A commemorative book of memories of the pandemic, created by Castlegate and Wellington Square shopping centres, has raised £313 for the reading charity, Bookmark.
The book, called Stockton Stories, has been created by the shopping centres in the heart of Stockton as a community project to create a record of what the coronavirus pandemic has been like for children in the Teesside community, and to raise money for Bookmark, the reading charity, to help children in Teesside with their reading skills.
Local children were invited to write about their experiences over the past year and what they would like children of the future to know about the pandemic. Over 600 fantastic stories, poems and pictures were received, from which the shopping centre teams selected their favourite 50 to include in the book.
The book was launched on Friday 4th and Saturday 5th June, at an event that invited all the children whose stories are featured in the book to come along and read their story aloud in Story Book Corner, when they also received their prize and certificate.
“We were overwhelmed not only by the number of entries we received for the competition, but by the high standard of entries. It made it very difficult to choose just 50 stories to include in the book” said Chantal Taylor, Marketing Manager at Castlegate shopping centre.
Matt Boxall, Centre Manager said “It is great to be able to work in partnership with so many of our local schools to produce this charity book and to raise money to help children with their reading.”
To find out more about how your school can benefit from the work that Bookmark do here: www.bookmarkreading.org
