We've just published our latest impact report for 2018/19, which details the difference our work is making to schools, communities and families.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, partners and funders, in the past year we were able to support the literacy of 266,700 children through our programmes and activities. We also gifted 239,894 books to children across the UK; for some of these children, this was the first book they had over owned.
We gave 2,087 teachers engaging literacy resources and tools through our membership and delivered training to 450 practitioners. We worked directly with 1,825 families, giving them the knowledge, skills and confidence to support their child’s language development at home.
Our campaigning and policy work also made a big difference - we inspired 73 businesses to prioritise literacy through the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge 2018, and our press coverage had a media reach of 337m and an equivalent advertising value of £8.1m.
We have worked with government to improve literacy in the home learning environment, twinned publishers with disadvantaged communities to bring writers and books into the places in the UK that are most in need and launched Literacy Hubs in Nottingham and the North Yorkshire Coast. But despite this progress, there’s much more to be done.
In the UK, the gap in literacy levels between rich and poor is among the worst in the developed world, and the focus of our work in 2020 must be to close this literacy gap once and for all. Your support reaches across social barriers to make sure that every child has the same opportunities in life, and with your help we'll continue our vital work to close this gap and change the life stories of children across the UK.