Bookmark Reading Charity launches Mind the Gap campaign with call to volunteers

Bookmark Reading Charity has launched Mind The Gap, a national campaign calling for urgent action to close England’s ‘literacy gap’ – the discrepancy in reading attainment between disadvantaged children and their peers. Only 10% of disadvantaged children who fall behind in reading at primary school go on to pass English and maths at GCSE (Education Endowment Fund figures). The charity aims to raise awareness of this issue and to mobilise the public to help close the gap, through volunteering to read one-to-one with a child who’s falling behind.

The campaign is supported by authors Hannah Gold, Chris Smith, and Sathnam Sanghera amongst other well-known figures.

To kick off the campaign, timed to coincide with the National Year of Reading, Bookmark commissioned a national survey of 2,000 adults. The survey explored public awareness of the ‘literacy gap’ and measured how likely people are to take action to help close it. Results reveal:

• 59% of adults do not know that 1 in 4 children leave primary school unable to read well, and disadvantaged children are disproportionately affected.
• Just 33% are aware that 1 in 8 children aged 5 – 8 years old don’t own a book at home.
• 96% believe reading for pleasure is essential; and 94% agree that the literacy gap deserves far more national attention.
• 45% said they were likely to take action to help close this gap, such as volunteering to read one-to-one with a child who is falling behind.
• 42% of respondents cited lack of time as their main reason for not volunteering.

The survey pinpoints that while there is a strong belief in the importance of reading for pleasure nationally, there is a general lack of awareness of the scale of the literacy crisis and the struggles that some children face. This gap is not simply about reading ability; it is about a child’s future opportunities, confidence, health, and long-term life chances. Poor literacy is linked to a 26-year gap in life expectancy between the most and least vulnerable communities.

The discrepancy between awareness versus action is also marked, with nearly every person surveyed believing that the ‘literacy gap’ is an important issue (94%) versus those who are willing to give up their time to support children in need (45%).

Emily Jack, CEO of Bookmark Reading Charity said, ‘These results show that while the public cares deeply about literacy, there’s still a huge gap in understanding – and in action.

The literacy gap isn’t just about reading; it’s about opportunity, wellbeing and social equality. The more people understand the issue, the more we can all do to close it. Through our Mind The Gap campaign we want to mobilise the public to help us reduce the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers, through volunteering with Bookmark Reading Charity. Finding just one hour a week to ignite the joy of reading can change the course of a child’s future.’

The Mind The Gap campaign aims to address the issue by recruiting more adult volunteers to support children who are falling behind in reading.

Bookmark’s One-to-one Reading Programme relies on volunteers to support children in primary schools who are falling behind. The programme provides each child with two, 30-minute sessions, twice per week, with volunteers mostly online, making it easy for volunteers to complete sessions from anywhere.

The results speak for themselves: last academic year, 86% of teachers noticed an increase in children’s reading skills; 79% of teachers noticed an increase in reading motivation; and 73% of teachers noticed children reading more often. Nearly every child (94%) who has taken part in one of Bookmark’s programmes has progressed at or above the rate expected for their age; showing the difference that the charity’s interventions make to children’s reading level.

To meet the current demand from partner schools, Bookmark Reading Charity needs to increase its active volunteer base by 25%. Bookmark hopes that Mind The Gap will motivate more volunteers to step forward and give a child the reading support they need to continue on their literacy journey; and improve their life chances.

Find out more and sign up to volunteer with Bookmark Reading Charity.