Each year on 10 October, we set out to create a mass reading moment across the country and help children, young people, and adults feel the wellbeing benefits of reading for pleasure. This moment is our annual Take 10 to Read campaign.
We call on schools, organisations, and families at home to pick up a book and take 10 minutes to read; each year thousands of people answer the call.
Take 10 in schools over the years
Each October thousands of pupils from primary and secondary schools join our #Take10ToRead virtual author events.
Bestselling authors such as A. F. Steadman, Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, and famous faces like Ant and Dec have all joined us in support of the Take 10 to Read campaign.
These inspiring individuals help schools bring reading to life for their pupils, creating virtual sessions which bring the joy of reading into the classroom.
Organisations supporting their staff to Take 10 to Read
Meanwhile, hundreds of organisations take up the opportunity to share the benefits of reading with their employees. From community centres to large multinational corporations, companies around the UK encourage their teams to take a 10-minute break and pick up a book.
“The Take 10 to Read event was a good idea. Even 10 minutes off from our work time to sit down and relax has had a positive impact on our inner focus and it provided a better understanding of what a simple act can do to our mental health in general.”
Employee from CHEP, a logistics company based in Sandwell
Book gifting in communities
Around the country the National Literacy Trust works in communities where access to books and engagement with reading is low. During Take 10 to Read, we see families from Cornwall to Dundee taking part in reading events and learning about the benefits of reading on our mental health and wellbeing.
In 2024, we teamed up with Read for Good, the reading for pleasure charity whose hospital programme provides brand-new books and storyteller visits to brighten the days of children in the UK’s major children’s hospitals. In Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle, more than a thousand books were given to families, providing inspiration for reading with their children at home.
“This is perfect for our pre-op team! Our children are often scared, and this [reading] will be a welcome distraction.”
A paediatric pre-operative nurse at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
Sharing your reading moments
And then there are all of you at home!
Reading helps you relax, boost your mood, and escape elsewhere. On World Mental Health Day, people young and old try reading for 10 minutes for their mental health and wellbeing.
During #Take10toRead our social media feed is flooded with our favourite kind of photos: adults and children alike giving reading a go! We see families snuggled up with books on the sofa, adults pressing play on new audio books during the commute to work, and people cracking open favourite old magazines. However you take 10 to read, we love to see people coming together to share their reading moments on 10 October.
It doesn't stop here...
While World Mental Health Day presents the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of reading on our mental wellbeing, these benefits can be felt year-round.
We work in communities around the UK throughout the year to foster a love of reading in children and families to ensure that everyone is able to develop the literacy skills they need to succeed in life.
You can read more about our #GrowAGenerationOfReaders campaign here.