Reading caravan is the bee’s knees
AN ARTICLE this week by Josh White (Mail) revealed that more than 750,000 children in the UK have no library at their primary school.
Provided people look outside the box, meeting this challenge need not cost schools a penny.
We members of Burslem Rotary Club have just supplied one primary school, New Ford Academy in Stoke-on-Trent, with a ‘reading caravan’.
Our club purchased an old caravan for £70, then ripped out the interior. We lined the walls and floor with plywood, the pupils chose which colours they wanted, then we painted the interior. We fitted carpet tiles and raised some areas to provide seats.
We then supplied the school with yellow and black paint, and they painted the outside to look like a bumble bee. We supplied books free of charge, as part of a Rotary project that has donated more than 100,000 free books to schools.
Primary schools need libraries and reading areas, and there are Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs and Masonic Lodges throughout the country. All people need do is ask — just search on the Rotary website for ‘clubs near me’. We are charitable organisations that want to help children get started.