A BRIDPORT school received a bundle of books for its library ahead of World Book Day.

Pupils at St Mary's School received the books thanks to a partnership between the Morrisons Foundation and the National Literacy Trust.

The project was formed after a recent study conducted by the National Literacy Trust showed that reading has provided a vital refuge for children during the ongoing lockdowns.

A total of 59 per cent of children polled said that reading during lockdown made them feel better, 32 per cent said it helped them when they felt sad because they could not see their family and friends and 50 per cent of children said that reading inspired them to dream about the future beyond Covid-19.

Keira Tait, community champion from the Morrisons store in Bridport delivered the selection of books to the school.

Keira said: “I’m so proud to be helping kids in my community through this donation of books. We are living through challenging times and I hope these stories will give children at St Mary's some fun and enjoyment. I added some extra books to the donation through our own store budget”.

St Mary's School is one of 497 schools throughout England, Scotland and Wales that has received one of the book bundles.

The initiative aims to encourage 125,000 children from local communities to discover a love of reading this World Book Day, having provided 20,000 books to schools over the past three years.

David Scott, Morrison's Foundation trustee, said: “We’re delighted to be teaming up with the National Literacy Trust again to provide books to thousands of pupils across the UK. We hope these books for school libraries in our local communities will give enjoyment to children and help to boost their literacy skills.”