Jess Brown-Fuller MP joins Chichester Children’s BookFest school visit at St Joseph’s CE Junior School

On Thursday 8th October, Jess Brown-Fuller, MP for Chichester, visited St Joseph’s CE Junior School in Chichester to join Chichester Children’s BookFest Patron, historical author and comedian Iszi Lawrence, for a school visit.

Iszi gave a talk to pupils and presented each child with a signed copy of her historical fiction book, The Doomsday Cows. After the session, Jess took part in a Q&A with the school’s student ambassadors, answering questions about her work as an MP, her own love of books, and how young people can get involved in politics to make a difference.

Founded in Chichester in 2018 by Penny Tomlinson and Sahra Gott, Chichester Children’s BookFest is a charity that brings authors, poets and illustrators into local schools, with the aim of inspiring a love of reading in every child. At each festival, every child hears from an author and receives a signed, dedicated copy of their book to take home, paid for by the charity. For some children, it may be the first book they have owned. The charity also donates 150 books each month to local food banks for children in families facing food poverty.

Jess previously met with the BookFest trustees in June to learn more about the project and discuss how the local community can work together to champion reading. At this meeting Jess heard how the work of the BookFest is underlined by the scale of the challenge the charity is tackling. According to the National Literacy Trust, 2 in 5 children aged 5 to 8 from disadvantaged backgrounds do not own a book of their own and 3 in 10 eleven-year-olds in Chichester leave primary school unable to read at the level expected for their age.

Speaking after the visit, Jess Brown-Fuller MP said:

“It was a pleasure to join Iszi at St Joseph’s and see the children’s excitement at meeting an author and receiving a book of their own, and I so enjoyed talking to the young ambassadors about the books that inspired me when I was growing up. 

I’d like to thank Chichester Children’s BookFest, and everyone at the school, for the warm welcome. Giving every child the chance to own a book makes a lasting difference, and I’m committed to supporting this work.”

Penny Tomlinson, Co-founder and Trustee, said:

“It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Jess Brown-Fuller to Children’s BookFest and give her the opportunity to see first-hand the work we do in schools across Chichester to inspire a love of reading. 

We’re incredibly passionate about bringing books to life for children, introducing them to the magic of stories, the authors who write them and showing them just how exciting reading can be. It was wonderful to share this with Jess and demonstrate the positive impact that Children’s BookFest has on young people, helping to nurture a lifelong love of books.”