The Hunt is On for Beanotown Readers!

Children at The Harvey Briggs Onchan Library are on a hunt to find hidden treasure buried in Beanotown. Dennis, Gnasher and their mischievous friends will be disturbing the peace at the library over the next few months as part of the annual Summer Reading Challenge presented by The Reading Agency. The challenge is all about finding a fun way to encourage children to read more.

For the 13^th year in succession Onchan Library has received sponsorship from Old Mutual International to enable the library to purchase items used for activities, reading incentives, competition prizes, and goodie bags packed with fun and educational items. Children will be reading books of their own choice as they explore 'Beanotown' and have a chance to win prizes in several competitions. The challenge is for four to 11-year-olds – it's free, and they can join in at any time until the event closes on 1st September. Children aged three and under haven't been forgotten, and have their own mini Mischief Making Challenge.

Pam Hand from the library said: “We’re a library for our community, so it’s wonderful to have such generous support from Old Mutual International of Onchan. With their sponsorship, we can encourage children to enjoy reading more, and be creative. Beano is an enduring favourite, and such a great theme for all the family this summer.”

The fun began with a ‘Beano Party’ at the library. The event was launched by Martin Macfarlane, Chairman of Onchan District Commissioners, and Stephen Murphy from Old Mutual International.

Peter Kenny, Managing Director of Old Mutual International, said: “This is an excellent project and one that we have been very proud to support over many years. It is one of several initiatives for children and young people on the Island which we are supporting this year, including the Money Skills For Schools Week in association with MyBnk, and sponsoring Douglas RUFC’s junior rugby festival which was held in April.”

Old Mutual International is a leading cross-border provider of financial solutions for local and expatriate investors and one of the Island’s biggest private sector employers with approximately 500 staff at its headquarters at King Edward Bay House in Onchan.

Children are being encouraged to sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge now – call in to the library to find out more!