A CHARITY that helps Bradford children get the best academic start in life is about to mark its second anniversary and is inviting all the families it has helped to a party to celebrate.

Canterbury Imagine is a book-giving charity that was set up on the Canterbury Estate in Little Horton in 2012, providing free books to under-5s in the area.

Since then it has successfully started a new chapter by expanding into Manningham and currently sends out 450 books a month to the city’s young people.

Over 4,000 books have been given to families since the charity was set up far outstripping its initial target.

The charity is affiliated to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the scheme set up by the legendary country and western singer, and is the first imagination library in West Yorkshire.

It even got the seal of approval from the American singer after she invited its founders to meet her during a UK tour this summer.

It is intended to not just improve a child’s reading skills, but also create better bonds between families, and when it was set up its founders hoped to reach 1,300 children within five years.

Run by Jan Winter, the charity aims to help improve literacy, emotional development, educational attainment and life chances for the under-5s, with youngsters receiving a free book through the post, addressed to the child, from their birth until their fifth birthday.

The children build up their own ‘imagination library’ of up to 60 quality books, suitable for their age.

When the charity started it was given support by the then Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Dale Smith.

The scheme has grown to the point where it now sends out 305 books a month to children in the Canterbury Estate and 143 books a month to under-5s under council care and living in foster homes.

In April it opened a new scheme based around Midland Road nursery school and children’s centre in Bateman Street, Manningham, and since then over a dozen babies have been registered, and many more families in that area are expected to get on board in the coming months.

The scheme has been hailed as a major step in improving literacy among some of the poorest families in Bradford, and Mrs Winter hopes to further expand its reach to other areas in the district once funding becomes available.

Dolly Parton started Imagination in 1996, providing free books to every child in Sevier County, Tennessee, where the star grew up. It soon spread and has now become a global movement, with over 40 million books sent out to children across the world.

Mrs Winter said: “Building a love of reading early in the lives of children will pay dividends as they progress through school and into adult life.

“We are delighted that in a relatively short time, the charity has expanded so successfully, with parents saying how much their babies enjoy the books.

“Research conducted by the Dolly Parton Imagination Library has shown that parents are more likely to read a bedtime story to their children when they are part of the scheme.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to register more than 350 children in the Canterbury estate, because we started as this tiny thing.

“There is no point in parents waiting for their children to be in school to start reading with them.

“Children need to be engaged with reading as soon as possible. We are always looking at ways of expanding this service across the district.”

Under the Canterbury Imagine scheme, £25 pays for a book every month for a year for one child.

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive for children’s services on Bradford Council, said: “It is marvellous this scheme has moved on, and is great that it is helping so many looked-after children.

“It is a great piece of work.”

The charity celebrates its second anniversary with a party at Canterbury Children’s Centre on Basil Street at 1pm on Friday.

For more information about the charity, or to donate, visit canterburyimagine.co.uk.