Developer fosters love of reading with book token donation

Compendium Living, which is delivering the £100 million Castleward regeneration project, has shown its support for a local school by donating book tokens to students.

The Castleward Spencer Academy, which has been constructed as part of the scheme, has a book vending machine, from which pupils can select a book of their choice to keep and take home as a reward for reading at home.

Regeneration specialist Compendium has donated vouchers to the school, allowing it to select the books and stories that would best suit the needs of the students.

The donation comes as part of an ongoing relationship between Compendium Living and Castleward Spencer Academy.

The firm previously donated book tokens for World Book Day in 2022 and provided pupils with an educational workshop on how homes are built in 2024.

For this year’s World Book Day, Wendy Lister, project manager at Compendium Living, personally attended the school, hand delivered the vouchers and met staff and students.

The children she met were all representatives from the school’s council and trust parliament.

Wendy said: “It was a joy to go to Castleward Spencer Academy again, and to see children so excited about books and reading.

“We are very proud to contribute to the collection of books and to take an active part in World Book Day.

“Castleward Spencer Academy is an outstanding school located within our Castleward development, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them throughout the project’s lifecycle.”

Located between Derbion shopping centre and Derby Midland Station, Castleward is one of the city’s largest housing projects.

In total, around 700 new homes are being provided, alongside green open space and nearly 35,000 sq ft of commercial retail space.

Work on Phase 4 of the scheme is now well underway.