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Free books for schools children’s literacy charity UK Reads, together with their partner the circular economy bookseller AwesomeBooks, are asking schools to apply for free books for children living in poverty in their communities. Driven by a commitment to sustainability and literacy, AwesomeBooks collects books destined for landfill and repurposes high quality copies by reselling them or donating them to improve access to books and promote literacy, which means that no book is ever thrown away. They have pledged 30,000 high quality, pre-loved books to UK Reads, to support schools and children in disadvantaged communities. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest factor in determining a child’s future success, but there are currently more than 413,000 children in the UK who do not own a single book of their own. UK Reads are on a mission to ensure every child in the UK has access to free books and literacy support. All UK schools can go to www.ukreads.org/bookdrop to request free from UK Reads for children without access to their own books. Go to www. ukreads.org for more information about UK Reads and the work they are doing to end illiteracy in the UK.
Encouraging reading Michael Rosen has been appointed as the new Writer in Residence at BookTrust, the children’s reading charity. The children’s author and performance poet is a long-standing champion for children’s reading and for many years he took his one-man show to schools across the country to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. Over the years, he has been involved in countless public campaigns to promote reading. In 2007 he became the Children’s Laureate, where he developed the Perform-a-Poem website in association with the London Grid for Learning. Michael is planning on using the residency as an opportunity to highlight the benefits and fun of reading with babies and toddlers. Michael Rosen said, “I am really looking forward to being
resident at BookTrust. We know that helping children start life playing with words, poems and songs is the perfect way to become a confident speaker and writer. Under-fives soak up language and we can help make that happen by sharing books with them. I want to do all I can to offer some ideas and inspiration to help carers, teachers and anyone who works with under-fives.”
Croaky! March of the amphibians Each night a sleepy corner of the county is being turned into a march of the amphibians as hundreds of toads and newts make a perilous journey across a busy road to breed. This mass migration to the Woodland Trust owned Haddon Wood, near Castle Cary, has even led buses to stop and allow the toads to cross, and local truckers to change their route to protect the toads - who are being ably assisted by a team of committed volunteers. On suitable evenings, after dusk, the toad patrollers hop into action by sticking on their boots, donning hi viz jackets and, armed with torches, spend hours helping the toads across the road towards the woodland, to safety.
The toads are making an intrepid journey from spending the year in vegetation and damp areas - towards a specially created pond to spawn. The volunteers are out from sunset to 10pm on evenings when the weather is right - toads only launch their journeys when it is wet, and the temperature is higher than 5 degrees. The volunteers’ job is to encourage traffic to slow and aid the amphibians across the road from Alhampton. This migration of toads is a success story amongst a climate change and nature emergency.
Fly the flag for Somerset The Somerset Day Community Interest Company celebrates Somerset and all it has to offer by encouraging communities, organisations, businesses and individuals to celebrate the birthday up to and over the weekend nearest to Somerset Day, 11 May. They want everyone to relish in the stunning countryside, historic cities, abundant produce, amazing businesses, festival culture and rich heritage of the county historically known as ‘the land of the summer people’. You can join in living our heritage by taking part in the 2022 Trail Challenge – an interactive map with details of physical destinations to help you explore the County and celebrate organisations, communities and landmarks reflecting the present and future as much as the past. Go to somersetday.com/ for details.
10.
28 March - 16 May 2022
