Local MP, Stephen Barclay has almost reached his goal - to collect enough donations of new books so that every Year 4 and 5 child in North East Cambridgeshire can have a new book to read over the summer holidays.

Steve started the ‘Read to Succeed’ campaign in 2016, after teachers raised with him the difficulty of encouraging children to read throughout the summer holidays. Last year, Steve raised over 1,500 books for local schools, which resulted in a 16 per cent increase of children taking part in reading challenges at their local library.

This year he has a target of 3,000 books and only needs 500 more to reach that by his deadline of July 5.

Schools with the most children completing the summer reading challenge can also win prizes such as private cinema screenings at The Light (Wisbech).

To donate: waterstones.com/booklist/312239/steve-barclay-read-to-succeed-2017