The small charity making a big difference in Chichester and Bognor Regis
If you’re looking for a good news story, look no further than The Children’s BookFest Report for 2024. This small but mighty charity is dedicated to putting books into the hands of children, authors into their schools and a love of reading into their hearts.
During the course of last year, CBF reached over 7,800 children in Chichester and Bognor, through a combination of their signature BookFest events in primary schools, their Outreach work and their regular donations to the Food Banks.
The NLT consistently reports how much of an impact book ownership has on our relationship with literacy. The National Literacy Trust tells us that, ‘compared with their peers who said they had a book of their own, more children and young people who told us that they didn’t have a book, read below the average (16.7% vs. 7.3%) and fewer read above the average (10.6% vs. 22..5%).’
Yet 1 in 8 children who receive free school meals told the NLT that they do not own a book.
This is what keeps CBF going and what drives them to try and raise more funds every year, so that they can make a difference to these figures, even if only in one little corner of the world.
Books let children be children, they enhance imagination, promote adventure and build confidence. They bring us together and foster understanding between people and cultures. Research from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education found that real books bring learning to life, engage children and sustain their motivation to read and write.
To help CBF help more children, why not come to one of their fundraising events in Chichester this year? Keep an eye on their social media and website for details.