We’re excited to have published our Annual Report: a look at our work over the last financial year and the impacts that the support we’ve received has enabled us to have.
Our vision is for a fairer society where every child owns books and loves to read. We do this by re-homing pre-loved and publisher donated books so that every child can grow up surrounded by stories and proud to be a reader.
We believe in the transformational impact of book ownership. We give children the opportunity to choose multiple books that excite them, take them home, and build their own bookshelves. With the support of book buying families nationwide and our publishing partners, we gift to children an exceptional variety of new and pre-loved titles. Through our long-term relationships with schools and community organisations, we help create book-rich environments where book ownership can be taken for granted. The children we reach are motivated to share the books they’ve selected with a member of their household and to engage in book chatter. They develop preferences and positive associations with reading and in doing so develop a reader identity.
Impact in the 2024-2025 School Year
During the 2024-2025 school year we gifted 529,397 books gifted via our three hubs:
- To 147k children
- Via 750 gifting events
- In 467 schools, 27 prisons, 51 community groups, 6 food banks and many smaller orgs
Volunteering and Social Value
3,853 people volunteered with us nationwide this year, collectively giving 25,142 hours of their time:
- 100% of corporate volunteers felt their contribution was valued
- 100% of volunteers would be very likely to recommend us to others
- Delivered £348k in terms of their social impact (social ROI)
This year, we’ve launched One Million Stories, our boldest campaign yet, which will give more than 125,000 children across 1,000 schools and community groups the chance to choose and take home books – a milestone made possible entirely through the innovation, generosity, and belief of our partners, volunteers, team leaders and trustees.
We are very grateful to all our funders and for the support we receive from corporates, via our corporate volunteering programme, from grant giving bodies and trusts and from individuals. The support of Literacy Capital again this year allowed us to unlock wider match funding via The Big Give. Thank you too, to the many individuals that have given us their time and talent and to the organisations that have given us pro bono support.
We’re not just gifting books. We’re unlocking the cultural and educational capital within each one. The opportunity ahead is significant and our impact has grown considerably this year. However at the heart of each individual gifting event lies a powerful moment: a child choosing a book they are drawn to and taking it home to discover it further.