The Reader fundraises highest-ever total after Christmas appeal

Raising more than £13,600, generous supporters of The Reader dug deep to support a life-changing reading project for care-experienced children.

Launched last November, the UK’s biggest Shared Reading charity’s six-week festive appeal set out to raise £10,000 for its inspiring Reading Heroes project, which pairs care-experienced children aged two to 15-years-old with highly trained Volunteers.

The Reader is a charity that uses the power of literature and reading aloud to transform lives across the UK. Launching in 2016, the Reading Heroes aims to spark a love of reading stories and poems.

Volunteers give an hour a week to read stories and poems aloud with the children, both online and in-person for nine months.

Emma McColl, Senior Manager of Programme Delivery at The Reader, said:

“We would like to thank the public and local community for their remarkable support in raising £13,600 for our 2025 Christmas Appeal to help recruit, train and support up to 250 volunteers for Reading Heroes.

“We currently have children waiting to read in person or online, and more to be referred as part of both Reading Heroes (for children aged five to 15) and for Tiny Heroes (reading with Early Years children aged two to four).

“The children referred to us have often faced really hard things in their young lives and Reading Heroes is making such a difference, with every reading session and every page turned together. It’s such a joy to hear and to witness the positive impact that is being made by our amazing volunteers who give up their time to read with a child each week.

“Our new recruitment campaign also marks the beginning of the National Year of Reading 2026, which has been launched by the government and National Literacy Trust following research which shows the number of children and young people reading for pleasure has fallen to its lowest level in two decades.”

Children are referred to the Reading Heroes project and its follow-on legacy programme by Virtual Schools in Liverpool City Region (LCR), Sefton, Halton, Bolton, Bury, Oldham and London’s Tower Hamlets.

After their one-to-one reading sessions end, a book is posted to their home every two months for the next year – and they are invited to join a range of special Meet the Author events. The work is overseen by a dedicated, experienced project team at The Reader who train and support volunteers to deliver lively and engaging Shared Reading sessions. They also provide ongoing safeguarding provision ensuring carers, partners, volunteers and the young people are supported throughout.

Author, broadcaster, writer and director Stephen Fry, recently said of the Reading Heroes project:

“You can fob a youngster off with devices, games and even with books, but nothing comes close to the sharing out loud of a story. Care- experienced children especially need to feel the warmth, delight and affection that this simple act can offer. I salute you, Reading Heroes, you are doing wonderful things.”

The latest data collected from children and young people who took part in the Reading Heroes project, between January 2023 and December 2024, reveals how much it improves their confidence, self-esteem and wellbeing:

• 82% of carers agreed that Reading Heroes had improved their child’s confidence
• 79% said that it had helped to boost self-esteem
• 74% of carers agreed that Reading Heroes had improved their child’s wellbeing
• 84% agreed that it had given their child something to look forward to.

Last year The Reader’s second Christmas Appeal hit a final total of £9,600 to fund the expansion of reading groups for people living with dementia and their families across the Liverpool City Region.

The charity’s first Christmas appeal in 2023 raised more than £7,000 in support of First Page, its family-focused project across the North West helping Early Year children to build confident, positive and rewarding relationships with books and reading for pleasure.

For more information about The Reader, visit here.

To find out more about The Reader’s series of events for 2026, visit here.

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