Friday 25th April 2008
(ref:
WLCT49 /2008)
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.
