children and families who will have no or limited access to this, so Read Manchester has prioritised delivery of hard copy to those children most in need.”
