Alnwick Lions Club donate £1,000 to Duchess's Community High School charity BOOST

Every half term, members of staff are given a token to reward a pupil of their choice – not just for academic achievement but also to acknowledge good attitude and endeavour.

Katherine Williams, BOOST chair, explained: “This project is part of our commitment to encourage reading for pleasure - exposing children to a wide range of opportunities to read supports literacy and benefits learning in every subject. The books provided through the vending machine are just one way that we are supporting students to love reading at DCHS."

BOOST purchases the books – most selected by the students – from the Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick, which also supports the scheme with a discounted rate, and students then spend their tokens at a book vending machine.