South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland is supporting The Reading Agency’s mission to encourage all primary school children to take part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. The Challenge launches in Scotland on 24 June and across England and Wales on Saturday 8 July.
This summer, children aged 4-11 can visit their library to join a superstar team and their marvellous mascots and get involved in a Summer Reading Challenge themed around the power of play, sport, and games.
Through taking part in the Challenge, with free materials from the local library and online via the Challenge website, children will be encouraged to keep their minds and bodies active over the summer break. Children will join the fun characters – brought to life by children’s author and illustrator Loretta Schauer – to navigate a fictional summer obstacle course and track their reading as they go, rewarded by free incentives including stickers.
Through physical activity challenge cards from the Youth Sport Trust, and an exciting, themed book collection, the Summer Reading Challenge aims to keep imaginations moving over the school holiday. By participating in the Challenge, young people will have the opportunity to explore new reading material, develop skills, and discover new interests.
The Summer Reading Challenge has been running since 1999 and helps to improve children’s reading skills and confidence over the summer holidays, ensuring they are ready for their return to school. With the help of local libraries, the Summer Reading Challenge is accessible to all and provides a fun, free activity for children. In 2022, the Summer Reading Challenge reached 723,184 children and families across the UK, with 608,015 children taking part through their local library service, a 31% increase compared to 2021. The Challenge also drove 132,223 new children's library memberships which is 40% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic total.
Sir Robert Buckland MP said: “The free Summer Reading Challenge and activities are a great idea and resource for families here in South Swindon. They will help to encourage children to stay active during the summer and also improve their reading skills, whist having fun!”
Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency said: "We're delighted to see how library partners across the country are organising their own events and activities to support this year's Summer Reading Challenge. We are really looking forward to working closely with them to help get children reading, imagining, and staying active this summer.”
Full details for all local libraries here in Swindon, including opening times, can be found by visiting: https://www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20026/libraries/888/library_locations_and_opening_hours
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Notes to Editors
About The Summer Reading Challenge:
The Summer Reading Challenge is run by the Reading Agency for children across the UK and is delivered in partnership with public libraries. It has been running for the past 24 years and aims to foster a lifelong love of reading and tackle the drop off in reading that can happen over the school summer holidays. Children are challenged to read books over the summer and encouraged to enjoy reading for fun. Each year has a different theme – 2022 was ‘Gadgeteers’ and 2021 was ‘Wild World Heroes’. https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/
About The Reading Agency
The Reading Agency is a UK charity with a mission to empower people of all ages to read. Evidence shows that reading improves health and wellbeing, life chances and social connections. The Reading Agency champions access to the proven power of reading by providing activities for all ages. Working with public libraries, prisons, hospitals and other community settings, we reach over two million people a year. But with a UK population of over 67 million that's not nearly enough. We want to get more people fired up about reading because everything changes when you read. Get in touch today to find out more about what we do and to help us on our mission.
www.readingagency.org.uk | @readingagency
About the Youth Sport Trust:
The Youth Sport Trust is a UK leading children’s charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. It empowers young people and equips educators to transform lives. Founded in 1995, it works with around 20,000 schools and inspires Changemakers to build a sense of belonging. Its vision is to create a future where every child enjoys the life-changing benefits of play and sport. Visit the YST website for ideas, tips and information www.youthsporttrust.org
About Arts Council England:
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented £1.96 billion Culture Recovery Funds. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19
