South Shields schoolboy takes on 100 Books charity challenge during lockdown

Theo Baghdasarian, five, may not be able to attend school during the coronavirus pandemic - but has still been using his time at home to learn and grow through reading 100 books for good causes.

Marc and Rebecca – Theo’s parents – decided to combine their little boy’s love of stories with his love of numbers to create a special fundraiser and keep his mind working during the time out of the classroom.

Rebecca, 28, told the Gazette: “He loves reading but often reads the same books over and over.

“He's not being very motivated to do much school work over lockdown so we combined his love for reading with his love of numbers and he set a challenge.”

Theo, a pupil at Marine Park Primary School, has already completed his 100 books and – to date – his efforts have raised more than £480 for two charities chosen by his family, who live in Westoe.

The money will be going towards the work of the North East Autism Society and Blood Cancer UK, with donations still pouring in.

Rebecca added: “We are so proud of him and hope it can help the two charities we chose.”

The Three Little Pigs is one of Theo’s favourite stories, and he’s also been enjoying books by Julia Donaldson as part of his challenge.

To donate to Theo’s 100 Books challenge, visit his JustGiving page here to make a contribution.

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