Next month, our W&A colleague, Katie , is taking part in the Artic Challenge for the National Literacy Trust. This involves four days in the wilderness of northern Sweden, undertaking challenges like hiking, orienteering and dog sled racing in the middle of arctic winter.
The reason she’s undertaking this chilly challenge? To raise money for a charity doing incredible work to improve literacy rates and support young people in our disadvantaged communities.
On average, children from the poorest backgrounds start school 19 months behind their more privileged peers, and children without the expected literacy skills are held back at every stage of their lives. They are:
- Five times more likely to fail to meet the expected standards of English at age 11.
- Four times more likely to be unemployed aged 34.
- Three times more likely to have mental health problems as adults.
This is where the National Literacy Trust comes in with their efforts to change this narrative. Some of the ways they do this are:
- Setting up creative and innovative literacy programs in schools.
- Distributing free books in communities around the country where as many as 1 in 8 children do not have a book of their own at home.
- Training teachers and librarians to entrench literacy into every subject at school and inspire a love of reading.
You can find out more about the National Literacy Trust and the important work they do on their website.
And if you’d like to donate to Katie’s fundraising, head to her Just Giving page. Any amount big or small, named or anonymous, will go a long way to improving so many young lives and will be greatly appreciated.
Keep your eyes peeled in the New Year for an update detailing how the challenge went and how much money was raised!
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