News
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall becomes Patron of the National Literacy Trust after joining bus journey celebration
17 Nov 2010
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall and famous children’s authors joined an event today (17 November) to mark 15 years of the National Literacy Trust’s programme for children in disadvantaged communities. During the reception it was announced that Her Royal Highness will become Patron of the charity.
A class of thirty children aged nine and ten from St Augustine’s CE Primary School in Westminster were the lucky winners of a “bus journey of reading” which saw the bus travel down Pall Mall to Clarence House to collect Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall.
Armed with their “golden tickets”, the youngsters boarding the Routemaster number 15 bus were greeted by bus conductor Wally (of Where’s Wally? fame) and enjoyed storytelling and activity sessions by popular children’s authors, including Jeremy Strong and Tommy Donbavand, who joined the bus at key points along the route. Welcoming the passengers at the final stop, the London Transport Museum, were a host of popular storybook characters including Maisy Mouse, Elmer the elephant and Walker Bear. The children then took part in a tour of the museum, before returning to school with a book-themed goody bag.
After the bus journey, The Duchess of Cornwall met supporters past and present at a reception to celebrate the work of the charity’s National Young Readers’ Programme in encouraging hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged youngsters to develop a love of reading.
Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, says:
“We are absolutely delighted that The Duchess of Cornwall has become Patron of the National Literacy Trust. Her Royal Highness’s support will help us to ensure children and adults across the UK have the literacy skills they need for a happier, healthier and more prosperous life.
“Low levels of literacy are associated with poverty, family instability, unemployment and even crime. By supporting literacy we can build a more stable society and an economy fit for the future.
“Today we have been thrilled to celebrate the success of our National Young Readers’ Programme. Since 1995 this programme has worked with 325,000 children from disadvantaged communities and given these children the opportunity to choose 935,000 free books to keep. By supporting the literacy of disadvantaged children we are helping them to develop vital skills for a successful and fulfilling life.”
You can watch a video clip from the day on The Royal You Tube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09tByicLSkE
Read the full media release here
