Without good literacy, children struggle to fully access their secondary education. This can lead to functional illiteracy: one in seven adults in England cannot read a medicine packet, a bus timetable or complete a job application. Poor literary is a major factor in many societal problems including homelessness, poor physical and mental health, and criminality. More than half of prisoners have literacy levels below those expected of an 11-year-old.

Schoolreaders recruits volunteers to go into local state primary schools and give children weekly one-to-one reading support. We are the only nationwide charity providing this support for free to schools, ensuring it is accessible. We focus on schools in the most deprived areas, reaching the most disadvantaged children. We prioritise schools with a high number of children receiving Free School Meals and/or Pupil Premium, 60% of the London schools we support meet our disadvantage criteria.