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• 21Dec2010

  Fellow charity Booktrust announces funding for all English bookgifting programmes to be cut by 100%

  Posted by Jonathan Douglas

  We are very disappointed to hear that central funding for the book gifting initiatives of fellow literacy charity Booktrust has been discontinued.

  As an independent charity working to improve literacy levels in the UK ourselves, we know the incredible impact that book gifting programmes can have on the lives of the children and families we work with. Low levels of literacy are linked to poverty, reduced opportunities and unemployment, and research has shown that, regardless of their family’s socio-economic status, children who read for pleasure do better at school and have better life chances than those who don’t. Booktrust’s Bookstart programme in particular has been extremely effective in bringing together health, early years and libraries to focus on literacy. While the Booktime and Booked Up programmes have been extremely effective in supporting children’s motivation to read and literacy attainment at key points in their school life. We hope their work will be able to continue in some form.

  You can read the official Booktrust press statement here.

Tags: Children, Early Years, Families, National Young Readers' Programme, Young People

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