Gloves and books

The Gloves and books programme was born from the desire to encourage reading access by drawing from a sport which is in fashion: Kick-Boxing. For its summer programme, the Départemental Kick-Boxing Committee could have been happy to just set up mobile rings in the housing estates. It has gone much further by adding reading tables to them. With the support of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, the Committee purchased several carefully chosen books for young people, mangas, texts for young people as well as more classical works. "The aim of our project is to use the ring as an encouragement to young people to get to grips with reading", stressed Frédéric Jean-Baptiste-Antoine, the President of the Seine-et-Marne Départemental Kick-Boxing Committee, and the initiator of this project. “We want to integrate Kick-Boxing into a process of social action.”

The result? A real success. The reading workshop was full. The young people were able to read books on the spot and also take them home for a few days. This lending system, which was based on trust, proved to be very effective.

The holder of the most Kick-Boxing titles in France, Kamel Chouaref supported the Départemental Committee in this task. He steered the young people towards the reading table and invited them to sit down and take the time to discover all of these works. A real role model for the young people from these areas, Kamel gave his services without charging, always insisting on the importance of doing well at school.

After le Mée-sur-Seine, Gloves and books set itself up at Savigny-le Temple between July 28th and August 1st. Bolstered by this success, the programme should be extended to other towns during the course of the year.