The event is being organised by the Liverpool Learning Partnership with charity Read for Good, which has been running its Readathon in individual schools since 1984. More than 50 Liverpool schools (some 15,000 pupils) have already signed up to participate in the mass sponsored read, with the aim of motivating whole schools to read for fun. Money raised will be used for school libraries and by the charities to fund their work in Liverpool, including Read for Good’s mobile bookcase and resident storyteller at Alder Hey. The Readathon is running during this year’s inaugural National Libraries Week.
Read for Good Chief Executive, Justine Daniels said:
“We know that learning to love to read as a child has benefits that last a lifetime: from educational outcomes and social mobility to emotional wellbeing. But first, you need to get reading! Motivation is an integral element of reading well, as is reading what you love. Readathon provides the motivation and encourages choice, so we’re excited to join forces with the Liverpool Learning Partnership to unleash its power on a whole city for the first time!”
Children taking part in the event will be sponsored to read whatever they like – from comics to classics – with the emphasis on reading what they love. Twenty per-cent of whatever a school raises will be used to buy books for its library, 10% is going to support Liverpool Learning Partnership’s wider work on reading for pleasure and the rest funds Read for Good’s unique programme bringing a regular supply of books and storytellers into all of the UK’s main children’s hospitals, including Alder Hey.
Alder Hey’s Arts Coordinator, Vicky Charnock said:
“Read for Good’s storyteller and bright-orange mobile bookcase are well-known at Alder Hey. We love the loop of children in our schools reading to bring stories into our hospital. Imagination is a ticket out to the wider world when you’re in hospital and the power of stories to entertain, uplift and distract is incredible and something I’ve seen first-hand at Alder Hey with Read for Good.”
Project Coordinator for the Liverpool Learning Partnership, Jenny Holder said
“We’re already known as a city of football, music and of culture – and increasingly Liverpool is also becoming known for being a city of avid readers. The City of Readers campaign has worked with children, parents, carers and the wider community, reaching some of Liverpool’s most disadvantaged families, to instil a lifelong love of reading. Through our new Readathon event we’re hoping to continue this work by creating a real buzz about books and reading across the city’s schools in October: from Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) moments in schools during our Readathon to ensuring more families are equipped with library cards and able to access our marvellous online library collection.”
For more information and to sign-up, email [email protected] or visit readforgood.org/partnerships/liverpoolreadathon/. Follow the Liverpool Readathon on Facebook.
