Read Manchester is thrilled to share the news that Marcus Rashford is supporting St Peter’s RC Primary School in Wythenshawe to transform its school library. Thanks to a partnership between Burberry, Macmillan Children’s Books and Read Manchester’s partner, The National Literacy Trust, ten schools across the country have been selected to benefit from new school library transformations. As well as a new library, St Peter’s will also take part in the Marcus Rashford Book Club and receive free books.
See how the children from St Peter’s reacted when Marcus surprised them with a visit!
Marcus Rashford has said that reading has given him ‘the tools to play football at the highest level’ and that it is his ‘peace’ and ‘escape.’ Marcus didn’t start reading properly until he was 17 years old, but he is now driven to support children and young people to experience the joy and opportunities that reading can bring.
In his open letter he tells children:
‘If you’re feeling a little down today, a little confused, even a little bit scared, this is YOUR safe space. In this library, you can be anybody and anything you want to be. There are no right or wrong answers here. No judgements. Just you and your imagination’. Find more about the campaign.
St Peter’s is a school on a mission, like many others in the city, to develop a reading culture and opportunities for all children to become readers. They have been involved in Read Manchester’s World Book Day events at Concorde and at the Velodrome and are one of forty schools to encourage children to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge by automatically signing up all their children as library members. Their new school library is sure to help them continue their whole school reading adventure!