To support the government’s National Literacy Strategy, WHSmith has developed a family of Ready, Steady, Read! initiatives, specifically designed to encourage young people to improve their literacy skills and take pleasure in reading.
Since its launch in 1997 Ready Steady Read! has had a significant impact on the children attending the 450 participating schools across the UK.The scheme follows the same children as they progress through their primary school education, giving them all the reading books they need each year. Over 300,000 books have already been distributed, and on completion of the five-year project, 80,000 children will have benefited directly from the scheme.
Ready Steady Read loud! is a staff volunteering scheme through which WHSmith staff spend half an hour each week, in company time, in school classrooms helping children with their reading. Initially piloted in Manchester, the successful scheme has now been expanded to involve staff from across the UK.
Through Ready, Steady, Read Together! WHSmith has launched eighteen family literacy schemes across the country.
Each employs its own methods but they all have a common aim of improving the reading skills of parents and their children, encouraging them to read together.
For further information about Ready, Steady, Read! please contact: Andy Finch, Head of Community Investment, WHSmith 020 7514 9619
