Story
I’m running the Kingston Half Marathon (my first!) to help raise money for St Richards - a school my wonderful Grandma, Joyce Bailey, has supported in various ways for many years now.
Your sponsorship will be used to restock the school library.
A cut to funds combined with inflating costs is forcing difficult decisions in schools across the country. Access to great books is, unfortunately, something that’s becoming a privilege rather than something to take for granted.
Here’s where your donations will go:
- Paperback fiction, non-fiction & picturebook: ~£10
- Graphic novels & non-fiction: ~£12
- Any kind of hardback (which last longer) ~£12-20
£500 – would buy books for the equivalent of an Infant Class and a Junior Class.
£750 – would buy books for between one third and half of the school
Thank you very much for your generosity!
"Our books are read again and again – on average at least 10 times, but some of the really popular titles are read even more. I recently had to discard a much mended Graphic Novel that had been borrowed by 30 different children. Every book we have is an investment that keeps on giving. However much money is raised it will be hugely appreciated. Every book will help a child on their journey to reading success!"
"Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success” – OECD report 2002 – more than parental education or other socio-economic factors.
Reading for pleasure builds empathy, an understanding of the world, creativity, language ability, social communication and is great for mental well-being
To support this, children need access to a range of high quality, well written, up to date texts, that match their interests and support new ones.
However:
- 1 in 4 children from deprived backgrounds have fewer than 10 books at home. (Books at Home Charity)
- Almost 400,000 UK children don’t have any books at home (Times report Dec 2019)
And this was before the current cost of living crisis.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.