This Christmas we’re donating books to local food banks, which welcome new (or nearly new) books as well as food donations.  Together with FCC Environment we’ve also given book bundles to a number of schools in Norwich.

The book list was hand-picked by our resident bibliotherapist and programme director Peggy Hughes and they are all on the theme of renewal and a greener future (browse the list below for present ideas for the young people in your life). We commissioned Young Norfolk Laureate Mathilda Armiger to write a poem on the theme of renewal to mark this turbulent year and look to the future.

Read ‘An Incantation for a Garden’ by Mathilda Armiger here >>

This year in place of cards the National Centre for Writing will be donating a treasure trove of books to families in need via Norwich and King’s Lynn Foodbanks. NCW purchased the following books from the wonderful (and award-winning!) independent bookshop The Book Hive, based in the heart of Norwich, UNESCO City of Literature.

• The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris
• Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers
• Comet in Moonminland by Tove Jansson
• The Big Book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer
• Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright: An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year selected by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

If you would like to make a donation yourself, new or as-new books can be delivered to Norwich and King’s Lynn Foodbanks:

Norwich Foodbank

If you prefer to hand deliver, please do so on Monday, Thursday or Friday between 9am and 1pm.

TS Vancouver Building, St Margaret’s Lane, King’s Lynn PE30 5DS.

Deadline: 2pm, Friday 11 December

When making a book donation, please include a note to say that your delivery is part of the NCW Christmas Book Gift campaign.

For details of your nearest Foodbank, visit The Trussell Trust website.

Based near Norwich? You can also gift a book to a child in care by visiting the Giving Tree at Waterstones Castle Street.