Eighteen young readers from across the borough were celebrated at an awards ceremony which saw two of them walk away with awards.

Eight-year-old Rukkiya Quadri was announced the winner of the William Fairchild Trophy while 6-year-old Betty Tran was the winner of the Richard Feld Memorial Shield for the Young Reader of the Year awards.

The awards are named after previous borough librarians and have been running in the borough since late 1960s for children aged 8 years old and above and for those aged 7 and under respectively.

The aim is to award a prize to two outstanding readers who participate in the council’s Reading Beez programme.  The selected readers will have made great reading progress over the year. 

The event was attended by Her Worshipful the Mayor of Barking and Dagenham, Cllr Donna Lumsden, who was supported by special guest, Jaquie Feld to pass this wonderful and historical tradition on.

Cllr Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership & Engagement, said: “I would like to congratulate all the young people for their achievements and encourage residents of all ages and abilities to take advantage of the many services available from our libraries.”