A Kent children’s charity is celebrating a bumper donation from publisher Scholastic Ltd worth more than £1,000.

The KM Charity Team, which supports schools with child health and wellbeing initiatives, was gifted 188 books to award to young readers.

The books will be allocated as prizes for participants of the charity’s Buster’s Book Club reading programme, which encourages pupils to spend more time reading for pleasure.

“This is fantastic news, we really can’t thank Scholastic enough!” said Kay Devine, literacy lead at the KM Charity Team. “Buster’s is all about sparking excitement for reading and rewarding children for their efforts, so this donation will help us to spread the joy of reading far and wide.”

“Reading for pleasure is at the heart of what Scholastic promotes,” said Scholastic’s Kent representative, Lindi Harman. “It was music to my ears when I met Kay Devine pre-lockdown number one and learned about the charity’s fabulous activity in schools in Kent.”

She added: “We want every child to have the opportunity to learn to love books and reading and foster that habit so that it becomes a lifelong companion; with all the pressures and anxieties that lockdowns and pandemic can bring – what better than to lose yourself in gripping story, expand your mind, widen your horizons, explore your imagination, improve your spelling and vocabulary, your creativity and the ability to express yourself in your own writing as a result.”

Schools can find out more about Buster’s or register at www.BustersBookClub.co.uk while organisations interested in supporting the scheme through donations, sponsorship, prizes or services can contact Kay at kdevine@thekmgroup.co.uk.

Supporters include The Education People, Golding Homes, Acorns Read and Grow, and Three R’s Teacher Recruitment.

“Buster’s Book Club operates during the academic year but schools can join at any time,” said Mrs Devine. “We have competitions throughout the year challenging pupils to achieve their reading minutes.

“There are prizes for the top or most improved classes and this creates a real buzz in the classroom. We find the children actively encourage each other to try their best and they get a huge thrill when they win!”

Other KM Charity Team initiatives include green travel and road safety programmes, cookery challenge Young Cooks, and science contest the Bright Spark Awards. Visit www.KMCharityTeam.co.uk

Kent schools looking for advice on books, library content or the latest literacy resources to aid teaching can contact Lindi Harman at lharman@scholastic.co.uk or via 0771 875 4636.