Sara Pascoe has launched a new campaign encouraging families to turn their train journeys into reading time this summer.
The comedian and host of the Weirdos Book Club podcast, a book review podcast now in its fifth season, kicked off the Summer Reading Challenge campaign with four train operating companies on the 9th July by treating schoolchildren to pop-up reading sessions on trains travelling between London, York and Leeds.
What is the Summer Reading Challenge?
1 in 4 children cannot read well by the age of 11. This hugely limits their life choices and skills. The Reading Agency are on a mission to change this.
The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to keep reading during the summer holidays, ensuring they are ready for a great start to the new term in the autumn. Children set a reading goal and collect rewards for reading anything they enjoy. Children can sign up at their local library online, or while they travel by train! and it’s FREE to take part.
Train operating companies – LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express – have teamed up with The Reading Agency to provide the summer reading challenge packs to children travelling on their trains throughout the summer holidays.
Colleagues working for the four train operating companies are now planning to hand out tens of thousands of free Summer Reading Challenge activity packs to families over the coming months. Each one contains a copy of Storytime Magazine, sticker booklet, activity sheet, certificate and other fun resources to inspire children aged 4–11 to read more outside of the classroom.
The activity packs will be available on board hundreds of participating services and stations, from Edinburgh to Margate and from Newcastle to London, making it easy for children to get involved wherever their journey begins.
Find out more about the how to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge while travelling by train.
