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Give the gift of reading this Christmas

Book-lovers everywhere appreciate the pleasure and opportunities that reading has brought them. This Christmas, you could give a child from a disadvantaged community a book of their own for the very first time.

Sadly one in three children in the UK does not have books of their own. The National Literacy Trust is working with children in disadvantaged areas, inspiring them to develop a love of reading and giving them the chance to own a book. By helping these children to develop vital literacy skills we are increasing their chances of being happy and successful in adult life.

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A gift of £7 means a child could choose a book of their own to keep, which for many will be the first they ever own.

A gift of £20 could fund all three books we give to each child who takes part in our reading project.

A gift of £60 means we could give three children three books each to keep.

Books are given to children at inspirational reading events where they learn how to choose books for themselves and where they can get books easily in the future – perhaps by joining their local library.

“I hated reading but now I love it. I changed when I could choose books that interested me.”

“Because I really enjoy books it made me feel happy getting more books because I really enjoy reading them and it helps me with my spellings too…”

*Illustration © Axel Scheffler 2009. “The Gruffalo” written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, published 1999 by Macmillan Children’s Books.