Havant Rotary Club helping young people experience wonder of storytelling with literacy project

Members of the Havant Rotary Club set up the project in response to the pandemic to help children access books while not in school.

Providing books for children aged four to 11, the Havant Rotary Club Reading Project began in 2021 with two schools and now has three participating - Trosnant, Warren Park, and Front Lawn.

Shelagh Moore, a past Havant Rotary president, has a keen interest in literacy as an author and educator.

She said: ‘Reading is the gateway to learning for us all in a modern society.’

Books were collected from publishers as well as charity shops and donations from local groups and authors.

Boxes of the books were delivered to participating schools, and by Christmas last year, the project was receiving positive feedback reports.

Shelagh said: ‘Schools had selected their pupils who would most benefit from the extra access to books.

‘We have ensured that our disadvantaged children are chosen and they have been so good at borrowing the books and coming back to tell me what they have enjoyed. ‘

In one of the schools, two pupils have formed their own book club to share and swap their reading material.

Shelagh says that the project has seen ‘positive’ responses from the schools, and added: ‘While it is too soon to assess the impact of the project on the children’s interest in reading, the early signs are promising.

‘The children say that they love coming to choose a book and love the selection on offer.’

To learn more about the project, contact [email protected].