Intrepid supporters, from ages 8 upwards, have covered over 34,000 miles in Schoolreaders’ RACE FOR READING campaign raising over £40,000 to help improve reading standards in primary schools. The campaign was championed by British explorer and author, Levison Wood who commented:

“Education is crucial to the nation’s wellbeing and future life chances. The devastating effects of Covid lockdowns has set some children back significantly – especially in the Early Years – and there has never been a more critical time to foster a love of reading. I’m in awe of all those people who gave up their time to explore how far they could race for Schoolreaders – thank you all so much!”

Before the pandemic, 1 in 4 children was leaving primary school unable to read well and school closures have worsened the situation considerably with disadvantaged children suffering the most. Latest Government figures estimate that 1 in 3 children (or 200,000) will leave primary school this year to start their secondary education with poor reading skills.

Schoolreaders is a rapidly-growing children’s literacy charity, which places committed volunteers in primary schools to provide one-to-one reading sessions with children aiding their fluency, comprehension and reading enjoyment and is already partnering with over 10% of the nation’s primary schools, with a particular focus on reaching those in deprived areas. The money raised will enable Schoolreaders to enrich the lives of thousands more children with one-to-one weekly volunteer reading sessions for a year.

Anyone could take part in RACE FOR READING, which ran for 80 days from 21 March to 19 June 2021, aiming to collectively cover 25,000 miles by running, swimming, walking or cycling to virtually circumnavigate the globe.

Some individual RACE FOR READERS achieved incredible feats to improve literacy! This included one fundraiser who ran a staggering 26 marathons in 38 days and an 8-year-old girl who, not only walked an amazing 130 miles and raised over £1,300 through sponsorship but has also given talks about Schoolreaders and the importance of reading to her local Brownie pack and entire school.

Jane Whitbread, Founder of Schoolreaders comments: “I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us circumnavigate the globe or donated to our RACE FOR READING campaign. By going that extra mile, you will help us improve the literacy levels of many more primary school children. There has never been a more important time for our work. Thank you for making a world of difference to so many children’s life chances.”

RACE FOR READING has been generously sponsored by Tritax Big Box, the UK’s leading investment company focused on larger scale logistics real estate.

Colin Godfrey – CEO, Fund Management, at Tritax Big Box adds: “We were delighted to sponsor RACE FOR READING 2021. Improving reading skills is key to bringing important social and economic benefits to the communities in which we own logistics buildings. As a partner to Schoolreaders, we have seen first-hand the extent to which they are playing an integral role in helping to achieve that and improving the long-term prospects of many of the UK’s most disadvantaged children.”