Pupils encouraged to send school books to South Africa

PRIMARY schools around the UK are being asked to donate unwanted English language books as part of the Help A South African School scheme.

The nationwide initiative, now in its seventh year, encourages UK pupils to support young children in South Africa by donating unwanted English language and reading books. Some 1,100 boxes of books were donated from 80 different schools last year.

Only 7% of South African schools have libraries and illiteracy is a big problem, which means their schools are in desperate need of resources.

This is part of an ongoing campaign to promote South African fruit.

Jacques du Preez, General Manager Trade & Markets, Hortgro said: “This project illustrates the strong link between purchasing South African fruit and making a difference to the country; it has galvanised support from across the industry and beyond.”

Hortgro are also giving UK school children the opportunity to learn about South Africa and the chance to win one of three cash prizes to spend on school resources and a bespoke workshop by BBC presenter Stefan Gates. All they need to do is create a collage depicting A South African Journey

More information on the competition and book donation can be found at: www. helpasouthafricanschool.com

UK schools are being encouraged to send their old books to South African schools to help create school libraries