In partnership with The National Literacy Trust (NLT) and Premier League Primary Stars, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust donated 400 books to local primary schools in celebration of World Book Day 2021.

Students from Rabbsfarm, Heathfields, Green Dragon, Cranford Park Academy, St Anselms and Berrymede all embraced the World Book Day spirit. The Football School, a ground-breaking new series that teaches children about the world through the prism of football, was included in the selection of books donated. Brentford was one of 50 clubs to have been gifted books by the NLT to distribute to schools.

World Book Day changes lives through a love of books and shared reading. Its mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.

Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. The aim of World Book Day is to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them.

World Book Day was created by UNESCO on 23 April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.

The first World Book Day in the UK and Ireland took place in 1997 to encourage young people to discover the pleasure of reading.

Spending just 10 minutes a day reading and sharing stories with children can make a crucial difference to their future success and it’s fun for all involved.

That’s why World Book Day continues to encourage children and young people to read for pleasure through its work with authors, illustrators, publishers, bookshops and libraries.

As World Book Day founder, Baroness Gail Rebuck, recalls: “We wanted to do something to reposition reading and our message is the same today as it was then – that reading is fun, relevant, accessible, exciting, and has the power to transform lives.”

Liz Sylvester, a teacher at Green Dragon Primary, said: “We celebrate World Book Day every year, but we think of it as more important than just one day; reading is for the whole year and we take reading for pleasure really seriously. It’s great that we can have as many different books as we can in our school for our children to enjoy. Anything we can do to give students more books and more opportunities to read for pleasure is absolutely great.”

To find out more about Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and the work done in our local community, click here.