A book donation campaign led by Fortitude Communications has delivered more than 1,000 books to Assisted Reading for Children, providing a significant boost to the Oxfordshire-based literacy charity.
ARCh, based in Bicester, works to inspire young people to read and supports primary school children in developing confidence and literacy skills through a love of books. The charity had identified a growing need for high-quality paperback books to support its one-to-one reading sessions in schools.
In response, Fortitude Communications launched a public appeal during National Storytelling Week, encouraging donations from across the local community. The campaign quickly gained momentum, with contributions from authors, business owners and schools, resulting in a four-figure total of donated books.
The initiative was driven by concerns about declining reading levels among primary school-aged children, highlighted by figures from the National Literacy Trust. Local authors Adrian Townsend and Sandra Plumb were among those who supported the campaign by donating books.
In addition to the book drive, Fortitude is producing a professional video for ARCh to help raise awareness of its work and expand its reach across the county.
Emma Orton, ARCh’s Recruitment Manager, said: “We had an incredible 1,000 books donated, this is going to make such a huge difference to the children that we work with.
“I want to say a huge thank you to Fortitude Communications for the work they have done producing a video for us.
“Having a video like this is going to make a huge difference to our work and raising awareness of the work that we do.”
Greig Box Turnbull, director at Fortitude Communications, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and enthusiasm of people who share our passion for reading.
“Reading is a joy and inspires and broadens the mind. It is vital to the development and prospects of children and it’s a profound tragedy many schools now don’t think students can even read a full novel anymore.
“We are grateful to everyone who has supported the campaign, which we hope will make a small difference to the broader challenge of inspiring more schoolchildren in Oxfordshire to read.”
The donated books were delivered to ARCh with support from Smiths of Bletchington, which provided transport for the collection.
ARCh currently supports children across more than 100 Oxfordshire schools through a network of over 300 trained volunteers, delivering one-to-one reading sessions to those who need additional support. Since becoming an independent charity, it has helped nearly 1,000 children improve their literacy and confidence.
