A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl rallied around her school friends to collect books for a supermarket’s charity book stand.

Francesca Finlow-Borrowdale wanted to help Jayne Griffiths, Tesco’s local community champion, in raising money for charity.

She had seen her mum, Carolyne, help out Jayne with Pink Week; where three towns turned pink to raise a huge amount of money for Breast Cancer UK.

Jayne said: “She asked if she could do something to help. I said I was collecting books for charity, and she asked if she could collect some too. I didn’t exactly expect her to come back with so many!”

Francesca managed to collect a trolley full of books by encouraging her school friends, at Llanelwedd Church of Wales Primary School, bring in books to donate.

The books will go on the book stand at the front of the supermarket, where people are free to take them and to leave donations too. The money is split between three national charities: The British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK.

“I think her grandparents have diabetes, so she’s done it to help them,” Jayne said.

“I think it’s a lovely story, bless her.”

When the book stand was first set up, a donation of £1 was requested for taking a book. But now, Jayne’s changed that. People can leave nothing at all, or as much as they want.

“At the beginning, when it was £1 a book, people didn’t go there very often. Now people give donations and they prefer it. Some people donate 50p, and some people put in a £20 note; whatever they have on them. It’s amazing. If kids want to read they can pick up a book and they don’t have to pay,” Jayne said.