School library shelves filled by housebuilder's book donation

Staff at Carterton Primary School have been working on creating a school library, designating a space for it and setting up shelving.

And its plans for a new library will now be able to come to fruition after a donation of £1,700 from Miller Homes, which will pay for a big selection of new books.

Miller Homes, which is building new homes at Elmhurst Chase in Carterton, invites organisations and groups to bid twice a year for a share of funding from its Community Fund, which it created to help improve local communities.

Robyn Pearce-Jones, from the Friends of Carterton Primary School, said: “The school hasn’t had a library for quite a few years and, as it isn’t a statutory requirement to have one, unfortunately no government funding is given. So, the school asked for our help to help create a new one by fundraising for books to fill it with.

“There are children in our school from nursery stage to 11-years-old, so we needed books for a wide age range, and we estimated that the total cost to fill the library would be £4,000.

“Parents have been helping us by donating and buying books, and we were delighted to be awarded this funding by Miller Homes – it will go a long way towards filling the shelves with plenty of books for the children to enjoy.”

Darren Humphreys, managing director of Miller Homes West Midlands, said: “Our Community Fund was set up so we could help improve local communities and, with the many recognised benefits of reading for children, the new library at Carterton Primary School is a brilliant example of this.

“We’re pleased we could help to fill the shelves of the new school library and we hope that the children all enjoy reading the new books.”

To learn more about Miller Homes’ Community Fund, visit https://www.millerhomes.co.uk/corporate/community-fund.aspx.