Pupils at Crossacres Primary Academy in Wythenshawe can now enjoy their favourite books on brand new Kindle devices after the team from Amazon in Manchester made a surprise visit to the school to donate 25 devices as part of its community support programme.

The school was given a £2,000 gift card to purchase e-books during a special assembly, attended by members of the charity committee from Amazon’s site in Manchester.

Crossacres Primary Academy received the special packages from the local Amazon team as part of the company’s Kindle Reading Fund, a programme that sees Amazon employees nominate a school to receive literary support.

Speaking on the donation, Neil Travis, site lead at Amazon in Manchester, said: “The staff at Crossacres Primary Academy do a fantastic job in encouraging more reading among the young people in our community and we hope this donation helps the pupils experience new books while enjoying some old classics.

“The joy of reading is something we’re incredibly passionate about at Amazon and we’re keen to help local children broaden their literary horizons with this donation.”

The initiative is part of the ‘Amazon in the Community’ programme whereby the company supports communities in and around where it operates in the UK.

Suzanne Blay, headteacher at Crossacres, added:  “It’s our mission to encourage pupils to read – not only for the educational benefits, but also in the context of feeding their imaginations and creativity.

“The gift card and Kindle devices will be a really valuable resource at our school and we’re over the moon to receive such great support from the local Amazon team.”