This Christmas, The Reader is calling for donations to help reach a £10,000 festive fundraising target to support its impactful work reading with care-experienced children across the Liverpool City Region and UK.
The UK’s largest Shared Reading charity, based in Calderstones Park, South Liverpool, runs Reading Heroes and Tiny Heroes, two special projects pairing care-experienced children, aged between two and 15 years, with trained volunteers to enjoy the magic of reading aloud, together.
Rachel Bourke, Reading Heroes Coordinator at The Reader, said:
“We’re calling for people across the region to help recruit, train and support Reading Heroes volunteers this Christmas. For an hour a week, they give care-experienced children the space, time and attention they need to develop confidence and build self-esteem through the joy of reading aloud, together.
“I’ve seen firsthand the difference that Reading Heroes makes – I’ve seen reluctant readers turn into children brimming with enthusiasm and joy for the session each week, the connection they have with our amazing volunteers giving them so much self-confidence and pride. I know because the carers tell us that Reading Heroes has a lifelong positive impact on the children they look after.”
One such child is Rosa*, now aged seven, who lives with her foster carer Jenny in Liverpool. She was referred to the project by Virtual School Liverpool and paired with Reading Heroes volunteer, Lauren.
Lauren and Rosa read together weekly in person at Rosa’s foster home for 26 weeks. In the beginning, Lauren said:
“Rosa was starting to sound out words phonetically when we first met. There was no excitement when it came to books, and she wouldn’t sit still, often doing cartwheels and handstands.”
As well as reading books they played fun word games, made up poetry – and even the occasional rap – drew pictures and read joke books.
Through the bespoke book choices over time, Rosa began to show increasing interest, with Bumble and Snug by Mark Bradley becoming a firm favourite. So, when the book’s author, hosted an exclusive online ‘draw-along’ event for Reading Heroes, it further piqued her interest in this graphic novel and its illustrations – and she completed it by herself.
At the end of the project Rosa said:
“I didn’t like books before Reading Heroes – I wouldn’t pick one up, but now, I like, books. I wish Reading Heroes could go on forever.”
Lauren said:
“She is such a different child than the one I started reading with. She sits for longer. There are still cartwheels but not as many – she isn’t as afraid of books and reading any more. She has learned that stories can be funny. And that she loves funny stories”
After their 1:1 reading sessions end, each child is invited to take part in an ongoing programme of activity. This consists of a book posted to their home every two months for the next year so they can develop their own personal libraries.
Care-experienced children live, or have lived, in kinship, foster or residential care.
More than 23,000 children were living in care in England in 2024. For many, adverse life experiences result in challenges at school, struggles with mental health, and heightened risk of homelessness and unemployment compared to their non-care-experienced peers.
Reading Heroes addresses these barriers by promoting a love of reading and the development of strong and wholly positive social bonds. The project has real and lasting positive effects, with children and carers reporting significant changes including:
- 82% greater confidence
- 79% higher self esteem
- 74% improved wellbeing
- 79% increased enjoyment of reading
- 84% something to look forward
Stephen Porter, also a Reading Heroes Coordinator at The Reader, said:
“Our volunteers are truly amazing; when I’ve witnessed their care, compassion and dedication to making children’s lives just that little bit better, it’s made my life just that little bit better. Reading Heroes is a wonderful scheme.”
Donations can help support the life-long gift of reading for pleasure:
- £8 buys a book for a young Reading Hero
- £30 supports onboarding costs for a volunteer
- £50 helps us find and recruit volunteers for our Reading Heroes
- £70 trains a volunteer to read with a care experienced child
- £350 recruits, trains and supports one volunteer over a Reading Heroes placement
Reading Heroes includes a Meet the Author events programme for care experienced children to attend. Over the last 12 months this has included award-winning author A.F. Steadman discussing her No.1 bestseller,Skandar and The Unicorn Thief; comic writer and artist Mark Bradley on his graphic novel series Bumble and Snug and Fablehouse author E.L. Norry talking about her own childhood growing up in care, and how it has influenced her books.
Last year The Reader’s second ever Christmas appeal raised just below £10,000 to develop and grow its valuable work reading with people living with dementia across the Liverpool City Region.
And in 2023 the charity’s Christmas appeal in support of First Page, its family-focused project across the North West helping children to build confident, positive and rewarding relationships with books and reading for pleasure, succeeded in reaching £7,000.
To find out more about The Reader’s Christmas Appeal 2025 and how to make a difference to the lives of care-experienced children, please visit here.
