BookTrust
Helping children discover the joy of reading from their earliest days
Our mission
A love of reading, from a baby's first book
Reading together in the early years shapes how children learn, talk and feel about books for the rest of their lives. Yet many children, especially in families on low incomes or in care, grow up with few books of their own at home.
BookTrust works to change that. Through Bookstart it gives free books and simple reading tips to families in a baby's first year, followed by packs for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Letterbox Club sends parcels of books to children in foster care or from low-income families, and school programmes such as Bookbuzz and BookTrust Represents bring new books and authors into classrooms.
The work reaches families in every community across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivered with thousands of local partners in libraries, schools, early years settings and health services. The aim is to build reading habits that bring children joy now and benefits that last a lifetime.
About the cause
About BookTrust
BookTrust is the UK's largest children's reading charity, with more than 100 years of history. It is headquartered in Leeds, with teams in London, Cardiff (BookTrust Cymru) and Belfast (BookTrust Northern Ireland). Alongside its book-gifting programmes, it researches how families read, commissions and distributes millions of books and resources each year, and supports the Waterstones Children's Laureate. It is the Early Years lead partner for the National Year of Reading 2026.
“For too long, the life-changing benefits of children's reading have not been taken seriously.”
Through Qariam
Your meetings, their mission.
Choose BookTrust as your cause on Qariam. Every relevant meeting you accept unlocks a vendor pledge, and 100% of it goes directly to BookTrust once the conversation has taken place.
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