Auchterarder pupils win Story Swap Shop

Nov 6 2009 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

BOOKWORMS at the Community School of Auchterarder will have their favourite story brought to life by ‘Mr Gum’ author Andy Stanton, after winning a national reading challenge.

Hundreds of pupils across Scotland took part in the ScottishPower Story Swap Shop, which encouraged children to recycle their old books by swapping them with their classmates and raising money for environmental projects.

The competition was organised by ScottishPower, leading environmental charity Friends of the Earth Scotland and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which took place in August in the country’s capital.

ScottishPower Group sponsorships manager, Heather McDonald, said: “Well done to the Community School of Auchterarder for raising money and doing their bit for the environment by recycling books.

“We hope the youngsters enjoyed sharing stories and discovering new authors.

“Not only have the children raised funds for a fantastic cause, they have also learned that saving energy by switching off their computers and picking up a book can be fun as well as educational.”

The Community School of Auchterarder raised over £120 and exchanged more than 250 books during the initiative and was randomly selected to win the competition.

Pupils will be rewarded with a visit from Andy, who was part of this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Andy is well-known for writing the Mr Gum series, including titles such as ‘You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!’, ‘Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire’ and more recently, ‘What's for Dinner, Mr Gum?’.

Class teacher Lisa Millar said: “The ScottishPower Story Swap Shop was a fantastic project for the children to get involved in and we are delighted to have won.

“As a school, we try to be as eco-friendly as we can, so this project was not only successful in the amount of money we raised, but it encouraged the children to recycle.

“It’s great when an idea like this comes along as it really gets everyone involved. It has even passed on to the staff room – the teachers are not only swapping books now but have moved onto DVDs as well!”

Schools were invited to hold a book swap before the end of the summer term, with pupils donating 50p for every novel traded.

Children across the country exchanged over 600 books with their classmates throughout the initiative, raising over £300.

Funds are being donated to Friends of the Earth Scotland, which works to promote energy saving and waste reduction.