Redcar-based charity Footprints in the Community has hosted a special reading of children’s book ‘Edmund the elephant who forgot’, read by its local author Kate Dalgleish.
The reading was an initiative of The Book Club, Footprints’ innovative project which aims to improve children’s literacy in Redcar and Cleveland. The free reading took place over the August Bank Holiday weekend at Footprints Community Café on Redcar High Street. Younger children and their parents/carers were entertained by this delightful story about a very forgetful elephant who goes on a very silly shopping trip! The children also took part in some crafting activities and received their own copy of the story to enjoy again at home.
The Book Club project was launched during 2020 to distribute books and literacy materials to local disadvantaged families, making access to reading much easier and supporting families with their child’s education and development.
The project was the idea of Anna Turley, who has worked with Footprints in the Community over the last year to make the project a reality. The first phase of the project distributed packs of new fiction books to over 800 children, in time for the Christmas 2020 holidays. Donations of second hand books have also been collected and distributed to local primary schools.
The project has now developed further with this lovely storytelling event, to encourage a love of reading in young children which will hopefully last a lifetime. After the success of this book reading, The Book Club now hopes to host further literacy-based events in the future.
Project Manager Anna says, “We were so excited to have local children’s author Kate Dalgleish come to read for our children at the Footprints Community Cafe. We hope having a fun afternoon with wonderful story-telling will inspire the children and help to develop a love of reading. It has been a tough time for children here over the last year and we hope this will let their imaginations soar and help with their learning and literacy.”
Ruth Fox, CEO of Footprints in the Community, “At Footprints in the Community we are always looking for new ways to support local people struggling with poverty and isolation. So we’re delighted that The Book Club has been able to host this free event to help entertain children over the long summer holidays. By encouraging a love of reading from a young age, we hope this will have a positive impact on the life-chances of local children.”
To find out more about The Book Club, you can visit Facebook.com/RedcarBookClub
