 had just delivered a story telling session and gifted each pupil a book. Ms Bidewell said: "The reaction of one little boy will stay with me, he had to check the book was really his to keep. "He hastily wrote his name in it, then stood there and hugged it and said 'I feel rich'." PCIP runs a project inviting community role models into classrooms in Plymouth to break down literacy barriers. Relatable people from fields including medicine, law and sport read and gift books to children. The charity has delivered 492 story telling sessions in the city over two years. Image caption, Pupils were rewarded for making progress with reading at home by choosing books from the vending machine According to the National Literacy Trust , one in five children between the ages of five and eight did not own books at home in 2022. But Ms Bidewell, the charity's development manager, said this "book poverty" figure is higher in many of the city's classrooms. She said: "We have been to multiple schools with multiple classes in Plymouth where up to 50% of the children do not have books at home. "Department of Education figures last year show 58% of children from low income families in Plymouth are heading into secondary school not meeting the year six reading, writing and maths standard." Ms Bidewell said the statistics were often reflective of a "lack of opportunity", played out across generations. She added: "The challenges schools face around literacy in the most vulnerable areas are so much higher than their peers in more affluent areas." Yet the Department for Education cites reading for pleasure as more important for children's educational success and "life chances" than their family's socio-economic status. Its benefits){kind=link}
For Kerry Bidewell, there was a defining moment in her charity’s mission to help schoolchildren find joy in reading.
Promoting Children in Plymouth (PCIP) had just delivered a story telling session and gifted each pupil a book.
Ms Bidewell said: “The reaction of one little boy will stay with me, he had to check the book was really his to keep.
“He hastily wrote his name in it, then stood there and hugged it and said ‘I feel rich’.”
PCIP runs a project inviting community role models into classrooms in Plymouth to break down literacy barriers.