STAFF at a college in Southampton have been delivering books to students as part of the college's "Reading Aloud" programme.

The Learning Centre team leader of City College Southampton, Richard Ashman has been cycling around Southampton, handing out books to the college's students to allow them to take part in the Reading Aloud programme, designed to develop students' confidence and enthusiasm for reading by practising reading out loud.

After running the programme successfully last year, the Learning Centre team at the college saw progress in the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and self-confidence of students while reading.

But once lockdown began, the face-to-face reading sessions stopped, and the programme was continued online on video chats, which meant that students needed a physical copy of each book as many of the books used by the college were not available digitally.

Team Leader, Richard, then began hand delivering the books to his students from a safe social distance, and even managed to throw one of the books to a student on the third floor of a flat.

He said: "It hasn’t been too difficult to provide a letter-box service to the students delivering books direct to their homes. I believe reading is important; not just individually but as part of everyone’s family life. It doesn’t always matter what we read as long as we and those around us have the choice and opportunity to read. Libraries do that not only through books and learning but also by offering escapism and the opportunity to allow your imagination to soar.”