We are happy to announce that we have become a collection point for a unique crowdsourcing campaign that has been launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of reducing book poverty for the region’s most disadvantaged school children.

The “Gift of Books” campaign, which was launched on World Book Day 2018 is calling on the people of Greater Manchester to donate a copy of their favourite childhood book, which in turn will be gifted to one of the 40,000 children in Greater Manchester who have no books of their own.

Students and parents can now donate their favourite books to Thorneyholme RC Primary School, Dunsop Bridge, with a note inside to say why they enjoyed their book so much, this can be downloaded from here: https://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/printwhatmatters/gift-of-books/ where you can also find more information about the campaign, including where all the collection points are located.

Once the books have been collected they will be redistributed to the children in Manchester who are are not fortunate to own one themselves. These Children will be identified by the National Literacy trust who tackle literacy issues in communities across the UK where low levels of literacy are seriously impacting on people’s lives.

The initiative is a joint partnership between Stockport business cartridgesave.co.uk and the National Literacy Trust. Collection points will pop up in the region between now and 31st May, allowing Greater Manchester book lovers to share their love of the printed word.

How donating a book will make a difference: five key facts facts

1.     One in eight of the most disadvantaged children in Greater Manchester say they don’t have a book of their own at home.

2.     In England the median hourly wage of workers with the highest levels of literacy is 94 per cent higher than for workers who have the lowest levels of literacy.

3.     Reading for pleasure is more important for children's cognitive development than their parents' level of education and is a more powerful factor in life achievement than socio-economic background.

4.     Low levels of literacy cost the UK an estimated £81 billion a year in lost earnings and increased welfare spending impacting on the economy as a whole.

5.     Literacy has been found to have a relationship with depression. 36 per cent of those with low literacy were found to have depressive symptoms, compared to 20 per cent of those with the highest levels of literacy.