5 Ways Bookmark Can Boost Your CSR Approach
If you’re looking to engage your employees with a purpose-driven volunteering opportunity, delivering a transformative impact for children, Bookmark Reading Charity has something for you.
Here are five ways Bookmark can boost your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach.
1. Help children who are experiencing inequality due to deprivation
We partner with primary schools, in areas of deprivation, with high levels of children accessing Free School Meals and Pupil Premium and low literacy.
Since beginning our work, we have focused our Your Story Corner programme in areas including Leicester and Sheffield and in 2024 we’ve launched in Barking & Dagenham and Wolverhampton.
Because of our secure online volunteering platform, your corporate volunteers can be based anywhere in the UK and can read one-to-one with a child who needs their support the most.
In 2023 Bookmark volunteers delivered more than 20,000 hours of reading support across the UK, reaching more than 2,200 children.
2. Improve children’s life chances
Children who access Bookmark’s reading sessions improve their confidence, literacy skills and enjoyment of reading. This helps them across all subjects and teachers say reading sessions make a significant difference to their school success, which helps prepare them for secondary school and beyond.
More than 1 in 4 children leave primary school unable to read well, which has an impact on their success in life and disadvantaged children are disproportionately affected. This can impact their success in school, in employment and has even been linked to overall life expectancy.
91% of teachers say children enjoy reading more and 95% of teachers saw an increase in children’s confidence after a reading programme with Bookmark.
“This is the BEST reading programme we have ever participated in. It allows the valuable one-to-one time to read, which staff in schools struggle to find in school. The volunteers are amazing, and the children truly love their sessions.” Teacher
3. Enhance employee well-being
Not only do children benefit from reading sessions, but our volunteers report that volunteering with Bookmark positively impacts them as well. A report from Pilotlight, shows that volunteering is the only initiative that works to boost employee wellbeing.
92% of Bookmark volunteers feel that they’ve positively impacted a child
“I feel happy to know that I am helping a child to read, and it is also improving my skills too. I have really enjoyed the training and optional training videos. I feel they have helped me improve and I want to continue to learn and improve. I am hoping to keep volunteering long-term.” Corporate Volunteer
4. Engage employees in CSR values
Our corporate volunteers find our flexible online volunteering offer easy to fit in around their work commitments as well as transformative in terms of its impact and personal experience.
Being able to engage employees with your CSR strategy with volunteering that has a real-time and long-term impact helps with staff retention, satisfaction and engagement with your social values through your CSR strategy.
“I will always be grateful to Barratt for allowing us to do this in our work time! It feels like a really worthwhile cause. It was quite alarming to see the number of children leaving school without [being at the expected reading level] – you take it for granted that it will happen, but it doesn’t so you have to step forward! It’s the feeling you have made a difference, that’s what I do it for.” Volunteer, Barratt Developments
“I liked that the Bookmark reading programme worked around my schedule! Over the course of the six-week programme, I was really able to get to know the pupil and enjoyed seeing their progress and development.” Volunteer, Bloomberg
5. Real-time social impact
Bookmark offer their corporate partners real-time reporting on their social impact through their volunteering with us. We are a technology-first charity and have live dashboards which we can use to monitor the impact that your volunteers are having. Together, we can ensure that your colleagues are getting the most out of their volunteering hours and that you as an organisation can demonstrably see the impact you are making.
Ready to boost your CSR?
Have we inspired you to explore the joy of reading with primary school children? You can discover all of our fantastic corporate opportunities by clicking below.