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Wigan Athletic midfielder Kevin Kilbane,
affectionately know as Kilbam to his fans, is adding another
show-stopping performance to his Premier League career by becoming
Latics’ very own Reading Champion for 2008.
Now in its sixth year, the Premier League Reading Stars scheme (a
partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Arts Council England,
Football Foundation and the Premier League) aims to encourage young
people to read more often with their families and to make better use of
their local libraries.
In the Wigan Borough, Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust has teamed up with
Wigan Athletic to provide 20 children from 4 local primary schools
(Leigh Central Primary School, St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School,
Leigh, Platt Bridge Community Primary and Holy Family Catholic Primary
School, Platt Bridge) with the opportunity to take part in the scheme.
Kevin Kilbane is one of 20 Premier League players chosen to pick their
favourite book that forms a Premier League Reading Stars reading list.
Kevin has chosen ‘Bestie: Portrait of a Legend’, a biography about
Manchester United hero George Best, written by Joe Lovejoy.
Kevin said, “The book tells the story of all aspects of Best’s life in
detail – both his outstanding football talent, and the troubles he had
off the pitch. He really was a remarkable player and his story is just
as amazing”.
Kevin continues, “Reading is a great way of relaxing on the team coach
on the long trips to away games. It really helps to focus my mind and
helps me deal with the pressure of big games. Hopefully we can get more
families involved in reading through the scheme and regularly visiting
their local library. It’s really important that children enjoy reading
for their development and I hope that they are inspired to read more”.
All 20 children involved will have the chance to meet an author and take
part in a series of football based literacy games throughout the
initiative. Wigan Athletic has adopted Platt Bridge Library and Leigh
Library (managed by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust) to co-ordinate the
scheme. Both libraries will receive free copies of all titles on the
Reading Stars book list. Each library has arranged a series of
activities for the children to get involved in.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust Executive Director Pete Gascoigne said,
“This is the third year that we have worked alongside Wigan Athletic to
promote this excellent scheme. It has definitely had a positive impact
on many of the children involved and we really value the opportunity to
promote reading through the use of good role models such as Kevin. This
work complements other activities that we are doing in the National Year
of Reading to encourage people of all ages to get involved in reading.”
Other players selected a wide range of titles, including children’s
classics like Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ (the
choice of Aston Villa keeper Scott Carson); sporting heroes biographies
‘Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times’ (Manchester United’s Edwin van der
Sar) and celebrated thrillers like ‘The Day of the Jackal’ by Frederick
Forsyth (Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt). For the first time ever a Premier
League player has got involved in the writing of one of the books as
Middlesbrough’s goalie Mark Schwarzer co-wrote his choice ‘Meg and the
Vootball Kids’.
Dave Richards, Chairman of the Premier League and the Football
Foundation, says, “With Premier League Reading Stars, we hope to be able
to use footballers’ favourite book choices as a way of inspiring
families to read together. It gives players the opportunity to act as
positive role models and shows that by using the power of football we
can successfully change people’s attitudes to reading.”
For more information on the scheme in the Wigan Borough please contact
Jean Lamb on 486996. For more information on the national scheme contact
Tim Vine, at the Premier League, on 0207 864 9179.
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NOTES TO EDITORS: For further information on this press release please
contact Georgina Bentley, Marketing Manager, Wigan Leisure and Culture
Trust on 01942 486930 or at
g.bentley@wlct.org. Alternatively contact:
Tim Vine at the Premier League, on 0207 864 9179.
Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust: Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust is a
charitable trust working on behalf of Wigan Council to manage and
support Leisure and Cultural facilities, initiatives and events for over
300,000 residents across the Wigan Borough.
Premier League Reading Stars: The scheme will run at 56 libraries across
the country, with each Premier League club adopting at least one
library. Results from last years project indicate that Premier League
Reading Stars is working, with 97% of children who took part saying that
they would read more regularly as a result and 90 per cent of parents
said they would go to a library more often.
The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of
the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football
as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in
communities throughout the country. Funded by the Premier League, the FA
and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest
sports charity, having already funded projects worth over £365 million.
www.footballfoundation.org.uk
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity dedicated to
building a nation in which everyone enjoys the skills, self-esteem and
pleasures that literacy can bring. It is the only organisation concerned
with raising literacy standards for all age groups throughout the UK.
www.literacytrust.org.uk.
Reading The Game (RTG) is an initiative of the National Literacy Trust
launched in September 2002. Largely funded by the Football Foundation,
the aim of RTG is to work with professional football clubs and players
to promote literacy and lifelong learning. RTG works in partnership with
the Premier League, the PFA, the FA and the DfES initiative Playing for
Success.
www.readingthegame.org.uk
The Premier League is committed to using the power of football to raise
educational standards, tackle social exclusion and promote community
involvement. As well as being one of the main funding partners of the
Football Foundation, the Premier League supports a number of other
programmes including Playing for Success and The Prince’s Trust Football
Initiative
www.premierleague.com.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts.
Between 2003 and 2006 they will invest £2 billion of public funds in the
arts in England, including funding from the National Lottery.
www.artscouncil.org.uk
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Book star, Kevin Kilbane |