Launching the National Literacy Trust’s Liverpool Hub with Sarah Willett

Earlier this year, we were thrilled to announce the National Literacy Trust as our charity partner for the next three years. Together, we’re determined to make a meaningful difference. 

As part of this partnership, we’ve committed to raising £450,000 to help improve the lives of 4,000 children. A significant portion of the funds will go towards supporting the Liverpool community hub which is all about creating positive change by enhancing the literacy skills of young children. Through this initiative, the National Literacy Trust will deliver a programme of activities in Liverpool, empowering parents to support their children’s language and communication skills from the very beginning. 

Plus, the hub will provide training for early years professionals to help address low literacy levels among the children they care for. The funds raised by our team will also allow the charity to recruit volunteer literacy champions to bring the magic of stories to life across the community. 

Launching the community hub in Liverpool 

I was so proud to attend the launch event of the community hub here in Liverpool. The event took place at Five Children’s Trust in Speke, one of the key areas where the charity will focus its efforts in the coming months and years. 

More than 80 children under the age of five, along with their parents, carers and siblings, joined us for a morning of storytelling activities inspired by The Gruffalo and yes, The Gruffalo himself even made a special appearance! 

The morning was designed to show parents how stories can spark conversations and play a part of everyday life. 

Every child left with a gift-wrapped copy of The Gruffalo, generously donated by Macmillan Children’s Books and beautifully wrapped by my amazing colleagues from across the business. 

This was just the first in a series of events for these families, all designed to immerse them in the world of The Gruffalo and highlight the joy and benefits of sharing stories together.

An update on fundraising to date

It was inspiring to see how our fundraising efforts are already helping to provide local families with the tools they need to further their literacy skills.

Since launching the partnership in April, we’ve raised £136,000 for the National Literacy Trust, and being able to see this money put to use through the community hub was incredible!

We’re fortunate to have amazingly passionate colleagues who are driven to make a difference, and this is clear in the amount we’ve already been able to raise to help families get more out of life.

A real highlight for me so far has to be the charity ball where we raised an incredible £110,000 – a fantastic achievement that we’re all so proud of.

We’re just at the start of our partnership and fundraising journey for the National Literacy Trust, and I can’t wait to see how together we’ll combine our understanding of families and knowledge of local communities to help children develop the vocabulary they need to succeed.

Sarah Willett, chief people officer at The Very Group