The Nottingham's £10k BookTrust donation set to bring joy to 1,000 vulnerable children this Christmas

A Nottingham Building Society donation of £10,000 to BookTrust will help bring a smile to the most vulnerable children in our 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, said: “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. 

The BookTrust support comes after The Nottingham recently matched generous public fundraising for homelessness charity Framework to the tune of £10,000 and also donated £5,000 to the Notts County Foundation to help them deliver their vital education programme.

Another £5,000 has also been made available to the building society’s branch teams to support fundraising ideas they have to help those most vulnerable in their local communities over the Christmas period.

About BookTrust

BookTrust is dedicated to getting children reading because we know that children who read are happier, healthier, more empathetic and more creative. Their early language development is supported and they also do better at school.

We are the UK’s largest children’s reading charity; each year we reach 3.9 million children across the UK with books, resources and support to help develop a love of reading, because we know that reading can transform lives.

We work with a variety of partners to get children excited about books, rhymes and stories, because if reading is fun, children will want to do it. Our books are delivered via health, library, schools and early years practitioners, and are supported with guidance, advice and resources to encourage the reading habit. www.booktrust.org.uk

Now in its fourth year, the BookTrust Christmas Appeal raises money to send festive book gifts to children who are vulnerable or in care. This year, more so than ever before, there will be children who may not be looking forward to Christmas. Their families might be facing challenging circumstances and some children may be spending this Christmas away from their families for the first time. BookTrust will send out a total of 14,250 festive book parcels, these will be distributed through local authorities and schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and this year, for the first time, we’re also giving out book parcels through community foodbanks in England.​ Find out more about the BookTrust Christmas appeal by visiting www.booktrust.org.uk/xmas