Pupils taking part in reading reward scheme Buster’s Book Club have smashed last year’s total figure for time spent reading by an astonishing one million minutes.

A celebration event for participants in the scheme, which is run by the KM Charity Team, was staged at Leeds Castle in Maidstone. It revealed that children from Kent, Bexley, and Medway have collectively achieved 8,490,000 minutes of home reading since September 2017.

KM Charity Team chief executive Simon Dolby said: “There really has been an incredible collective effort by all the schools and children involved with Buster’s Book Club this year.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to everybody involved.

“Those schools, families and children will really notice the literacy dividends from investing in that extra time spent reading at home.”

The scheme is designed to make reading cool and sets children home reading targets based on their year group.

Pupils compete in a series of reading challenges throughout the year, including inter-class and inter-school competitions, and the scheme culminates in an annual record attempt.

Prizes for the inter-school challenges include storyteller visits, book hampers or free entry tickets to visitor attractions such as Leeds Castle or Planet Ice skating rink.

Schools leading the way for Buster’s Book Club were guests of honour for the announcement of this year’s official reading figure. They were congratulated by the campaign’s mascot, Buster Bug, as well as campaign supporters from Medway Council and Three R’s Teacher Recruitment.

Leah Macdonald from Three R’s said: “It’s so important to give children the best start and encourage and reward the literacy skills they’ve learned so far.”

Other supporters of the scheme include Specsavers, housing company Orbit, Golding Vision (part of Golding Homes), Little Cheyne Court, Kent Community Foundation, Hornby, Wildwood, and Kent County Council.

To register for Buster’s Book Club for the 2018-19 academic year visit, www.BustersBookClub.co.uk