William Perkin Church Of England High School is very excited to start fundraising for the opening of their brand new library. As a science and language specialist academy that has been open for five years, it is now a full school of 11-16.

So far, the students have not had a dedicated library space, but over the next few months they are hoping to raise several thousand pounds to kit out the library with the latest novels and non-fiction to challenge and inspire students so that they are able to ‘intelligently engage with the wider world’ (the school motto!). 

To help with this amazing cause, my daughter Jo Paterson (Trust Literacy Co-ordinator) and I will be walking alongside teachers, following the path that Chaucer took in his Canterbury Tales – one of the best early fictions.

The 11 mile walk takes us from the Cathedral City of Canterbury to the seaside at Whitstable; through an Iron Age hill fort, Ancient woods and the battleground of Ceasar.

We hope to play Ceaser at Tanford Manner Farm where there was a ford over the river, thought to be the place where the Legions of Julius Caesar fought their first battle after marching inland from the coast in 54BC. And then on to the church of St Cosmus and St Damian in the Blean. This is a small church built on the old Roman road from Seasalter to Canterbury and was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book in 1086, although there is evidence of a Roman villa having been on the site. The church is named after two Arab brothers who converted to Christianity and were martyred in AD 303. They are reputed to have carried out the first transplant operation, grafting the leg of a slave onto a prince who had been injured in battle.

Thank you for any, or all, support that you are able to offer us, as we help to broaden the horizons for William Perkin Students.