The Nottingham Building Society has donated £10,000 to BookTrust to help vulnerable children in its communities over the festive season.
It will fund 1,000 gift packs – including a carefully selected hardback book, along with a special letter, festive poster and bookmark – that will be delivered to boys and girls aged 3 to 13 in the building society’s heartland.
Children in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Norfolk will get them in the post in time for Christmas.
All recipients have been selected by the local authorities and schools that BookTrust works with through The Letterbox Club project.
The donation is part of The Nottingham’s drive to support the most vulnerable in our communities over Christmas and at the end of an extremely challenging year for many due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Marlow, The Nottingham’s chief executive, said: “BookTrust play an inspirational role in providing vital access to books and reading support to children who are vulnerable or in care.
“As we near the end of a very challenging year for all we’ve a festive wish to do what we can to support those most in need in our communities and are delighted to be making this contribution, which we hope puts lots of smiles on the faces of extremely deserving children this Christmas.”
Diana Gerald, BookTrust chief executive, added: “This Christmas, there will be many more children and families facing some form of hardship. This is already a difficult time of the year for children in care, some of whom may be having their first Christmas away from their family. And the events of this year mean there will be even more families for whom buying presents may be a struggle.
“The feedback we get from the children who have received the parcels in previous years is truly heart-warming and shows how much they treasure receiving a gift and book of their own at Christmas. Just one just one book really can make all the difference. So we are hugely grateful to The Nottingham for their very generous support that will help us reach even more children with the wonderful world of books.”
Colleagues at the building society and players and staff from Nottingham Panthers, community partners of The Nottingham, also held a Christmas jumper day recently where they voluntarily paid for the ‘honour’ of wearing their festive tops. An additional £150 was raised for BookTrust, which will help towards even more gift packs.