A NAILSWORTH and Tetbury-based bookshop have just one week to raise enough money to get an award-winning book in every Gloucestershire primary school.

Staff at The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop believe The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane is so important that every school in the county should have a copy.

Many people have already made donations but more is required to make the task manageable.

“People across the county and beyond have been donating,” said bookseller Hereward Corbett.

“In fact our first two donations were from America - San Francisco to be exact, but most are local.”

A target of £5000 by 4.09pm on Wednesday, March 14 has been set, as that will be enough money to buy 275 copies of the book and distribute it to every primary setting in Gloucestershire.

The book is intended to help get children outside and into the natural world.

Many words are being lost from children’s vocabulary, such as conker, bramble and wren, and The Lost Words attempts to explain their importance through art and poetry.

“We are going to include sets of notes for teachers that were published by the John Muir Trust (a Scottish based charity that promotes and protects wild places for all), said Hereward.

“They outline lots of lesson ideas and things that anyone can do to help bring the book alive for children.

“This is a book and a project that helps bring its subject to life and feeds into the primary curriculum in ways no normal textbook ever could.

“The feedback we have had has been amazing. People are coming into the shops and donating anything from £1 up to £100.

“Several local businesses have contributed even more.

“Everyone wants to help make sure that children don’t miss the relationship with nature that is at risk through spending too much time indoors, on screens, or in the classroom.

“Since we started, similar campaigns have sprung up in other places. When - if - we reach our target, we’ll be looking to work with them to try and get the book into as many schools as possible across the country.

“But we still need over £1000 to reach our target - or the whole project falls.”

To donate to the cause visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/lost-words-for-gloucestershire.