Portsmouth leaders welcome success of this year's summer reading challenge

THE latest Summer Reading Challenge in Portsmouth has been hailed a success.

The initiative gets children to read six books over the school holidays to keep their learning and enjoyment of reading up to scratch.

This year’s challenge had a Roald Dahl theme to mark the centenary celebrations of his birth.

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Figures released by Portsmouth City Council reveal 2,747 children signed up and 1,414 went on to complete the eight-week course.

A total of 50,000 children’s items were issued from libraries over the period – and nearly 4,000 children and their families attended a winners event at Southsea Castle on September 11.

Welcoming the news, Portsmouth Tory culture boss, Councillor Linda Symes, said: ‘It’s fantastic.

‘It shows everyone is doing a brilliant job; keeping people literate is so important.

‘Getting people to really enjoy reading is really great.

‘If you read and enjoy it, it’s with you for life.’