An LGBT+ education group will see all of its books sent to every primary school in the Isle of Man thanks to a generous donor.

Pop’N’Olly is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality educational resource used by children, parents, carers and teachers across the UK and beyond.

The company’s ’Kenny Lives’ campaign aims to send a copy of their book ’Kenny lives with Erica and Martina’ to every one of the 23,000 primary schools in the UK and Channel Islands.

We reported back in August that no primary school in the island had one of their books.

Now, thanks to a donor named only as Pam, every primary school in the island will receive a copy of all of their books - not just the Kenny Lives book.

The educational platform was created by Olly Pike, who hopes that the various videos and books available to be used in primary schools will help to teach about equality, diversity and acceptance.

The English author said: ’We get such amazing feedback.

’Teachers I think just like having something which is easy to use which helps them do the job, because I think it can be confusing to teachers.

’Thirty years ago, it was illegal to teach about LGBT+ people under Section 28 [in the UK]. That subsequently got changed [in 2000 in Scotland, and across the rest of the UK in 2003], but the relationship education guidance didn’t get updated until 2019.’

He added: ’So I can understand how teachers might be a bit unsure of not only what to teach, but how to teach it.

’That’s what this is about. It’s about giving teachers confidence and resources to teach children about diversity and acceptance.’

Section 28 of the Local Government Act was enacted in May 1988 in Great Britain to prohibit the ’promotion of homosexuality’ by local authorities in schools. At the time, male homosexual acts in the Isle of Man were illegal.

Asked about the generous donation, Pop’N’Olly said: ’We are absolutely elated to be sending a set of our books to the Isle of Man.

’We would like to extend a huge thank you to Pam for her extraordinary generous donation and hope that this will provide all Isle of Man children with lots of positive representation of LGBT+ people and stories.

’Our work relies on support from our donors and each and every donation helps children everywhere.’

You can read more about Pop’N’Olly on its website www.popnolly.com