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Prison Reading Champions is a flexible and motivational framework designed to engage both prisoners and staff in reading. The initiative gives prisons and prisoners the opportunity to get involved with, and receive recognition from, a national scheme.
Reading Champions incorporates a wide range of reading activities and projects in order to motivate prisoners to read more. It encourages an element of competition, a level of responsibility, peer opinion and role model involvement as key motivators. These features are combined with three levels of Champion status for prisoners to work towards; bronze, silver and gold. Each level acheived is rewarded with a certificate. Staff members are also encouraged to get involved and they also receive certificates for helping to deliver the project. The combination of prisoner and staff involvement helps to establishing a reading culture throughout the prison.
A framework of increasingly pro-active ideas has been put together to form three levels of Champions that men can work towards. Once activities are completed, men can then be nominated to receive certificates.
Each Reading Champion receives a 32 page journal which offers tips and ideas on how to champion reading and also contains blank pages to record any reading activity that takes place. The prisoner then has a record of his work to take with him through transfer and release. When you have signed your prison up to Reading Champions you will soon be contcated to clarrify how many copies of the journal you would like.
"I like to work with others and help others to learn. By doing so, it just made me feel good in myself." Prison Reading Champion
| Level |
Description |
Example |
Bronze
Champions |
stand up and declare their enthusiasm for reading |
writing outstanding book reviews or recommendations |
Silver
Champions |
are involved in schemes to encourage other males to read |
helping to organise a recommended reads display |
Gold
Champions |
make an outstanding contribution to the prison reading culture |
instigating a reading based event |
Staff Champions |
help build a reading culture across the prison |
setting up a reading group |
"I think the framework is good in that it is flexible enough to meet the needs of different types of prison and to take into account local variations in policy and practice."
Sue Wilkinson, Librarian HMP Birmingham
Join prison Reading Champions using our Reading Champions network maps. Once you have joined as a Reading Champion prison, you will receive a welcome pack full of ideas and strategies for implementing the framework, nominating prisoners and staff as Reading Champions and accessing useful materials and rewards. The benefits include:
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membership and recognition from a national network
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a flexible support framework
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a welcome pack sent by email and Reading Champions journals by post
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Once prisoners and staff have been identified as Reading Champions they can be nominated to receive certificates and recognition for their work. If you are already a member prison you can nominate your prisoners and staff to receive their certificates via our online nomination process.
HMP Marghaberry
HMP Birmingham
HMPYOI Glen Parva
You can find out about all the other reading projects available to prisons.
Update on literacy and prisoners.
There are also some great ideas and projects for men and boys.
You can find out about what the Family Reading Campaign has to say about dads and reading.
If you have any good ideas to share or a case study that could be added to this list please email readingchampions@literacytrust.org.uk.
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