Reading a bedtime story with dad – a magical, powerful ritual, which also brings huge benefits to children’s education and wellbeing: their language and literacy, their behaviour, their self-confidence, and their relationships with their dads.

But for too many of our children it’s just not happening: one UK father in three reads to his young child no more often than once a month.  Childhood literacy in Britain is in crisis: in 2012 we were ranked 22 out of 24 OECD countries for literacy, and England is the second most unequal EU country when it comes to children’s reading levels, after Romania.

Together, we can change that. Fathers Reading Every Day (FRED), our home-based ‘reading for pleasure’ programme offered through primary schools and children’s centres gets dads into the reading habit and results in stunning outcomes.  Our recent pilot found that FRED children were four times more likely to exceed their school achievement targets than their peers. Their vocabulary widens, their reading improves and so do their behaviour and their maths!   A very high number of boys take part and disadvantaged children make the greatest progress of all.

We want to bring FRED to 3,000 children and their dads in the UK this year – which means marketing it to schools before the holidays start.

That’s why we’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign, to raise £5,000 to pay for a big marketing push.

You can find out more about FRED, watch our video appeal by Sir Tony Robinson (Baldrick) and discover our great pledge rewards, here.

Please dig deep. You can donate in your name, in your child’s name, or to salute a loved father. Mark Father’s Day by investing in a present that really makes a difference:  The gift of storytime with dad.

FRED supporters

A big thank you to the following people who have kindly donated to our crowdfunding campaign. To add your name here, pledge now.

Martin Field

Robert Atherton

Tim Linehan

Daisy D.

Elizabeth Jones

Gary Hodges

Ashley Howl

Martin Cochrane

Duncan Fisher

Georgia Philip

Sue70

Jim Godfrey

Josh Rose Harry

Steven T

Heather Joshi

Deej

Rebecca Asher

Gerry G

SHarris1

Elli

Xina

Ben C

Alexandro Rizzo

Faye Miller

Kit Reynolds

Kezls

JLHarper

Tina Miller

Christopher Muwanguzi

Mark Bunting

Lauren Braun

David Bartlett

Julia Ryall

Alphonse

Rebeccajg

Sophia and Will

Arturo Franco

Helga Sneddon

Laura Solomons

Jon Goldin

Caroline Stanford

Cassius

Sarah Jane Rogers

Johnnysnot

Lyon

Sandra Brouet

Urbancordial

Jane Durham

Andy Lyon

James Dow

Paul Cooksey

Charlotte Vere

Dave Ross

Echansen

Bryan Maloney

Chris Hyland

Franklin and Julia

MerlinJ

David Stockwell

Anne Mansell

Suffolk-boy

Sarahjoannajuliet

Lizzie Poulton

Beck Laxton

Melanie Hart

Hewittp

Christine Gunter

Beth Austin

Jenny Deeks

Wynn_rees

Grateful_grandchild

Julie84

Helenraynor

Sbinghy

Privateuni

Mark Lee

MarilynG

Lily.dolores

Nationalbooktokens

Fathers_At_National_Grid

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