Photo provided by Read for Good for Manchester's One Million Minute Challenge.
Between 30th of October and 10th of November 2023, Read Manchester and Read for Good joined together to challenge Manchester to read for One Million Minutes!
Instead of a sponsored readathon, Read Manchester and Read for Good took up a group challenge to read for One Million Minutes. All minutes of reading could be logged – either by using Read for Good’s free online tool, Track My Read® or by simply logging minutes on paper the old-fashioned way and sending them in to us.
The invitation to take part was extended to all schools and organisations, with some school rivalry also encouraged to see which school might record the most minutes! If the campaign reached its target Read Manchester and Read for Good would ‘unlock’ 10 book boxes for community groups, which would be nominated by the top reading schools and organisations. An extra day of storytelling for children in the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital with Read for Good’s regular storyteller would also be unlocked, if the target was reached...
Photo provided by Read for Good for Manchester's One Million Minute Challenge.
Did the school sand organisations meet the target of one million minutes? They more than doubled it (we are nothing if not ambitious in Manchester!) When all the minutes were in and counted, Manchester readers had totted up 2,002,510 minutes overall!
Schools, Sure Start Children’s Centres, libraries, storytime parents, Read Manchester literacy champions, Manchester City of Literature, and many more joined in to help reach the target. Some Year 9 pupils at Chorlton High School even decided to do a 24-hour readathon.
Photo provided by Read for Good for Manchester's One Million Minute Challenge.
''It was a really good focus for the children and made them realise just how much reading we all actually do... It was also nice that the children were reading for books for others and not for personal gain.''
Wilbraham Primary School
''It was also great to be part of something bigger than our school. We shared it as a challenge so the older children were more competitive and wanted to compete across classes and against each other.''
St Margaret Mary’s Primary School
'‘The families enjoyed taking part particularly as they knew the aim was to support families in Manchester and those in the children’s hospital.''
Sure Start Children’s Centre
Thanks also to the wonderful authors who sent messages of support – Matt Goodfellow, Sue Pickford Cheung, A. M. Dassu, Emma Reynolds, and Daniel Dockery.
Photo provided by Read for Good for Manchester's One Million Minute Challenge.
Did you know?
The young patients at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in the centre of Manchester have been benefiting from a regular supply of books and storyteller visits from Read for Good since 2014. Manchester is one of the UK’s biggest and busiest hospitals, and Read for Good has delivered nearly 15,000 incredible, brand new books to the hospital since launching. Books play a vital role in improving the experience of a child in hospital – providing escape and distraction, comfort and reassurance.