Salisbury school children design special 'BookBenches'
It's all to celebrate 100 years of Salisbury's Rotary Club
Children at eight of Salisbury's schools have been working with professional artists to design their own BookBenches.
They're shaped like the pages of a book opening up, and have been painted with plants, trees, animals and inspirational quotes.
The schools taking part were:
- Harnham Infant
- Harnham Junior
- Longford Junior
- Manor Fields Primary
- St Andrew’s Primary
- St Martin’s Primary
- St Peter’s Primary
- Woodlands Primary
It's part of the celebrations for the centenary of Salisbury Rotary Club, with the group funding the project, alongside the Rotary Foundation and Wiltshire Council.
Nigel Brookes, Salisbury Rotary Club said:
“The aim of the project was to work with schools to raise awareness of the importance of reading and its power to change children’s lives. The project focused on giving opportunities to children in Salisbury who may not normally get the chance to explore painting and drawing whilst working with professional artists.”
The benches will go on display at Salisbury Library from next Tuesday (2nd August) until Wednesday 31st August.
They'll then go back to their respective schools for use from September.
The project was led by professional artists Sue Martin, Helen Morgan Ford and Helen Look who held workshops in each of the schools taking part.
A BookBench has also been made for Salisbury Children’s library by local artist, Terry Kemp.
This bench focuses on the support given by Salisbury Rotary to local organisations over the last century.
Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Libraries said:
“Salisbury Rotary Club received its charter in January 1922 and since then has raised many thousands of pounds for charitable causes both in Salisbury and around the world. We are delighted to have been able to support them in their centenary celebrations through this exciting project which has produced such beautiful BookBenches."