We are an independent charity working with schools and communities to give disadvantaged children the literacy skills to succeed in life.
We believe that literacy is a vital element of action against poverty, and that improving reading, writing, speaking and listening skills increases employability, happiness, health and life chances. We run literacy projects in deprived communities and we support schools and early years’ settings to deliver change through literacy.
In the UK, poor literacy is highly linked to poverty. The UK has one of the worst literacy problems in developed countries.
Poor literacy is intergenerational. Children from poorer families can start school up to 18 months behind, and which sticks with them for rest of their schooling.
The National Literacy Trust has put millions of books directly in the hands of children across the UK, often a child’s first book.
All of our programmes and interventions are strongly influenced by our research. Our research team run the largest survey of its kind in the world – our Annual Literacy Survey receives over 40,000 responses each year. Coupled with our partnership with Experian (the data experts) we know exactly where we are needed the most, and can thendesign the most effective interventions for that area.
Through some of our partners (McDonalds and the Premier League) we have put over 55 million books in the hands of children in recent years.
Fundraise for us! There are a host of opportunities year round, including our annual Where’s Wally Fun Run, where 1000s of our supporters don red and white stripes and descend on Clapham Common.
Introduce us to your workplace – we work with some amazing partners and have a range of sponsorship, volunteering and campaign activities you can support with.
68 South Lambeth Road
London
SW8 1RL
020 7587 1842
