Our 2024 – 25 Annual Report is out now!
We’re delighted to share our latest Annual Report, a look at the work we’ve delivered across the 2024 – 25 academic year. This report showcases how we’ve brought our three – year strategy to life, in its first year, to transform children’s literacy for over 180,000 children.
Our mission remains simple – we want every child to read. Our 2024 – 27 strategy outlines a bold vision to achieve this: to partner with 1,000 schools and for 500,000 children benefit from a Bookmark Literacy Programme by 2027.
We have made clear progress against these targets – partnering with 399 schools across the country, with 180,979 children benefiting from at least one of our programmes.
We have expanded our offering to schools, developing whole-school reading cultures that reduce the barriers so many children face with accessing literacy.
Here’s our progress against our 2024 – 27 strategic aims
In the last year, we’ve:
- Delivered 40,239 One-to-one Reading Programme sessions, providing vital individual reading support for the students who need it most
- Delivered 563,256 copies of The Story Corner magazine to schools and community settings across the country
- Delivered 3,970 Story Starter Programme packs, bundles of resources to spark the joy of reading before children start school
The impact of our work is clear
- 96% of teachers noticed an increase in reading confidence among children taking part in our One-to-one Reading Programme.
- 94% of teachers reported that the Your Story Corner Programme inspired them to develop their school’s reading for pleasure provision, their reading spaces or their wider whole-school reading culture.
- Our Literacy Partner Programme has received an NPS of 85 & 96 across cohort 1 and cohort 2.
Across all our programmes, we show progress against our five pathways.
Bookmark has made a massive difference to the way the children view themselves as readers; they are now more positive and confident about their own reading abilities.
Financially, our income has returned to similar levels compared to previous years, with our total income at £4.1m and expenditure at £4.2m – reflective of the expansion of our literacy programmes. We end in a robust position as we continue to deliver our ambitious strategy.
We want to thank all of our donors, partners, schools, volunteers and staff. With your support and dedication we are changing children’s life stories, one child at a time.
As I reflect on the past year, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude for what we have been able to achieve. The numbers in our Annual Report are more than just statistics, summaries and figures. They represent over 180,000 children who have benefited from one of our literacy programmes. We’ve navigated a year of growth, as we’ve progressed against our 2027 targets. Financially, we’ve delivered a strong year which allows us to continue to support children across the country to close the literacy gap.
As we enter the second year of our 2024-27 strategy, we will continue to adapt, innovate and collaborate to support children on their reading journeys across the country. We will continue to work toward our ambitious targets: to partner with 1,000 schools, with 500,000 children benefiting from a Bookmark Literacy Programme.
