So far in 2024 we’ve held six Book Roadshows at different schools and children’s centres, distributing over 8,600 books to more than 1,800 children.

Our Roadshows aim to overcome the barriers to reading that children living in low-income families face. In turn, this can improve their literacy skills, as well as developing a real love of reading, that we hope will last a lifetime.

Books can also provide a respite from everyday life, and one teacher told us that “some of [their pupils] don’t have the best home life so it’s pure escapism for them. If you hear mum and dad arguing you can just delve into a book and get that out of your head”.

Books are also available to families attending our Family Basics project, which they can access up to four times in the year. We also supply books for younger pre-school readers through installing community bookshelves or running “mini-Roadshows” in children’s centres such as Sure Start.