BookTrust at parliament: 'Sharing stories changes children’s lives'

Why sharing stories should be seen as essential support for children from vulnerable family backgrounds

BookTrust hosted this parliamentary reception to shine a light on the critical role sharing stories plays in supporting children from vulnerable family backgrounds.

The event – sponsored by Baroness Casey – brought sector leaders, policy makers and practitioners together at the House of Lords to amplify the message that sharing stories brings life-changing social, emotional and health benefits for children in foster, kinship and adoptive families.

Those in the room were invited to join the conversation and help shape BookTrust's programmes that support these families. They were also asked to help identify priorities for the Reading Rights campaign from Waterstones Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, ahead of the Reading Rights Summit he will host with BookTrust in January 2025. The summit will address the "invisible privilege" of being read to as a child, which too many children are growing up without.

Moving speeches on the vital role of sharing stories

A line-up of inspiring speakers lent their voices to help amplify BookTrust's message.

After a welcome from Baroness Casey, BookTrust's CEO Diana Gerald asked attendees to help spread awareness that sharing stories should be a core supportive service for children in kinship, foster care or adoption.

BookTrust's Chair of Trustees, John Coughlan, who has deep experience of working in local government and social care, framed sharing stories as:

"an avenue for children to build a relationship with a parent or carer in a way that can reduce the awful stresses that families experience" and "a platform for these relationships to prosper".

BookTrust's Writer in Residence Patrice Lawrence echoed this and shared her own story.

"My foster mum taught me to read when I was three," she said. "It boosted my curiosity about the world of stories. Then, when I went to live with my mum, books became a way of developing our own love language and sharing something together that we hadn't before."

Finally, Frank Cottrell-Boyce described how reading to an adopted child:

"creates a safe area for attachment to bloom and grow. It has everything to do with building resilience and happiness. We're talking about trying to bring some normality and stability into these children's lives. The children that aren't getting this experience are overwhelmingly from vulnerable family backgrounds. We're here today to find out how to reach them, and how to move the dial, so that this becomes policy."

BookTrust's perspective: reading is a 'protective factor'

"It's not an exaggeration to say reading changed my life when I was little. What BookTrust is doing is a lifeline for children like me." - Bennet, Kinship-experienced training facilitator, Kinship

Our team spoke with attendees about the special and specific way sharing stories and storytelling support positive outcomes for children in kinship, foster care and adoption. Our recent research highlights how sharing stories brings both immediate and longer-term benefits to children experiencing vulnerability, as well as their wider family.

Sharing stories supports bonding and attachment, feelings of safety and stability, emotional regulation and mental health, personal growth and identity, as well as attainment and future prospects. It means parents, carers and practitioners can create moments for a child to find their voice, and have conversations about their feelings and experiences, explored from a safe distance through stories.

BookTrust has been supporting children in foster care for more than 20 years through our Letterbox Club programme, which supports children across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We are delighted to be taking new steps in this area and deepening our support.

Our new programme, Story Explorers, was designed with and for children in foster, kinship and adoptive families in the UK, to support bonding and attachment through story sharing. Our partnership with Kinship and the Department for Education ensures more children in kinship care are accessing the magic of story sharing.

Let's share stories and spread the message

Recognising that the right book is a powerful tool, everybody in the room was gifted a book to pass on to a frontline practitioner, continuing the magic of sharing stories and helping more children experience the lifelong benefits of reading.

The book was Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen, part of our Letterbox Club programme of curated resources for children from vulnerable family backgrounds. It provides an impactful way into discussing emotions and helping children share anxieties.

We are determined to keep the conversation alive long after this parliamentary reception. We asked everyone in the room to reach out with policy ideas, connect us with the right people, and share our new research on the role of reading for children experiencing vulnerability.

Already, we've had some fascinating discussions about how to take this forward, from how we can make sharing stories part of practice frameworks for supporting new adopters and foster carers to how we ensure that sharing stories is a tool that practitioners will instinctively reach for in supporting children.

Be part of the conversation

• Find out more about our impact-led programmes and tools to support children and families in foster care, adoption and kinship
• If you have questions or ideas about how we can continue to make progress, or if you'd like to work with us to make this happen, we'd love you to be part of the conversation. You can email our Proposition Development Manager Bridget Blanchard here