Summer reading campaign supports 1,500 children

The trust said it received positive feedback from parents

The National Literacy Trust has encouraged 1,500 children to read across a city with low literacy rates.

Through July and August, the literacy charity's Peterborough-based campaign tried to engage children with stories and books.

Several events were held including the Little Stories Festival and the city's first summer story hunt where 1,000 vouchers were hidden for children of all ages to find and exchange for a free book at three local libraries.

The charity hoped it would help build communication and language skills needed to confidently start school.

The team worked with multiple organisations across the city, including Barnado's, Peterborough Family Hubs, Cross Keys Homes and Peterborough Museum to help reach the young children.

Research from the National Literacy Trust states that in the East of England, one in 10 children aged five to eight say they do not have a book of their own at home – which is equivalent to about three children in every classroom across Peterborough.

Further recent research from the trust found that just one in three (32.7%) children and young people aged eight to 18 said they enjoyed reading "very much" or "quite a lot" in 2025 – a slight drop from the previous year, but part of a much longer decline.

Over 130 families across Peterborough joined the city-wide story-hunt

The trust provides children who live in the city with access to books to take home and keep, as well as the freedom to choose what they read.

Five wards in the city were deemed to be in the top 10% of wards in the country with the greatest "literacy need", according to the trust.

Becky Marrs, manager for the National Literacy Trust in Peterborough, said: "When a child connects with a story, no matter what age they are, it unlocks a world of new possibilities and builds vital reading skills.

"Every story starts somewhere, and we're proud to be working across Peterborough to help children in our city get the strongest start possible."