By Charminae George
For students and staff of the Nelvie N Gore Primary School — formerly Willikies Primary School – the school’s library will be one of their favourite places to be following the donation of a wide variety of books.
The presentation was made by the Sons & Daughters of Willikies community group last week on behalf of the London-based, Willikies Educational Foundation.
A member of the community group, Derrick Nicholas, handed over the books to the school’s principal
Nicholas told Observer that the initiative came about via discussions with the school, which indicated their desire to expand the selection of books in the library.
“[We] are keen on supporting the Nelvie N Gore school in whatever way we can. The school identified a need and … we were able to provide the support,” he said.
The books presented to the school included non-fictional topics of cooking, science, and sports, while various genres of fictional novels were also among the set.
In his message to the students during the short presentation ceremony, Nicholas encouraged the students to ignite a love for reading.
“Get in reading … get into that book and get into the characters and make reading a fun thing,” he told Observer as he highlighted his overall message.
The donation of approximately EC $15,000 worth of books, was one of the many upcoming initiatives which the group planned for the school. Projects currently in the pipeline are the upgrading of the school’s kitchen and the installation of air conditioning units in the classrooms.
The Willikies Educational Foundation is a charity based in London, England. The founder, Kardar Challenger seeks to advance the education of students in his country of birth, Antigua and Barbuda, and by extension the Caribbean.
His alma mater, the Willikies Primary School – which was renamed Nelvie N Gore Primary School after a former principal — and the village of Willikies are places close to his heart.
The Sons & Daughters of Willikies is a locally registered charity that engages community projects in areas including sports and education. They also are the organisers of the Willikies Village Reunion which is held every four years.
The charity can be contacted via the telephone number, 784-7214, or 773-9160.