Did you know that one in three disadvantaged children across the UK has fewer than ten books of their own at home*, and one in ten has none?
Book ownership is critical for a child’s development – but often, in low-income families, children simply do not have the resources to read for pleasure. That is where The Children’s Book Project comes in, and we are delighted to announce them as our latest onsite member.
Meet the Children’s Book Project
The Children’s Book Project believes every child should have the opportunity to own books and develop a lifelong love of reading.
It collects donations of pre-loved books from families and publishers before sorting, curating and distributing them to children who may otherwise have little or no access to books at home.
Volunteers, alongside corporate teams, sort and organise thousands of donated books before creating tailored book packages for schools across Birmingham. Supported by our team, the charity’s new warehouse is now fully operational and open to volunteers three days a week.
David Horsfall, Director of Property and Sustainability at TEP Birmingham said: “We’re delighted to welcome the Children’s Book Project to TEP Birmingham. Their work demonstrates how circular economy principles can deliver real benefits for local communities, giving books a second life while helping more children discover the joy of reading.
“At TEP Birmingham we’re building an ecosystem where innovation delivers real social, environmental and economic impact. Supporting organisations like the Children’s Book Project highlights that clean growth goes beyond technological innovation and creates lasting benefits for people and places. ”
The onsite space
By opening a new regional warehouse onsite at TEP Birmingham, the Children’s Book Project will support 203 schools and community groups across Birmingham by distributing high-quality pre-loved children’s books that might otherwise have gone to waste, meaning that thousands more children across Birmingham will gain access to books.
The move marks a significant milestone for both organisations. For the Children’s Book Project, it creates the capacity to dramatically increase the number of books reaching children across the region. For us, it reinforces our growing role as a hub for organisations delivering practical environmental and social impact through circular economy principles.
Liberty Venn, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Children’s Book Project said: “We want every child across Birmingham to see themselves as a reader, to feel confident about the books that they are picking up and be able to experience book ownership, often for the very first time.
“Being onsite at TEP Birmingham, aligns directly with the work that we do. Not only are we promoting reading for pleasure amongst children, but we are also enabling the most efficient reuse of children’s books. We take pre-loved books from families who have grown out of them and place them directly into the hands of children who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to access them.
“With the goal of distributing over 1 million books to children in 2026, we’re incredibly grateful to the TEP Birmingham team for facilitating this larger space for us, and onsite members who have welcomed us onto the site. We look forward to collaborating and furthering our impact in the West Midlands.”
Learn more about our mission here.
* ’Book ownership in 2022’ © National Literacy Trust 2022.
