Children aged 0-5 receive over 200 free books at Swindon Stories Christmas giveaway

By Tyler Ody - 11 December 2019

Family

This Monday, Swindon Stories invited local families with young children to Orbital Shopping Park to take part in a festive Small Talk event.

Over 100 families attended the event, enjoying a series of fun, free activities that gave them the chance to read stories, sing songs, colour in and play games together. The children then got a free goodie bag to take home, including a brand new book in time for Christmas!

 

The event was part of the National Literacy Trust’s Small Talk project, which helps parents turn everyday activities into new opportunities to fill their child’s world with words.

 

The activities took place on a bus provided by Swindon’s Bus Company, with the activities led by early years professionals from the National Literacy Trust and volunteers from Swindon’s Bus Company.

 

Small Talk events will continue to take place over the country as new research published by the National Literacy Trust revealed that 33,204 children in the South West don’t have a single book of their own [1]. Yet children who own a book are six times more likely to read above the expected level [2].

 

Anish Harrison, Swindon Hub Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We were thrilled with the success of the Small Talk event in the Orbital Shopping Park on Monday. It was excellent to see so many families there to give some of our chat, play and read activities a go! We gave over 200 books away and hope the families will continue to carry on the fun and learning at home.”

 

Alex Chutter, General Manager at Swindon’s Bus Company said: “We were proud to be part of this event, especially as it fits in with our chatty bus campaign, to help combat loneliness. It was fantastic to see so many families engaging, encouraging their children to talk, read and of course explore inside our bus.”

 

Parents can visit the small-talk.org.uk website for fun videos and simple activities to inspire them to chat, play and read with their child at home every day.

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