About us

We are an independent charity dedicated to giving disadvantaged children the literacy skills they need to succeed.

We work to improve the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in the UK's poorest communities, where one in three people have literacy problems.

Because low literacy is intergenerational, we focus our work on families, young people and children.

What we do

We help to transform lives through literacy.

  • We establish literacy projects in the poorest communities

    Our National Literacy Trust Hubs inspire and support children and families to improve their literacy skills

  • We support schools

    We share our analysis, promote best practice and offer programmes and resources for schools and early years settings. Find out how to become a member

  • We campaign to make literacy a priority for politicians and parents

    Our Words for Life website provides advice, age milestones and free activities for parents and families

  • Our research and analysis make us the leading authority on literacy

    Our research underpins our programmes, campaigns and policy work and informs our identity as an organisation

Our impact

Last year:

  • We supported the literacy of 268,490 children through our programmes and activities.
  • We gifted 196,161 free books through our programmes and community-based activity, including during lockdown.
  • Our new Family Zone platform helped 400,000 parents support their children’s literacy during the COVID-19 lockdown.
  • 97% of teachers who took part in our Literacy for Learning programme said it improved their understanding of disciplinary literacy.
Find out more about our work in our impact report.
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Our Patron, trustees and ambassadors

  • HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

    Our Patron

    Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall became our Patron in November 2010 and has a long standing interest in literacy and reading.
    Learn more
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    Trustees

    The National Literacy Trust is governed by our board of trustees, who come from a range of sector backgrounds.
    Learn more
  • Duchess's Bookshelves group shot

    Ambassadors

    We have a number of ambassadors who generously donate their time to support and raise awareness for our work.
    Learn more

Success stories

Find out more about the people our work supports.

Become a member of the National Literacy Trust

Create a free account
Account dashboard