Sunderland schoolchildren given free books for Christmas thanks to appeal

City schoolchildren have been given the gift of reading this Christmas.

Sunderland Empire partnered with the Neighbourhood Police Team, Sunderland BID, The Bridges and bookshop Great Reads to bring festive joy to schoolchildren with Belle’s Book Appeal.

And Belle from panto Beauty & the Beast, played by Olivia Birchenough, was on hand to deliver more than 300 books donated by Sunderland shoppers to Hudson Road Primary School.

The primary school, who have traditionally gifted their children a book each on the last day of term ahead of the Christmas break no longer receive funding for the initiative making donations vital.

Great Reads bookshop within The Bridges Shopping Centre have been essential in collecting the books over the past month, encouraging kind shoppers to give to the cause. The shop have also generously donated a number of titles.

Thanks to the donations, all of the children will receive a book as they do every Christmas and the school’s beloved scheme can continue.

Cathy Westgate, Headteacher at Hudson Road Primary School, said: “We so appreciate the books for our children. They absolutely love reading and most of our children don’t have many books at home, so we try and make sure we give them a book as often as we can but obviously it’s expensive and it’s really difficult, so to have donations like this means so much to the children and their families.

"They love reading and I know those books will be treasured.”

Joanne Wilkins, Marketing Manager at Sunderland Empire said: “We are completely overwhelmed by how generous the people of Sunderland have been when assisting with this cause.

"We would like to thank Great Reads so much for their support in housing this wonderful initiative in their store and getting so many people behind it. Thanks to everyone’s generosity and collaboration, the entire school of pupils will receive a wonderful story this Christmas.”

Georgia Startin-field, The Bridges said: “It’s always really great to see how generous the people of Sunderland are and how we always come together for great causes such as the book appeal.”

Kayleigh Derbyshire, Sunderland BID said: “A big thank you to all the businesses that participated in Belle's Book appeal this year for Hudson Road Primary School. The generosity of the Sunderland community has made it possible for this wonderful tradition to continue.”