Thousands of children across Yorkshire whose families will struggle to afford Christmas this year are being given magical children’s books thanks to Rotary.
Scores of Rotary Clubs across Yorkshire grouped together to make sure children under 10 who may not be receiving many presents this year have a brighter Christmas.
Members bought more than 2,000 high quality books (each costing around £10) which were donated to the Salvation Army at Rotary’s District 1040 Conference at The Spa Complex in Scarborough on Friday (10 October). Salvation Army representatives are due to distribute the books across Yorkshire.
John Phillip, Rotary District Governor and brainchild behind the project, said: "The idea was just to brighten up a family’s Christmas a bit. Families will be feeling the pinch more than ever this year and as books are timeless and can be enjoyed again and again we thought they would make the perfect present.
"Rotary as an international organisation does a lot to promote literacy in communities at home and abroad so the project seemed quite fitting.
"It was a great experience for our members as well; they got to relive their childhood a bit and delve into the imaginative world of children’s stories while they searched through the children’s section of the local bookstore."
Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland has 58,000 members in 1,845 clubs and is broken into 29 districts. District 1040 covers the whole of Yorkshire and has more than 80 clubs and 2,600 members.
