The Holt Bookshop has been awarded a grant from Penguin Random House UK as part of the Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant 2026, a £150,000 scheme supporting 43 independent bookshops during the National Year of Reading.

The funding will launch R.E.X. – Read, Examine, eXplore – in partnership with the Holt Youth Project this autumn. The programme is aimed at children aged five to 11.

Pam Horrocks and Keith Britten, owners of The Holt Bookshop, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this funding. Penguin Random House praised our application, saying it stood out as one that would have a genuine and meaningful impact on reading for pleasure among young people.

“As a small independent bookshop, we work hard to play an active role in our community, but a programme of this kind would not........

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