Registrations now open for BookTrust’s Letterbox Club 2024-25 programme
Published on: 20 February 2024
Here's all you need to know about the programme and how you can get involved.
For over 20 years and one of BookTrust’s flagship programmes, Letterbox Club has helped thousands of children with reading and numeracy and introduced them to the joy of reading.
Children aged 3-13 experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage, those who are looked after or previously looked after, enjoy their expertly curated parcels that are shown to have a positive impact on their reading habits. Of the children receiving Letterbox Club;
- 96% say they like or love it
- 86% say they like or love the books in their parcels
- 68% read on their own even more after receiving their parcels
Registrations are now open for schools and local authorities.
The 2023 Letterbox Club Impact report highlighted that not only are children enjoying reading – a habit proven to bring about transformational benefits, it also showed that the parcels have children reading more on their own, gaining confidence and discovering new interests as a result.
Regular reading plays a vital part in supporting mental health and wellbeing, improving educational attainment and family bonding - all of which contribute to improved long term life outcomes, especially important for children experiencing disadvantage or from vulnerable family backgrounds.
For those who receive it, Letterbox Club parcels play a big part in establishing and encouraging a love of reading and help to maintain the habit, greatly increasing chances of them becoming lifelong readers and reaping all the benefits that brings.
“Letterbox Club has helped me feel like I can conquer anything.”
Child aged 12
“Children have benefitted from it so much, they loved all the resources.”
Deputy Head Teacher
The parcels and included materials are flexible resources that support children in receipt of pupil premium. Carefully curated by experts who understand the needs of vulnerable children, this means schools and local authorities can be confident that all the books and numeracy resources in Letterbox Club parcels are age appropriate and sensitively chosen to engage children.
In addition to providing a sense of belonging, ownership and excitement to children who may have never had their own book before, evaluations show that parcels encourage valuable one-on-one time between children and their trusted adults, which can support the child’s wellbeing and the overall relationship with their trusted adults.
Feedback from schools also shows that the resources are adaptable and work in various ways - from one-to-one support to small group engagement in the classroom or given to individual children to take home and enjoy with their carers. 
Lizzie Catford, Director of Children’s Books at BookTrust said:
“At BookTrust, we want every child to be reading regularly and by choice so they can enjoy the lifechanging benefits that reading can have on their opportunities, wellbeing, learning and creativity.
As registrations open for the upcoming Letterbox Club 2024-25 programme, we’re delighted to see the impact it continues to have, with 68% of children telling us they are reading more, having been inspired to pick up their next book, as well as 96% feeling positive about receiving their regular book parcels.
Our carefully curated Letterbox Club parcels reach thousands of children every year, who previously may not have had their own books at home or had struggled with motivation to read but are now excited by books and reading.
We want to extend this impact by working with even more schools and local authorities to reach more children with this specialised additional support.”
Sign up for Letterbox Club 2024-25
Topics: Letterbox Club, News
