£1m anniversary gift to The Reading Agency
The Foundation’s final anniversary gift has been made to The Reading Agency. The £1m gift, announced on 8 July at an event at No. 11 Downing Street, will support the development of the organisation’s Reading Activists programme.
The Reading Agency works to inspire people to read more. It believes that confident and skilled readers have greater aspirations and opportunities and that reading brings enjoyment and increases wellbeing. Talking about books and reading also improves the cohesiveness of communities, whilst volunteers are given opportunities for active citizenship, for instance by running events at local libraries. The Reading Agency takes a comprehensive approach to the promotion of reading, working with publishers, authors and writers as well as with libraries. Besides encouraging young people and adults to volunteer in their communities, the organisation provides training, runs research programmes and explores new, digital ways of engaging people with reading.
This anniversary gift will allow The Reading Agency develop its Reading Activists programme, which aims to use reading and libraries as a springboard for community activism. The programme works with young people to develop inspiring reading, writing and volunteering opportunities in deprived communities, whilst helping them to develop their skills, confidence and employability.
The funding will support the development of a new ‘Reading Activists Challenge’. This will encourage young people to take part in a range of ‘mini challenges’. The ‘Reading for Activism’ mini challenge, for example, will involve campaigning about a local issue, writing an article, organising a reading flashmob to raise awareness and setting up an online newsroom. This will help participants to develop debating, journalism, public speaking, organisation and planning skills, and volunteering skills. Other mini challenges are also planned, including ‘Community reading’, ‘Digital reading makers’, ‘Reading producers’, and ‘Reading mission’. For each of these mini challenges, The Reading Agency will team up with other organisations to reach more young people.
The Reading Agency gift is the fifth and final of a series of anniversary gifts that have brought together several strands of the Foundation’s work and identity. It follows endowment gifts to the Paul Hamlyn Roundhouse Studios and the Jaipur Foot in India, funding for ‘Circuit: a national youth network for the visual arts’, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Club Awards for audience development work at five performing arts venues across the UK.
PHF Director Martin Brookes commented: “The Paul Hamlyn Foundation exists because of books, and because Paul Hamlyn combined his ability to sell them in large numbers with his passion for social justice. It is fitting that our final anniversary gift should so neatly reflect the link between reading and social change.”
Miranda McKearney, OBE, Founder Director of The Reading Agency, said: “The Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s recognition of the charity’s work through this astoundingly generous anniversary gift is deeply heartening. It will help us work with community partners like libraries to inspire thousands more young people to become active citizens and enthusiastic readers. Enjoying reading is a vital engine for social mobility and the acquisition of literacy skills. Children who enjoy reading can better overcome a disadvantaged start in life.”
PHF Chair Jane Hamlyn said: “Our five 25th anniversary gifts have all had a focus on realising people’s potential, something the Foundation has been committed to throughout its history. My father was passionate about books and built his career on producing books that everyone could access. I am delighted that with this gift we are able to support work that was so close to his heart.”
