MORE than 240 children from West Acton Primary School, St John’s Primary School in Ealing and West Twyford Primary School visited Ealing Broadway shopping centre for a poetry session, aimed at helping them fall in love with reading.

They listened to poems from professional storyteller Cecilia Knapp as part of the Young Readers Programme, an initiative sponsored by Ealing Broadway owner British Land and run in partnership with the National Literacy Trust.

Pupils also took part in activities with retailers and organisations based at Ealing Broadway, including Decathlon, Waterstones and Ealing Central Library. They were also able to take home a book of their choice.

Since the programme launched at Ealing Broadway, it has supported more than 2,500 school children and seen nearly 7,700 books donated across Ealing.

Andrew Rollings, centre director, said: “It’s always rewarding to see how the children are inspired by the stories they hear and start to get excited about reading and bringing their own books home.”