The District 1210 organiser for the Rotary Books4Home project Beverley Ricketts issued an appeal for famous people to tell us about the books they love. The scheme has so far supplied more than 155,000 books for children to keep in over 200 schools throughout Shropshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands, and is growing rapidly.

Actress Honorary Rotarian Jenny Seagrove responded: “I discovered The Lord of the Rings as a teenager, after reading The Hobbit and it instantly went to the top of my list of books I love. I must have read it about 12 times and anyone who has read it knows how many pages there are. This was before it became famous as a film (which I have never wanted to see as the images in my head are much too precious to be replaced by someone else’s!) To this day I remain in fear of the black riders!!! ”

PDG Richard Green