Volunteers go from sharing books across Doncaster to sharing cake with The Queen

The volunteers, known as ‘Literacy Champions’, were five of over 60 volunteers selected from across England and Wales to attend the reception with Her Majesty, the charity’s long-standing patron. They included Teaching Assistant Mandy Goddard, aged 52, from Auckley.

Since 2019, the National Literacy Trust has been working with the community in Doncaster to empower children, young people and adults with the literacy skills they need to get the most out of life. Led by an on-the-ground team, the charity's work supports the development of literacy skills at school, at home and in the community – and the Literacy Champions play a vital role.

Back in 2012, Mandy’s son was a pupil at the Levett School, a Pupil Referral Unit in Doncaster. Whilst the staff at the Levett School work extremely hard to provide individual support for their pupils, as a volunteer at the school, Mandy found that the library – and the opportunities it could provide – was left lacking.

After hearing about the National Literacy Trust in Doncaster, Mandy signed up as a Literacy Champion. From getting free books and author talks into her school, to ideas and inspiration for fun lesson ideas, Mandy has been able to use literacy to inspire each of the children she supports in a tailored way.

She goes above and beyond to find a ‘way in’ to reading for her pupils, once tapping into a boy’s love of cheese, and theming their weekly sessions to different cheeses from around the world. She helped him to research how cheese was made, find recipes, create shopping lists, and gave him books from the National Literacy Trust which related back to their conversations.

Of her time at Clarence House, Mandy Goddard said: “It was amazing to go to the reception and be thanked for doing something that I absolutely adore. I feel I should be thanking the National Literacy Trust! It was great to chat to other Literacy Champions from around the country and speak to sponsors whose donations mean that I get to pick loads of wonderful books to share with those who really need them."

Also invited to Clarence House were Literacy Champions:

Bobbie-Jade Hudson, a Staff Nurse on the Children’s Ward at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, who hosts ‘drop everything and read’ sessions, and keeps a well-stocked community bookcase for patients

Debbie Goodenough, a member of staff at Young People at Heart, a foster charity, who creates welcome packages for the children placed into her care, including books for them to keep, and encourages them to keep reading with a calm and cosy reading corner

Jade Pinder and Heather Coultard, two friends from Doncaster who work for Doncaster College and the Children’s University, and with the National Literacy Trust in Doncaster, host storytelling and craft sessions in Edenthorpe, as well as community forest school events tied to popular children’s book themes.

Jonathan Douglas CBE, CEO at The National Literacy Trust, said: “Yesterday we marked 30 years of The National Literacy Trust by celebrating our dedicated Literacy Champions with our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen. Over the last three decades, their commitment and embodiment of our mission has helped us inspire and empower over five million children. With their support, we can continue our important work in Doncaster to change life stories through the power of literacy."

From bus-drivers, teachers and midwives; to librarians and youth leaders, there are currently over 1,000 Literacy Champions volunteering across the UK. 45 are making a difference across Doncaster.

Over the past three decades, the National Literacy Trust has been supporting schools, families and communities on a local and national level to raise literacy levels. It now works directly in 20 areas across the UK – including Doncaster – where poverty and low literacy are significantly impacting on people’s lives. It is in these communities that the biggest difference can be made and the charity is as committed as ever to empower them to change their stories.