I am running London Landmarks Half Marathon and Edinburgh Marathon for Bookmark Reading Charity.

Currently, more than one in four children leave primary school unable to read well. Disadvantaged children are disproportionately affected, leaving primary school on average a year behind their peers. Furthermore, one in five children in the UK don’t own a book of their own at home.

Reading is about so much more than just books, it’s a cornerstone to feeling safe, secure, and independent. Without the ability to read, we would not be able to succeed in school, secure employment, or even understand a medical prescription.

Children who don't read well are more likely to drop out of school, become unemployed, or even have a shorter life expectancy.

Bookmark helps children develop the reading skills and confidence they need for a life of opportunity by delivering wrap-around support to schools which includes:

1) One-to-one six-week volunteer-led reading programmes - for children at risk of not meeting the expected standard in reading.

2) Termly or one-off book packs - to support the development of engaging reading spaces and strong reading cultures in schools.

3) Termly literacy magazine 'The Story Corner’ - delivered just ahead of the school holidays so that children have access to high quality reading materials at home.

4) Providing additional support to teachers - through grants, literacy consultancy, support and training resource.

Here are a few ways you could help them make every mile count:

£14 = Gift a school a headset to run our online reading programme. 

£50 = Gift 100 children The Story Corner magazine to enjoy at home. 

£100 = Gift 5 brand new webcams to children for their online reading programme.  

£250 = Gift a school 45 brand-new high quality and diverse books for their library. 

£500 = Gift 15 Story Starter packs to incoming reception-age children, filled with resources that help ignite the joy of reading from an early age. 

£1,500 = Support 6 children at risk of falling behind with a One-to-one reading programme, so they can develop the reading skills they need to succeed.  

£2,000 = Gift 3 schools the books and resources they need to run Comic Book Clubs and engage reluctant readers 

Thank you for supporting Bookmark and for helping to change children’s life stories.