Over the past couple of years, the gbp foundation has proudly supported Own Books, an innovative book recycling project that helps children have their own books at home. The Warwickshire based charity was established by Julie de Bastion in 2014, who was concerned to find that many children did not have books at home to read.
In 2021 Julie reached out to the gbp foundation for support with her latest project, ‘Poet Tree’, that she established during Covid-19 lockdown. Julie and the Own Books team are passionate about how powerful poetry can be as a means of expression and established The Poet Tree Project to find 101 young people from across Warwickshire to write about their thoughts and feelings. Funding from the gbp foundation has enabled the Own Books team to print 1000 copies of the book and distribute to schools for free, providing the children who wrote the poems the opportunity to see their work in print, and also reach more children through stocking the book in libraries.
“We owe a massive THANK YOU again to gbpartnerships for your support in this project and for helping make our dream come true. We are currently printing 1000 copies of Poet Tree - with your kind funding - to distribute to our schools for free to the children who wrote the poems and also for wider use in their libraries. It was very moving to read some of their poems that we were able to include as they reflect the concerns and joys and aspirations of young people - and to give them a platform for their voices. Thank you all again.”
Julie de Bastion and the Own Books team
