THE National Year of Reading has been designated by the Department of Education and Employment to begin this month and our NIE material has gained approval to carry the official "Read Me".

To get the year off to a flying start, our NIE project has linked up with local leisure companies who have offered fantastic prizes to encourage and reward young readers.

Ask any child if he or she would like a day out at Alton Towers and the answer will almost certainly be "yes please." Then ask what they think about the idea of getting there by helicopter and stand back to hear the shouts of glee.

This is the terrific prize, worth at least £1,500, offered by Stuart Taylor, of Mellor Brook, who owns the Heli2000 helicopter transport and training company flying from Blackpool Airport.

When Stuart heard about our project he came up with his own idea of a prize for achievements in literacy for a deserving East Lancashire pupil. Schools who have used our Super Story Search reading scheme will be asked to nominate up to three pupils who have perhaps struggled with reading skills but have made heroic efforts to deserve the title of "Literacy Achiever of the Year."

The top prizewinner will be drawn from the finalists to be joined by three friends or relatives on their day out to end all days out.

But that's not all, every month throughout the year, another lucky youngster will be selected at random from our Super Story Search Roll of Honour, to win a set of six free swim tickets donated by Waves Water Fun Centre in Blackburn.

More free admission tickets including a free pass valid for six months are on offer from Waves as prizes in our Maths Motivation numeracy project.

The one-off maths material is only available from our newspaper and must be ordered by schools by September 25 to earn a discount on the Super Story Search material.

More information on both projects is in all schools in East Lancs, and further details can be obtained from Rita Shaw, NIE co-ordinator.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.