Portsmouth leaders welcome success of this year's summer reading challenge

The initiative gets children to read six books over the school holidays to keep their learning and enjoyment of reading up to scratch.

This year’s challenge had a Roald Dahl theme to mark the centenary celebrations of his birth.

Figures released by Portsmouth City Council reveal 2,747 children signed up and 1,414 went on to complete the eight-week course.

A total of 50,000 children’s items were issued from libraries over the period – and nearly 4,000 children and their families attended a winners event at Southsea Castle on September 11.

Welcoming the news, Portsmouth Tory culture boss, Councillor Linda Symes, said: ‘It’s fantastic.

‘It shows everyone is doing a brilliant job; keeping people literate is so important.

‘Getting people to really enjoy reading is really great.

‘If you read and enjoy it, it’s with you for life.’