Boost to Westminster's library homework clubs

Figures show more than 3,200 children attended one of Westminster Council's clubs in 2008/09, a 30 per cent increase on 2007/08 in which 2,400 children went. The clubs are attended by students of all ages and operate five nights a week, from nine council-run libraries.

Sessions last almost two hours and attendance is free.

Sally Booth, 43, from Pimlico, who has four children between the ages of three and nine, said she is considering using a homework club in Victoria Library, in Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria.

She added: "Private tutors can be quite expensive and homework clubs seem like a great alternative, especially if you have more than one child."

Mary O'Sullivan, whose daughter Chloe, nine, attends the homework club at Pimlico Library, in Lupus Street, Pimlico, added: "My daughter has been coming for the last four years and I have always found the volunteers and other staff very helpful and patient, and as I can't afford private tutors I'd be stuck without the library homework club."

Westminster Council's libraries boss Cllr Ed Argar said: "Our homework clubs are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the current economic climate, and they provide a valuable service to many of the city's children."