Supporting the Social Care workforce
We work with local authorities, social care leaders, practitioners and carers to embed shared reading as a powerful relational tool, supporting children’s wellbeing, attachment and sense of belonging.
Watch our webinar with Dr Lisa Cherry
How we can support social care teams
Research shows that reading and sharing stories supports bonding, stability, identity, wellbeing, social and emotional growth and attainment. In many ways, reading can be seen as a protective factor against the adversity some children experience.
BookTrust can provide expert support to organisations working with children and families in contact with the social care system to explore how shared reading can be used to support children’s wellbeing, sense of belonging, and to benefit them into later life. BookTrust has been working in this space for over 20 years, and reaches 10,000 children in foster care each year through its Letterbox Club programme, with strong evidence of impact on children’s enjoyment of reading, wellbeing and sense of belonging. Through our partnership with Kinship and local authority teams, we have provided books, alongside information, advice and support to over 1,000 kinship care families.
We partner with organisations and practitioners who are working with families every day. Our programmes are easy to embed within the wider support offer to increase life-chances for children from vulnerable family backgrounds, and to bring joy, comfort and adventure to their lives.
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At BookTrust, we provide support for kinship care families, which can be used by our local authority partners, including virtual schools, as part of their local kinship care offer.
Learn more about how shared reading can be a relational practice in children’s social care
The impact of our reading programmes shows us how sharing books can be a powerful way for children to build bonds and strengthen their sense of belonging and identity. All of our stories featured below are based on real conversations with children in adoption, foster or kinship care.
How reading helps with bonding
When you feel that bond and see the enjoyment and the excitement a child gets from being read to, it just stays with you forever.
Rosie, Lola’s Nana
Books helping children to talk about their feelings
That book reminds me of the first day I came here and describes my feelings of how I live here.
Eddie, talking about the book ‘Monkey Puzzle’
Helping children to understand their own journey
The right books just help her understand her previous life a little bit more. They open doorways for us to be able to talk to her about things that happened.
Debbie, Dora’s Auntie
Reading programmes to get started
Find out more about Story Explorers and Letterbox Club.
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A book subscription service for ages 2–4 that embeds sharing stories at home to strengthen bonding and attachment for foster, kinship and adoptive families.
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Join hundreds of schools and local authorities using Letterbox Club to bring the magic of reading and numeracy to pupil premium and vulnerable learners age 3–13
Research and evaluation
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This briefing provides an overview of BookTrust’s own insights and wider research which demonstrates that reading is not just a literacy or learning activity, but a relational one.
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Explore our 2024–25 evaluation report and find out how Story Explorers helps strengthen reading habits and relationships.
Latest updates
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This briefing provides insights into the role reading and sharing stories can play in kinship care families’ lives and the types of support they find most meaningful.
Talk to us
Share your details so we can talk more about how you can embed shared reading in your local authority or organisation.
You can also contact us by email at [email protected]