Letterbox Club

The Letterbox Club was initiated by Rose Griffiths at the University of Leicester’s School of Education and is managed by Booktrust.

It focuses on improving the educational outlook for children aged 7-13 in foster families by providing them with a parcel of books, maths activities and educational materials every month for six months.

Research shows that children in care underachieve in education but evaluation from pilots of the Letterbox Club showed a demonstrable impact with the majority of children improving their standardised score in reading.

Booktrust received support from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and sponsorship from Penguin to extend the programme to more than 1,200 children in 2007 and 2008. From 2009, the programme became available across the whole of the UK on a subscription basis. In Wales, the programme has been funded by the Welsh Government and in Northern Ireland by Fostering Network Northern Ireland, as part of their Fostering Achievement programme.

The Letterbox programme initially catered for children in Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 but has now been extended to include children in Year 7/8 and those with additional educational needs. In 2012, the programme was made available to any child who would benefit, including children placed for adoption and for post-adoption support.

Letterbox Club is in discussion about extending its reach to Canada and January 2012 saw the launch of a pilot programme in Nebraska, USA.

The Letterbox Club parcels have included books by Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Francesca Simon, Roald Dahl, Raymond Briggs and Anthony Browne, as well as a selection of non-fiction and novelty titles.

The Letterbox Club was originally devised to improve the situation of looked-after children within Leicester local authority, responding to reasons why children in care underachieve in education identified by the Social Exclusion Unit in 2003. Three cohorts of children were involved in the initial pilot over three years.

Visit the Letterbox Club website

If you would like further information about the Letterbox Club, please contact Leanne Cobb by phone (020 8516 2993) or by email