According to UNESCO, there are an estimated 750 million adults around the world who lack basic reading and writing skills. According to the National Literacy Institute, in the USA “3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read” and “70% of low-income fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level.”
Meanwhile, the National Literacy Trust report that here in England around 7.1 million people can be described as having “very poor literacy skills”. These eye watering statistics pose the question about what is to be done, as there are many different ways that we can challenge illiteracy within our communities.
Last year, thousands of brand new books were donated to Manchester’s Wood Street Mission’s ’Books Forever Appeal’ and among them were the stories of Winnie The Pooh. Other books donated included Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch series, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis, Michael Bonds Paddington Bear collection and the Moomin books by Tove Jansson.
For young adults, it was great to see Anne Franks Diary and John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men received with enthusiasm. Other books donated for teenagers included Jack Kerouac’s On The Road along with classics like Five Children and It, The Secret Garden, Toms Midnight Garden and The Railway Children. Thanks to the Wood Street Mission’s ’Books Forever Appeal’, these are just some of the titles that are now in children’s hands.
The success of last years appeal also followed on from 2022, where Wood Street Mission distributed over 20,500 new books to disadvantaged young people across Greater Manchester and thanks to public support, it’s brilliant that each child gets to take home 5 books to keep. Through the act of donating something simple as a book, people are helping to overcome the many stigma’s that children in low-income families face.
Donating to Wood Street Mission’s ‘Books Forever Appeal’ couldn’t be easier and you can drop off a book in person or have it delivered direct to the Wood Street Mission, 26 Wood Street, Manchester, M3 3EF. Wood Street Mission is located next to the John Rylands Library on Deansgate and you can visit woodstreetmission.org.uk to learn more about their work or to make an online contribution.
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