Scottish Book Trust is a national charity that believes books, reading and writing have the power to change lives; that a love of reading inspires creativity, improves employment opportunities, mental health and wellbeing, and is one of the most effective ways to help children escape the poverty cycle.
Barcapel awarded a grant of £20,000 to deliver ‘Reading Buddies’, a shared reading project that involves older pupils and parents sharing a love of reading with younger reading buddies in their school. The older pupils and parents read three carefully selected picture books to their reading buddies. Pupils are then encouraged to vote for their favourite book as part of the Bookbug Picture Book Prize and hold a celebration event during Book Week Scotland with parents and guardians.
The Trustees of Barcapel were influenced by:
- the professionalism of both the organisation and the application
- the need to tackle literacy problems in Scottish children and adults
- the potential intergenerational impact of the project
