CHILDREN at a Widnes school are celebrating after raising more than £900 to buy new books.

Youngsters at St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School in Widnes held sponsored reading events and school book fairs in the autumn term to raise money to buy new books for the library.

The books were delivered earlier this month by independent Usborne organiser, Liz Neale.

Edd Naylor, assistant head teacher, said, “Here at St Gerard’s we pride ourselves not only the academic achievements of our children, but their community achievements too. All children, from reception to year six got stuck in and rallied around to gather sponsorship money for every time they read at home.

"The books we have received from Usborne will no doubt make a huge impact here at St Gerard's but, most importantly, will ignite a passion for children to continue to read for pleasure outside of the school gate.

"According to the National Literacy Trust, children who enjoy reading are three times more likely to have good mental well-being than children who don’t enjoy it – something that is more important than ever in our current climate. On behalf of the whole school community at St Gerard’s we would like to extend our thanks to all of the parents/carers and wider community who have supported us and enabled this to happen."