WHEN Middlesbrough Reads was established as the first National Literacy Trust Hub in 2013 the goal was to improve literacy levels across town and positively impact the life chances of Middlesbrough children and young people.

We know that children and young people who enjoy reading are three times more likely to have better mental health than those who don’t. We also know that reading encourages children to dream about their future and, according to our research, can greatly boost their average lifetime earnings.

Over the last eight years we’ve seen a steady increase in literacy attainment levels in the schools and settings we support. However, two years of educational upheaval threatens to undo that progress.

That is why Middlesbrough Reads has been doing everything it can to provide books and opportunities for those who need them most, and ensure that reading for pleasure remains firmly on the agenda for schools across the borough.

Throughout 2021, we have delivered a series of initiatives, activities and author events in schools and settings across the town.

We gifted over 34,600 books and, thanks to support from Arts Council England, delivered virtual author events reaching over 11,000 children and young people. Highlights include events with authors Anthony Horowitz, Cressida Cowell, Angie Thomas, and Tom Percival, hosting an exclusive event at a Teesside school with Greg James and Chris Smith and working together with local author Kate Dalgleish to deliver a walk and talk trail in Stewart Park.

Our Look for a Book initiative, developed in partnership with the School Readiness Team, has seen more than 500 reading packs hidden around town during school term breaks, to ensure families and children still have the opportunity to engage with books outside of school.

We’ve collaborated with Pip-Disabled Mum to deliver a range of books, events and experiences to families with neuro-diverse children, those with chronic illnesses and children with disabilities.

We have worked with Middlesbrough Football Club to hand out books and bundles to families and young fans after games.

We have continued to support James Cook Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, gifting 500 books and reading packs to new parents on the ward, all thanks to our longstanding partnership with Walker Books

Despite these successes, our work is needed now more than ever. Levels of reading for pleasure are on the decline nationally with only three in 10 children and young people admitting to reading anything daily throughout 2021. With children up to three times more likely to enjoy reading if they own the book themselves, it is clear that book ownership is key.

As we look ahead to 2022 we’re planning a programme of new activity to spark and nurture a genuine love of reading. We will bring back our popular Our Stories poetry slam for schools, supporting the House of Mercy’s ‘Confident Readers’ group and we be hosting an exciting festival with partners around town. We will also be continuing our work and partnerships with Walker Books, James Cook Hospital, Pip-Disabled Mum, the school Readiness Team and Middlesbrough FC.

If you’re interested in supporting Middlesbrough Reads and share our mission of encouraging a lifelong love of reading in children, get in touch by visiting middlesbroughreads.org.uk.

  • Allison Potter is the hub manager of the National Literacy Trust’s Middlesbrough Reads. She has worked in, and researched, primary education for more than 30 years. Middlesbrough was the NLT’s first hub and has helped establish 14 more hubs across the country