Book tokens donated to Devon primary school after fire damage

A Devon primary school has benefitted by getting new books from social housing provider for the South West LiveWest following a fire on its premises.

Lamerton C of E Primary School, near Tavistock, suffered from a fire earlier this year which caused extensive smoke damage to the school site including damage to the books in the library. The school temporarily moved to the village community centre where pupils have been having lessons while repairs are being made.

Headteacher, Melody Sterry, put out an appeal to help replace the books and following this, LiveWest has donated £300 of National Book Tokens to help the school restock its non-fiction books.

Melody Sterry, Headteacher of Lamerton C or E Primary School, said: “We love reading at our school and we were devastated that a fire destroyed all of our library. This money will really help us to get back on track and get children reading. We can't thank LiveWest enough.”

There are 29 LiveWest homes in the catchment area of the school so parents reached out to the business to see if it could support them.

Alison Knight, Community Connector for LiveWest, said: “We were really sad to hear what had happened at Lamerton school. LiveWest has homes in the area so after we heard parents asking if anyone could support with this, we knew we wanted to help if we could.

“It was fantastic to present the school with a donation of book vouchers. Books are so important for primary schools to have as a resource. We thought it was a great idea to help the school buy new non-fiction books to inspire children to continue to read and make sure they get the opportunity to loan free books from their school that are suitable for all.

“It’s always a pleasure to come into schools to promote reading and meet the pupils and our residents living in our nearby communities.”