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For more than two decades, the National Literacy Trust’s Young Readers Programme has sought to provide children and young people with the skills that they need to choose books and develop a lifelong relationship with reading. Through a series of fun local events, they supply books to children who don’t have access to a lot of reading materials that they can take home and keep – and often, these are the first books they’ve ever owned.
Since 1996, the Young Readers Programme have given out well over a million books to over 400,000 children. It’s a programme that’s been welcomed by staff and students across the board – according to the National Literacy Trust’s figures, 9 in 10 teachers reported that pupils were proud of having books that they owned, and the same amount reported that the programme was having a positive impact on reading attitudes in reluctant readers.
The statistics around childhood reading don’t make for happy knowledge. According to the National Literacy Trust, 25% of children leave primary school unable to read properly – and if this isn’t chilling enough, that figure rises to around 40% for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. It’s also fairly likely to take another dip in the future, due to the impact of long-term school closures and remote learning problems due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But 2 in 5 children report that reading makes them feel better – and that’s what the ‘Read More, Feel Better’ campaign is all about.
It isn’t the first time that the National Literacy trust has partnered with UK property company British Land – in 2018, the partnership was awarded the Charity Times Award for Corporate Local Involvement. This year’s campaign centres on the idea of summer reading and stoking children and young people’s learning attitudes over the summer holidays. The ‘Read More, Feel Better‘ campaign is designed to help children in 12 communities in the UK to continue reading for fun over the school break, with British Land donating in excess of 30,000 books to the young people who need them the most. They’re also offering a selection of top tips and advice for parents on British Land’s office and campus websites, with information on how to create an effective reading den at home and what books can support children’s wellbeing. There’s a live storytelling session in the pipeline on Wednesday 11th August too – keep your eye on @Literacy_Trust on Twitter for details!
“We know that reading has the extraordinary ability to help children relax and feel better – and indeed, our research shows that almost half of children across the country reported these brilliant effects of reading on their wellbeing.
“‘Read More, Feel Better’ is also a brilliant way to support children’s continued literary development amid a time of great disruption to education, learning and overall health.”
- Jonathan Douglas CBE, chief executive of the National Literacy Trust.