How coronavirus memories will help to get Blackpool reading

Your Gazette has teamed up with the Get Blackpool Reading initiative to encourage youngsters to get out and about to bring a bit of colour to their daily exercise - and share their memories.

Get Blackpool Reading, the campaign from the National Literacy Trust, Blackpool Opportunity Area and Blackpool Council, has developed a literacy-based activity for seven to 11 year olds to enjoy at home and as part of families’ outdoor exercise.

The Draw and Display tour competition is inspired by the rainbows of hope and teddy bears that have appeared in windows throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

Families are being asked to bring memories of the resort to life by colouring in a bespoke seaside scene and displaying them in their windows.

To take part, families can download and print the competition resource from the Get Blackpool Reading website (getblackpoolreading.org.uk) or Facebook page (facebook.com/getblackpoolreading) and colour it in.

For those who don’t have access to a printer, it will also be published in the Blackpool Gazette, or children can draw their own version.

Older children can take part in the competition by writing a poem inspired by the rainbows of hope and putting them up in the window for their neighbours to see.

Parents are asked to take a photo or scan in their children’s entries and share it on social media using the hashtag #GetBlackpoolReading or [email protected] with their name and age before the closing date of Friday July 17 2020.

All entrants will be submitted to a prize draw to win an iPad Mini. There will also be prizes for those who spot the highest number of seaside scenes or poems in windows around their local area while on theri daily exercise.

Laura Flinn, Get Blackpool Reading campaign manager, said: "Although times are strange for families in Blackpool right now, we hope the Draw and Display tour will bring hope and happiness to parents and children in lockdown.

"Research tells us that there are literacy benefits to both mark-making and writing poetry as it encourages your child to be creative, share ideas and express their thoughts and feelings.

"We hope as many local families as possible are inspired to take part – especially with such a brilliant prize to be won.”

Chairman of the Blackpool Opportunity Area partnership board, Graham Cowley, said: "Blackpool Opportunity Area is proud to support Get Blackpool Reading, a great campaign reminding us all of the benefits of regular reading. The campaign’s Draw and Display tour competition can remind us all of happier days during this difficult time.

“We are committed to improving literacy levels in Blackpool and encouraging children to read for pleasure forms a huge part of this."

Get Blackpool Reading from the National Literacy Trust, Blackpool Council and Blackpool Opportunity Area, is a resort wide campaign aimed at getting your children, and adults, reading for pleasure while improving literacy levels.

Get Blackpool Reading’s Draw and Display activity is just one way the National Literacy Trust is responding to COVID-19

Parents can also visit the newly-launched Get Blackpool Reading Facebook page or the National Literacy Trust Family Zone for a one-stop shop of tips and resources to support learning at home. The equivalent platform for children at secondary school, Zone In, is due to launch this month.

Find out more about Get Blackpool Reading by visiting www.getblackpoolreading.org.uk or fb.com/getblackpoolreading and Family Zone at literacyfamilyzone.org.uk.