We’re Celebrating 13 Years of the Young Readers Programme!

We’re celebrating 13 years in partnership with the Young Readers Programme – the award-winning initiative from our owner, British Land and the National Literacy Trust, which aims to encourage children to read outside of the classroom.

As part of this year’s celebrations, we welcomed 270 children from Whinney Banks, Mill Lane, and Newport primary schools to take part in a storytelling session designed to inspire a love of reading.

Children had the chance to listen to stories from a professional storyteller and take part in a range of fun activities which included making Alice in Wonderland themed decorations, playing an outdoor game of croquet, and meeting a mascot of the notorious Colin the Caterpillar. We also gave each child a book of their choice to take home for free.

The Young Readers Programme is especially designed to provide additional support and help with the development of children in under privileged areas by giving them better access to books.

We’ve taken part in the programme for the last 13 years and have helped to support more than 3,400 school children in Stockton-on-Tees and seen more than 10,300 books donated across the region.

Research from the National Literacy Trust shows that reading for enjoyment among 8 – 18-year-olds in the UK is at its lowest since 2005 – for almost two decades.

To find out more about National Literacy Trust and its Young Readers Programme, visit the National Literacy Trust website.

A group of school kids standing in a group at teesside