Stories inspire children’s imaginations and aspirations. For four years Audible have been championing the National Literacy Trust’s mission to empower children and families from the most marginalised backgrounds with the literacy skills they need to live the life they want. This autumn our #DreamBig campaign means that we can reach out to more families in some of the UK’s most deprived areas – giving them the confidence, knowledge, and aspiration to share a better future.
Literacy changes everything, and Audible’s support will help unlock and develop the potential of children and their families – giving them the confidence, knowledge, and aspiration to discover a better future. If you grow up without the tools to communicate, books to read or the skills to write, it’s harder to get where you want to go. Together, Audible and the National Literacy Trust will help children and families to #DreamBig.
Help your child to ‘Dream Big’
Head to https://wordsforlife.org.uk/ for activity ideas and learning tips that you can use at home to improve language, literacy and communication skills
Discover the best family listens to experience together, using our recommended listens collection curated by the National Literacy Trust
Trying to manage your child’s screentime? Read the National Literacy Trust’s research on how audiobooks could provide the educational alternative you’ve been looking for.
Learn more about the National Literacy Trust
The National Literacy Trust is a charity that empowers, children, young people, and adults with the literacy skills they need to suceed. They focus on all aspects of literacy: reading, writing, speaking and listening. National Literacy Trust works directly with children and families in their communties, with schools and nurseries, hopsitals and foodbanks, young offenders’ institutions and prisons, to lead programmes that raise literacy skills and change lives. To have the most impact, they focus their work in 20 places around the UK facing the biggest literacy and poverty challenges.
Dream Big with Stories
Over 500,000 children in the UK don’t have a book of their own at home, even though book ownership impacts on a child’s enjoyment of reading, how often they read, and ultimately, their reading skills. With the help of their supporters, the National Literacy Trust donate over 500,000 books a year to children from the most disadvantaged communities in the country.
Sometimes the books the National Literacy Trust give to children are the first ones they’ll have ever had to take home. Nine-year-old Charlie* was on the verge of being excluded from school, her teacher called her “one of the hardest children I’ve ever taught”. Despite having poor reading skills, she picked up a book of poetry gifted by the charity and was fascinated by the rhyming. She ended up staying in school and creating her own poetry, with her teaching saying it had a massive effect on her and it all started from one book.
*All names and images have been changed for anonymity
Dream Big with Families
Poverty has a huge impact on children’s literacy, particularly at home when parents may not have the funds, time, confidence, or knowledge to support their children’s reading, writing, and communication.
The National Literacy Trust works in the 20 most disadvantaged communities to support parents.
In Cornwall, the charity worked with two-year-old Aston*, who wouldn’t speak, refused to engage with other children and was violent and controlling at home.
Aston and his mum were offered a place in a National Literacy Trust early years programme, where families are supported by language and communication experts to gain confidence in chatting, playing, and reading with their babies and toddlers. More than anything, it gave Aston and his mum an entire hour where they could just focus on each other.
Within weeks, Aston was talking. For the first time ever, Aston and his mum were able to sit down and read a book together. These simple sessions gave Aston and his mum the confidence to start communicating, encouraging positive behaviour and improving their relationship.
*All names and images have been changed for anonymity.
Dream Big in Communities
The National Literacy Trust work with volunteers in 20 areas of the UK with the highest levels of deprivation and the lowest levels of literacy. They are deeply rooted in the community, working with key local figures, who volunteer as ‘Literacy Champions’. From midwives to teachers, faith leaders to local businesses, Literacy Champions engage communities and help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy.
Shanine in Nottingham started volunteering for the National Literacy Trust by giving out children’s books in food parcels. Having books and activities at food banks makes the visit more fun and less daunting, and gives families an opportunity to ask Shanine about how to best support their children’s reading and writing, starting that all important conversation and giving them the confidence to read with their children.
