Sunderland AFC stars Dan Ballard and Pierre Ekwah surprised primary school pupils at the Beacon of Light to clebrate World Book Day.
Foundation of Light hosted more than 60 students from Dame Dorothy Primary School and Acre Rigg Academy for some book-related arts, crafts, and sports.
World Book Day aims to change lives through the love of reading, with an annual dedicated day to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.
The Black Cats duo joined in with the activities, speaking to participants about their costumes, favourite books, and inevitably about football and Sunderland AFC.
Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.
Foundation of Light uses the power of football to invest in our communities and improve the education, health, wellbeing and happiness of people across the North East. Through programmes such as Premier League Primary Stars, Sunderland AFC’s official charity promotes literacy skills in schools throughout our region.
"Pierre and Dan have been fantastic and it was great to have them joining in our World Book Day celebrations," commented Jake Hannah, Primary Stars Lead at Foundation of Light.
"Players are great role models to the kids and for them to see the players engaging with reading and talking about their favourite books is a massive inspiration."