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New summer holiday reading campaign to target families
15 May 2009
15 May 2009
Great Escapes, a Reading for Life campaign, will encourage families to read together on their summer holidays.
Funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Great Escapes aims to change attitudes to reading and to ensure engagement with reading doesn’t tail off over the long summer break.
Launching in summer 2009 in holiday centres around England, the pilot will engage parents and school-age children together with fun reading activities, establishing a greater association with reading as a pleasurable and sociable family activity. Partnerships with holiday brands and settings will be carefully selected to ensure a focus on families most likely to benefit from improving their literacy skills.
Recent research commissioned by the 2008 National Year of Reading in partnership with the Trade Publishers Council, shows that many families connect reading only to school and think books are expensive and difficult to choose. Crucially, family life is viewed as being all about ‘joining in’ and shared experiences. The Great Escapes reading activities will be designed to fit with priorities of familiarity and relaxation, and will be activities that they can do together, enjoyably, as a family.
Crucially, Great Escapes will evaluate this new approach to improving attitudes to reading and engaging the whole family with reading.
Great Escapes is part of the wider Reading for Life campaign which is continuing the work of the 2008 National Year of Reading by improving the life opportunities of people in most need through reading, with innovative campaigns and partnerships.
Jonathan Douglas, director, National Literacy Trust said:
“We are delighted that this inventive Reading for Life campaign will be funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
“Great Escapes will provide relevant and fun opportunities for families to get excited by reading together. By engaging new audiences with reading, we increase their literacy skills and life opportunities, which are core to the purpose of the National Literacy Trust.
“The National Literacy Trust is committed to working in an evidence-based way and Great Escapes is based on terrific research conducted during the 2008 National Year of Reading which we were determined to follow up on.”
Schools Minister, Sarah McCarthy Fry said:
“ Reading with your children is really fun and we’re doing our bit to support parents to do this through this National Year of Reading legacy activity.
“I know some families, for whatever reason, do not have the opportunity to share stories together and therefore miss out on this important activity. This is one of the reasons I am pleased to be supporting the National Literacy Trust's new holiday reading project, Great Escapes, which will work with those families that need support with their reading.”
ends.
For more information please contact Emma Smyth, communications manager at the National Literacy Trust on 020 7820 6256 or email emma.smyth@literacytrust.org.uk
Notes to editors
About the research
See http://www.readingforlife.org.uk/wikireadia/index.php?title=Research_on_families for more information.
About Reading for Life
Reading for Life is a campaign to improve the life opportunities of people in most need through reading. The campaign is led by the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency with support from a wide range of partners.
Reading for Life builds on the achievements, networks and approaches championed by the 2008 National Year of Reading, and is based on a b elief that reading sits at the heart of social justice.
About the National Literacy Trust
The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that changes lives through literacy. It links home, school and the wider community to inspire learners and create opportunities for everyone. See www.literacytrust.org.uk
The National Literacy Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1116260, and a company limited by guarantee, no. 5836486, Registered office: 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL.
4.Great Escapes will draw on, and where appropriate, work with other summer reading projects including the Summer Reading Challenge TM and the WHSmith Summer Read.
