Bookmark: Delivering Essential Reading Support to Change Young Lives

The reading charity Bookmark delivers vital reading resources and support, partnering with community groups and primary schools in disadvantaged areas. Bookmark began in 2018 with a small group of volunteers working in three schools in Camden. Today, the charity delivers its services nationwide and has delivered over 124,000 one-to-one reading sessions to children struggling with their reading.

Bookmark

‍The Vision

For Bookmark the goal is to help all children discover the joy of reading, setting them up for success in their lives. The organisation works with schools to recruit and train volunteers to provide reading support and develop whole school reading cultures. Bookmark’s advisory boards and its board of trustees help to ensure the charity runs efficiently and effectively as a force for good in the communities and schools it supports.

Resources for Reading

As well as its range of programmes, there are several grants available through Bookmark that provide books, resources and investment. Bookmark also offers a comprehensive range of resources including book clubs and The Story Corner magazine. The latter is a termly publication designed and distributed by children, offering diverse, high-quality content including activities and stories. The overarching aim of the publication is to ignite the joy of learning and help prevent learning loss outside of school.

Bookmark’s Literacy Partner Programme offers literacy support to schools in the form of a grant (of up to £10,000), alongside targeted, direct support for primary schools in areas of high need, free of charge. Meanwhile, the organisation’s Rocket Packs support its mission to get every child reading. The packs, which are curated by both authors and teachers, are also provided free of charge.

Free Training for Schools

Bookmark is one of the charities chosen for inclusion in the Education and Arts Cause Portfolio curated by the charity Percent for Good, founded by Mark Lyttleton Bookmark has recently partnered with the Wandle Learning Trust to provide free training for schools designed to improve reading in Key Stage 2. The course’s aim is to transform children’s reading habits, with each session covering a different topic. Guest speakers at the sessions include headteachers, CEOs and reading leaders, with the information presented incorporating real-world case studies.

Session two, which was held in January 2025, included an exploration of how KS2 lesson approaches and reading curriculums can encourage reading for pleasure, with the Wandle Learning Trust and three primary schools sharing their own strategies.