Celebrities and authors have come together to doodled, drawn or paint bookmarks for the 1st Burley Brownies bookmark project which is in its sixth year.
At the beginning of the year the girls of 1st Burley Brownies and their leaders write letters to their favourite authors, illustrators and celebrities asking them to doodle a bookmark for the bookmark project.
This year the Brownies have received over 400, including bookmarks from Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson, Axel Sheffler, Imelda Staunton, David Suchet, Mark Rylance, Sir Ian McKellan, Jason Donovan, Su Pollard, Jo Brand and many more.
In May each year the bookmarks are gathered and auctioned online to raise as much money as possible for Katiyo Primary School in Zimbabwe. The auction is hosted by jumblebee and members of the public can bid on their favourite bookmarks between 9 and 23 May.
Brownie Leader Sharon Hattersley said: “Over the years the Brownies have helped to raise over £40,000 for the school. This money has helped to build blocks of toilets, provide desks and benches for all the classrooms, bought reading books and supported a number of other projects.”
In its first five years the Bookmark Project has raised £25,000 to help support projects at Katiyo Primary School including the purchase of a reading scheme, building two new blocks of toilets, purchasing textbooks, water tanks as well as providing electricity.
This year funds raised will go towards building a nursery classroom for the youngest children at the school who currently have nowhere to hold their lessons.
1st Burley Brownies are 25 girls aged 7 to 10 years old and their leaders, the unit celebrated its 100th birthday in 2019, we are based in the village of Burley-in-Wharfedale near Ilkley and have supported Katiyo school for over 20 years. The group has exchanged letters and WhatsApp messages with the teachers and children at the school and I have visited the school twice.
To take part in the auction go to www.jumblebee.co.uk/bookmarkproject2022 The auction opens 6pm 9 May 2022 and runs until 7pm 23 May 2022.