Pharmaceutical company Wasdell has donated £50,000 help get a celebrity author's book into every primary school in the country.

The Blagrove company donated the money to the Martin Roberts Foundation to fund Martin's book Sadsville.

The Homes Under the Hammer star set up his own charity to support educational and wellbeing initiatives for children and young people in 2017.

One of his first initiatives was to write an illustrated fictional book that encourages children to solve problems and deal with their emotions.

He said through the use of humour, Sadsville helps readers feel confident about sharing how they feel when life seems overwhelming, and gets them to reach out for support if they need it.

Martin recently began a campaign to raise funds to produce a special edition of Sadsville to be sent to every primary in the country, along with specially-written teaching and study materials.

He told Wasdell chairman Martin Tedham about the campaign, who suggested the company would make a donation that will allow the 23,000 books to be printed and distributed.

Martin said: “I was overwhelmed by such a generous donation.

"It is the highest donation we’ve had by far and has allowed us to fast-track the production of the book so we can get it, and the teaching materials that go with it, into every primary school in the UK at the start of the new term.

“The timing is great, because we know children aged 11 and under are the group most emotionally affected by the coronavirus lockdown.”

Mr Tedham added: “We are very aware of the physical impact Covid-19 has had on so many patients.

“But of course the impact on mental health is very significant, and it’s very concerning that younger children are often finding it so difficult to cope.

“Sadsville is a brilliant mechanism for helping children understand why they may be experiencing feelings that are new or difficult to process, and it’s also a powerful way for teachers and parents to start opening up conversations with young people on why it’s perfectly okay to flag up that they’re not feeling okay.”