Webinar: Starting Strong - Enabling Conditions for Early Years Reading
Watch this inspiring free session exploring how families can be supported to make reading a joyful, everyday part of home life. Suitable for Bookstart delivery partners, and for those that work in the Early Years sector.
In this webinar you’ll:
- Discover how families can be supported to make reading a joyful, everyday part of home life.
- Learn about the five key enabling conditions for supporting reading in the early years, from stable routines and access to books, to building adult confidence and creating positive reading cultures.
- Hear practical examples of partnership practice.
Suitable for: All of our Bookstart delivery partners, and for those that work in the Early Years sector.
Early years reading in practice: insights from BookTrust delivery partners
Extended interview from webinar: Laura Mouland (Norfolk Library Services) and Clair Payne (Let’s Talk Reading, Ipswich) share how delivery partners are putting BookTrust’s evidence into action to support families with early years reading.
Meet the speakers
Community Librarian for Children and Young People
Laura Mouland is a Community Librarian for Children and Young People working for Norfolk Library and Information Service. She is part of a small Children and Young People’s Team that develops and supports children’s work across all 47 libraries in the county. Her key programmes of activity include co-ordinating the Summer Reading Challenge, Feed and Read pop-up libraries and BookTrust Storytimes. Laura is a keen advocate of outreach programmes aimed at tackling inequality in literacy, including working with families living in refuge and with schools/nurseries in areas of high deprivation.
Lead Volunteer for Let’s Talk Reading
Clair Pyper is the Lead Volunteer for Let’s Talk Reading, a small Ipswich charity which encourages parents and children to enjoy reading together. Let’s Talk Reading set up 10 years ago, and has grown to offer parent and baby sensory groups, Storytimes in early years settings and schools, gift books for pre-school and some school age children, as well as taking part in community events to promote reading. We also run an Adult Literacy scheme. In 2025 we were given the Kings Award for Voluntary Service.
Principal Research Specialist at BookTrust
Dr Ly Chu is Principal Research Specialist at BookTrust. Her work includes leading BookTrust’s National Family Survey and supporting evidence and evaluation across the organisation.
Head of Partnerships Development at BookTrust
Lisa has worked in the partnerships team BookTrust for six years, supporting and leading our scaled Early years regional delivery and has recently started in a new national role as Head of Partnerships Development.
Prior to working at BookTrust Lisa spent seven years as an elected local government representative, and worked across the Trade Union movement in the UK and internationally.
-
Welcome to Story Sharer Week 2026, BookTrust’s annual celebration of our incredible delivery partners like you, who use Bookstart resources to help children and families discover the joy of stories.