Students campaigning for more than £12,000 to fund a library and creative space suitable for students and the community.

Clevedon School pupils have teamed up to raise money to buy two shipping containers and transform them into a school and community library in a scheme called Project Xenia.

The student group said: “With cuts to our library services, it is more important now than ever to provide our school and community with access to books and reflective spaces to read and get lost in a world of literature and ideas.

“The plan is to use this space as a meeting place both during the day for students to improve their literacy and develop our love of literature at the school, and in the evening for community groups.”

The pupils have already designed the shipping containers appearance, seeking inspiration from Clevedon’s heritage.

English co-ordinator, Jo Carrington told the Times the containers would be a ‘natural way’ to marry the Avonmouth docks with Clevedon alongside the wood cladding to represent the town’s seaside heritage.

The school will work with the Friends of Clevedon and businesses to help turn them from steel boxes to the creative space.

The two containers cost £8,000 and there is an additional cost of £2,000 for the wood needed for cladding the outside as well as £1,000 for landscaping and £1,173 to cover fees and VAT.

Ms Carrington said: “The students would be able to have a library and a place for stories but not just any library, one which they have worked and campaigned for.

“It would also be a community space so it could be used as a pop up quirky place for business meetings. We run book groups and creative writing and it would be a place for us to meet – both extra curricular clubs and groups from the community.”

Once the students have raised the money, the library could be up and running in two months if everything is ready to go.

The containers will be set up outside the school hall beside the canteen which is currently ‘dead-space’ at the Valley Road site.

There are also plans for a herb garden and flowers to surround the library as well as featuring a performance space.

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