Sam Mercadante

How reading for pleasure can tackle poverty The benefits of reading—even for a short time each day—are varied and life-changing, from improving employability, language skills, social skills, and family bonding, to reducing stress and anxiety.

Tomorrow is World Day of Social Justice, and we are focusing on reading for pleasure. Did you know that reading for pleasure improves language skills, social skills and employability?

Read more about how reading tackles poverty

www.scottishbooktrust.com/articles/how...

Pregnant Then Screwed State of The Nation Survey 2025 In collaboration with Women in Data®, Pregnant Then Screwed are gathering your experiences of childcare, flexible working, parental leave, and maternity discrimination in the UK. This third survey wil...

Data drives change. If you’re a parent, please take a few minutes to add your voice to Coalition member Pregnant Then Screwed’s State of the Nation survey pregnantthenscrewed.typeform.com/SOTN2025?utm...

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era

We love this @newstatesman1913.bsky.social article about our #Bookstart programmes and the power they have to bring families - and communities - together through the magic of shared reading.

Our mission is to make sure the joy of reading is embedded in the life of every family.

bit.ly/4pi5UvM

However, we also know there are barriers that prevent families from reading together. We must overcome this to ensure all children - but particularly the most vulnerable - can benefit from reading.

We are excited to share our experience and insight with the inquiry.

Reading for pleasure – MPs launch new inquiry to explore how to keep joy of reading alive - Committees - UK Parliament Amid a worrying decline in the number of children reading for pleasure, the Education Committee has launched a new inquiry to understand how reading can be nurtured, and what its benefits are. 

We are delighted to hear that the Education Select Committee, chaired by @helenhayes.bsky.social, have launched an inquiry to explore how to keep the joy of reading alive.

We believe this starts in the earliest years of childhood. 🧵

committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...

The opportunity gap facing boys from low-income families at age 5 and beyond | Institute for Government Early attainment gaps mean some boys don't just start behind, they stay behind.

NEW | The opportunity gap facing boys from low-income families at age 5 and beyond

Early attainment gaps mean some boys don't just start behind, they stay behind

📖 Read our latest report from @sophiemetcalfe.bsky.social @nehaldavison.bsky.social www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Failing to fix local government could hurt Labour’s re-election chances | Institute for Government There are signs of severe financial distress in local government.

Councils are increasingly focussed on acute services (social care, homelessness) used by few people. All the median voter sees is that pot holes arent fixed + libraries are closed. @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social argues that Labour's reelection chances will be harmed if they don't fix council finances

Speech and Language UK: Policy Exchange’s Out of Control report would strip children of an education and put families out of work

"Claiming there is an ‘over-diagnosis’ of our children is a cheap, unchecked attempt to grab a headline." In reality, thousands of families face record waits in a system that makes getting support very difficult.

Read our response to Policy Exchange's Out of Control report⬇️
https://bit.ly/47jXHkQ

The Guardian view on talking in class: the writers speaking up for oracy education are right | Editorial Editorial: Verbal communication has always been crucial. But today more than ever, young people must be equipped for jobs that can’t be done by machines

This morning The Guardian has thrown its weight behind the campaign for oracy education.

This is an important moment for the oracy movement.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It's great to see @stephenmorganmp.bsky.social opening the #BestStartInLife debate here.

Our Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social and Co-CEO @dianajgerald.bsky.social enjoyed meeting Stephen this week to discuss the Best Start in Life and our #ReadingRights campaign.

Thanks so much to @helenhayes.bsky.social for highlighting our #ReadingRights campaign with Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social in the House of Commons yesterday.

Our new report with @cpaguk.bsky.social reveals the worsening impact of child poverty on children’s health and growing strain on health services.

One year since the Government’s Child Poverty Taskforce launched, the need for bold action is clearer than ever. 👇
cpag.org.uk/news/child-p...

Can't overstate how much I enjoyed my first @coalitionedcare.bsky.social policy forum. Always love an opportunity to think about the big picture stuff - and, even better when you're doing that thinking with incredibly smart experts across a lot of different technical areas!

I'm so looking forward to the next five months (and beyond!), which I'm sure will be just as full of learning, listening, connection, and collaboration.

The benefits of reading From babies to children in their early years and all the way through to early teens, reading brings profound and wide-ranging benefits that can have a…

⚡ Learning all about the benefits of reading - still blows my mind! Did you know that a child growing up in poverty who is read to at age five has a much higher chance of economic success in their 30s than their peers who aren't read to? shorturl.at/1IEGq

Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future "For too long, the life-changing benefits of children’s reading have not been taken seriously. And now – as our children face an unknown future – we risk…

📚 Publishing the Reading Rights report, which sets out that vision and what we need to together do to achieve it - shorturl.at/wXk03

I've been at @booktrust.org.uk 5 months this week! Three favourite moments that stand out:

🗣️ The Reading Rights summit - we brought together so many different sectors to envision a future where every child benefits from shared reading

A mixed picture for the 'best start in life' strand of the Opportunities Mission in the SR today.

Welcome news on investment in schools, but early years provision for 0-4yrs is comparably absent - surprising given the PfC milestone commitment for 75% of 5-yr-olds to be school ready by 2028.

The front cover of the Reading Rights report plus the words: "Reading Rights - Books build a brighter future - Read the report". The URL booktrust.org.uk/readingrights and logos for Waterstones Children's Laureate, Arts Council England, and BookTrust

📢 NEW: Our #ReadingRights report with Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social is out now!

It shares 5 focus areas that will turn the tide on reading inequality and unveils plans for our City of Stories place-based pilot:

www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/rea...

Reading Rights: Books Build a Brighter Future "For too long, the life-changing benefits of children’s reading have not been taken seriously. And now – as our children face an unknown future – we risk…

📻 Tune in to Today on BBC Radio 4 now to hear our brilliant Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social discussing the launch of the #ReadingRights report!

Read the report here 👇

www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/rea...

We've been working with Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social on a #ReadingRights report to explore how we can make real change to children's lives.

We're delighted to be publishing the report tomorrow, so stay tuned!

🚨 NEW: Opportunities for the poorest young people in London far outstrip the rest of England, we have found.

Our new Opportunity Index reveals how the area young people grow up in shapes their life chances, with huge differences between constituencies across the country 🧵⬇️

Drop The Euphemisms And Stop Sugarcoating Poverty | The King's Fund There appears to be an unusual reticence within the NHS when it comes to acknowledging poverty. Could identifying it more explicitly be beneficial? Julia Cream explores this matter.

'It seems strange to be so silent on something that has such a profound and harmful effect on people’s health and happiness, and across generations.'

Julia Cream says drop the euphemisms and stop sugarcoating poverty in a new blog. buff.ly/RHxCuW4

Absolutely! And I'd add, 'to early shared reading programmes, to ensuring access to high-quality and diverse books, to supporting children and families to read together and develop a lifelong love of reading' - the evidence is so clear! www.booktrust.org.uk/resources/re...

YouTube video by BookTrust Waterstones Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce: Reading Rights for Brighter Futures

Children read to from an early age have a significant head start in life. Public #Libraries are ideally placed for a major role in @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social and @booktrust.org.uk's #ReadingRights campaign.

www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/c...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qHG...

We support calls to address shortages in the child healthcare workforce so that families, especially the most vulnerable, receive support for essential activities such as shared reading and more.

Here's an example of the impact health visitors can have:

www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-fea...

On #WorldHealthDay, we're celebrating the ways in which shared reading and reading for pleasure can support healthy development and behaviours.

Explore the research here 👇

www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/i...

I'm a trustee of my neighbourhood food bank, and these dismal statistics are absolutely playing out on the ground in the number of guests we're supporting. We're open for only 3 hours per week, and typically serve 350ish people collecting for 1,200ish people.

So, what *does* catch policymakers' attention these days, social media-wise? My strong suspicion is that traditional media is here to stay for a while yet, at least in the UK and when it comes to publicly pressuring the government.

I finally left X the other day. The ick of being one more tiny affirmative voice (i.e., active user, however inactive I was in reality) bolstering its owner's ego and terrifying power overtook my sense that it was a useful tool for catching policymakers' attention.