Magic of reading brought to life at centre events for students

The Kingston Centre recently hosted children from Langland Community Primary School, Charles Warren Academy and Falconhurst School as part of the Young Readers Programme, an initiative which aims to motivate children under the age of 11 to read for pleasure.

The youngsters were treated to a storytelling session and fun educational activities with staff from MacDonald’s and Tesco. Each school was also given £100 of vouchers to purchase new books for its library.

The Kingston Centre manager Karen Clayton said: “Supporting the local community is something we’re passionate about. It was fantastic to see our staff and retailers get involved in the storytelling event, helping to get the children really excited about reading and discovering new books.”

The Young Readers Programme is delivered by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with The Kingston Centre and its owner, British Land. Children are urged to embrace opportunities to read outside the classroom and taught how to choose books they will enjoy. They are then given the chance to choose three books to take home for free.

Jane Price, Deputy Headteacher at Falconhurst School, said: “The Young Readers Programme is a great way to help children discover how fun reading can be. My class thoroughly enjoyed getting to choose their very own books to take home and keep.”