Published: 19/07/2024

500 Club visit local primary school in Colchester    

Expect Amazing  

A non for profit, Expect Amazing, are doing amazing things! They feel strongly towards supporting every child to have the right to read, and for every child the right to own a book, if not several. This is their mission, something the 500 Club is hugely impressed by.

Expect Amazing have built up relationships with some of the finest publishers and distributors, so they are able to achieve 60 to 80% registered retail price discounts.

Last year they were able to support over 30 schools with a huge supply of books thanks to the support of charitable donations.

Unity Primary Academy, Colchester    

‘Giving every child every chance, every day’

Unity Primary approached Expect Amazing with a view to be considered for their ‘Right to Read’ project. Unity is part of the REAch2 Academy Trust and have approximately 400 pupils at the school, with around 55% underprivileged. They have a fantastic team of staff who are passionate about giving every child as much opportunity to learn, and have fun, with reading during their time in school and support them build skills for life.

Joelle Collitt, Year 5 teacher and Reading Lead, and Pieter Labuschagne, Headteacher, met with some of the 500 Club committee members along with Avni Vyas from Expect Amazing. Also, several Year 6 pupils came along to take part in the delivery of all the new books.

Warm Welcome  

Meeting Mrs Collitt on our arrival, we were taken through to their hall where they had arranged the books on several display tables. The Year 6 students were so impressed with the selection and number of books, they couldn’t put them down. With our £500 donation, they received over £750+ worth of books. These will be distributed between the classroom reading corners and their school library.

Mr Labuschagne spoke to all of us in such an impassioned way. It was abundantly clear the level of gratitude they felt, and much of a difference these books will make to the school.

Help us make a difference  

The 500 Club left the school with full hearts and a sense of admiration. The children dived into the books, a testament to the encouragement of the school and the magic of reading.

We are honoured to support all our donations, and to see the huge impact on those involved. To watch the ripple effect is a beautiful reminder of what we and our members do.

Please feel free to reach out to us at the 500 Club if you would like to make a difference too, we’d love to hear from you.