A community initiative is providing children in Scotswood with access to reading books.
Established by North East charity Healthworks – in collaboration with Scotswood Village Nursery and the National Literacy Trust – the project has created a library at the nursery with over 50 children’s books that students can take home.
Lisa Conroy, Health Promotion Team Lead with Healthworks, explains: “Not all children have access to books at home, so we wanted to solve this issue by establishing some kind of lending scheme. I have worked with the National Literacy Trust previously – being accepted as a Literacy Champion – and they provided some books which I shared with the nursey. The nursery was already in the process of setting up their own sharing scheme so the timing couldn’t have been better!
“We now hope to inspire these young learners and to help them develop a love of books and reading. In the summer, we are going to be working with the nursery team, to host a series of walks themed around some of these stories – ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ for example – making our way up to Denton Burn Library. We hope to get all of the young people registered there so families have will still have access to books when their children move on to primary school in the future.”
The selection and range of books at Scotswood Village Nursery, has been further bolstered by a donation from New Tyne West Development Company (NTWDC) – the partnership behind the nearby Rise development – and its PR agency, Persuasion PR.
This has enabled the nursery to purchase board books – with thicker, more durable cardboard pages – for younger children and for those with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
Caroline Duncan, Manager and SENCo at the nursery added: “Thank you to NTWDC and Persuasion PR for donating these books and increasing access to our little library for even more of our children. These board books have thicker pages that do not rip, so are more robust for our younger children and those who have additional needs.
“The whole initiative has already been a huge success. Access to books from a very early age is so important for the holistic development of children. Reading with children develops literacy skills as well as comfort and reassurance, confidence, security, and happiness – which is paramount in our nursery setting. The pre-school children within the setting are thoroughly enjoying being independent and choosing their own books to take home and read with parents and guardians and we have also seen more children emersed in a book during the nursery day.”
Lee McGray, Director with NTWDC said: “This is another example of how Healthworks’ exceptional work, forges partnerships with other groups and organisations to generate potentially transformative impacts on people’s lives. When we heard about the project, both ourselves and our own PR partner – Persuasion PR – were only too happy to purchase some additional books to support.”
Jenny Thynne, Project Officer at the National Literacy Trust in the North East, added: “When parents share stories with their baby or young child, they are helping to develop their language and communication skills from the very start – which will set them up to thrive, not just in school but in life. Having access to a variety of books is fundamental so we’re delighted to see how this initiative has evolved since our initial book donations, with the development of a comprehensive lending library reflecting the needs and interests of all families – including those with SEND.
“We are incredibly grateful to our Literacy Champions at Healthworks who volunteer their time to increase access to books and resources for the families who need them most”.
NTWDC is the housing-led regeneration partnership between Newcastle City Council and Keepmoat. It is behind The Rise development – a project with plans to build 1,800 homes in the west end of the city.
Healthworks is a North East based charity that works across the region to support people of all ages to live longer, healthier and happier lives. Celebrating its 30th year, the charities recent impact report estimated that its community interventions could have saved the health and social care system over £40million.
Scotswood Village Nursery is a family run educational setting which operates out of St Margaret’s Church, on Heighley Street. It currently provides education to 48 young people aged between two and four and recently received a second consecutive ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted report.
*Picture caption: From left to right, Lisa Conroy (Healthworks), Nathan, Romy, Lee McGray (NTWDC), Jen Rodden (teacher) and Georgie.