A fundraising campaign organised by flex office operator, Cubo, has raised £750 for national literacy charity, Bookmark.
The campaign was launched in late November in a bid to encourage members and businesses to ‘Gift a Child a Book at Christmas.’
By the end of the year £750 had been raised, which will enable the charity to buy 150 new books for children.
Cubo has now adopted Bookmark Reading Charity as its annual charity for 2024. The company is set to organise a series of fundraising events throughout the year to buy more books and help transform children’s lives through the joy of reading.
SATs results from July 2023 revealed that one in four children leave primary school without the ability to read proficiently. In addition, the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has now reached its widest point in a decade (FEA, 2022).
Bookmark was founded by Sharon Pindar in 2018 and aims to change children’s life stories through the joy of reading.
Bookmark works with children who face barriers to becoming readers by providing one-to-one reading programmes, both online and in person.
The charity also equips schools with dedicated resources to offer wraparound support, providing diverse, high-quality books, materials for extracurricular reading, and on-going support for teacher training and development.
As part of its mission, Bookmark aims to deliver 50,741 one-to-one reading sessions to children during 2024. This time, when scheduled back-to-back equates to three years of non-stop reading.
The charity also aims to send out thousands of books and reading resources to children across the country, putting them directly into the hands of children who need them most.
Commenting on the money raised for Bookmark, Rebecca Brough, CMO at Cubo, said: “The response from our members and local businesses in the run up to Christmas was fantastic, and we’re thrilled to have raised so much money in such a short space of time.
“Bookmark is an incredible charity, which is working to brighten the lives of children and empower them through the gift of literature. This aligns perfectly with Cubo’s vision of making a tangible difference in communities where we have a presence.”
To donate to Cubo’s fundraising appeal, visit bit.ly/Donate-cubo.
