Ian Wright launches Turnham Primary School library Brockley

The former Arsenal player cut the ribbon at Turnham Primary School’s new library in Brockley, which was built by the ABC Book Club.

The Acorn Group, which includes Acorn, Langford Russell, and John Payne, has supported the ABC Book Club since 2018.

Jo Chandler praises school spirit as Ian Wright returns to inspire pupils (Image: ABC Book Club) They have 38 estate agency offices across south east London and north Kent that serve as community drop-off points for pre-loved children’s books.

The ABC Book Club works to transform school spaces, re-donating top-quality pre-loved books and building more than 30 bespoke libraries in schools without one.

Their latest project was the transformation of Turnham Primary School’s library in Brockley—one of the one in four UK primary schools without a dedicated library space.

With input from the school’s School Parliament, a fairground theme was chosen to create a fun, inviting environment where children can explore the magic of reading.

One in four schools lack libraries—Turnham no longer among them (Image: ABC Book Club) To celebrate the grand opening, Ian Wright, a former Turnham pupil, returned to his old school to cut the ribbon.

Ian, who has previously supported Turnham by opening an all-weather football pitch, shared fond memories of the library as a place of sanctuary during his childhood.

He encouraged pupils to “read every day, no matter what.”

Jo Chandler, head of operations at ABC Book Club, said: “It was an absolute pleasure building a library at Turnham Academy.

“It’s an incredible school with a wonderful community supporting it and I know the library we built for the children will be used, loved and appreciated.

“By creating exciting, beautiful spaces for the children to read for pleasure ABC hopes to inspire this generation of children to fall in love with reading one book donation and one library build at a time.”

(left to right): Steven Morton, Lamar Hamilton, George Liney, Jo Chandler, Kevin Ashton, James Clachar (Image: ABC Book Club)

Kevin Ashton, branch manager at Acorn Brockley, said: “Such a fantastic morning to be a part of the grand opening of the new Turnham Academy library.

“It was great to see so many people involved to make this happen and for the generous donations of books and input from ABC Book Club.

“The headteacher and staff are truly passionate about their students learning and reading and today was a great example of this.

“Turnham Academy priorities the children’s reading and their future, and it was truly inspiring knowing that we and so many contributed to this.”

Frank Harrowell, headteacher at Turnham Academy, said: “Turnham Academy now has a world class library.

“Our pupils deserve the very best and we have given them that, with the help of ABC Book Club.

“We could not have done it without them.”