Asda helps to redistribute over one million pre-loved books to children across the UK
- Asda and The Children's Book Project celebrate major milestone as customers donate one million pre-loved books
Asda today is celebrating donating one million pre-loved children's books to families and communities across the UK through its partnership with The Children's Book Project. The achievement comes during the UK's National Year of Reading and highlights the important role communities can play in encouraging children to read.
The milestone was celebrated at Asda's Hunts Cross store in Liverpool, one of the retailer's most successful book donation locations, where Community Champion Alan Arnold has helped collect nearly 6000 books since January from generous customers.
Alongside hundreds of customers, local Hunts Cross based children's author Jennifer Jones is a regular donator of books into the stores collection trolley, she said: “Books have the power to spark imagination, build confidence and open doors to new worlds, which is why I’m passionate about helping more children discover the joy of reading. Every child deserves the opportunity to lose themselves in a great story, and something as simple as access to books can make a lasting difference to their learning, creativity and future aspirations. If donating books helps inspire even one young reader, then it’s a wonderful investment in the next generation.”
For more than 18 months, customers have been invited to donate pre-loved children's books at dedicated collection points in more than 300 Asda stores nationwide. The books are then sorted, redistributed and gifted to schools, children's centres, food banks and community organisations, helping children build libraries of their own.
The one million books donated include titles for children aged from birth to 14 years old and represent countless new opportunities for children to discover the joy of reading. The Children's Book Project estimates that one million books is equivalent to a book for every child in more than 3,000 primary schools across the UK.
Liberty Venn from The Children's Book Project said: "Asda's belief in our mission that every child should have books of their own has been nothing short of transformational. For over 18 months and in more than 300 stores nationwide, they have made it easy for families to donate their pre-loved children's books as part of their weekly shop.
"From an initial pilot in two regions to a national roll out, Asda has taken care to develop this campaign at a pace that we, as a young charity, could handle. The result is one million beautiful outgrown children's books available for us to gift to new homes nationwide. That's one million additional books in homes where there were very few books previously, and one million additional opportunities for a story at bedtime. Absolutely incredible."
Tracy Butler, Lead Manager - Asda Foundation and Local Community said: "We're incredibly proud to have reached the milestone of one million donated books through our partnership with The Children's Book Project. This achievement belongs to our customers and colleagues, who have embraced the campaign and helped give pre-loved books a new lease of life. Whether it's a favourite bedtime story, a well-loved adventure or a book that helped spark a lifelong love of reading, every donation has the power to make a difference to a child somewhere in the UK.
"We're especially grateful to colleagues like Alan in Hunts Cross and the hundreds of community champions across our stores who have helped make the campaign such a success. Together we've helped ensure that more children have access to books and the opportunities that reading can bring."
Customers can continue donating pre-loved children's books at participating Asda stores across the country.