Member Article

Authors come together to host annual gala event with National Literacy Trust

The National Literacy Trust was delighted to welcome guests back to its annual gala event in London last night, with the last in-person gala being held in 2019.

Actor, comedian and writer Miles Jupp reprised his role as Master of Ceremonies and the evening saw some of the UK’s most popular authors and illustrators in attendance. However, these special guests went above and beyond to show their support for the charity, rotating around the tables throughout the evening to speak with all the other guests. Attendees included Monica Ali, Charlie Higson, David Nicholls, Adele Parks MBE and Tom Percival.

After the dinner segment of the evening Edward Rising, in association with Sotheby’s, led an exciting auction driving up bidding on a range of exclusive prizes generously donated by supporters of the National Literacy Trust. Prizes included: A behind-the-scenes visit to Radio 4 sitcom recording, a portrait of your child by Tom Percival, a Premier League Trophy visit for a school, two original artworks by Axel Scheffler and two tickets to Swan Lake with signed pointe shoes.

The evening raised an incredible £175,000 for the National Literacy Trust’s vital work to change children’s life stories through literacy, making 2022 the most successful gala event for the charity so far.

The National Literacy Trust would like to say a special thank you to its three platinum sponsors of the gala event, Chase, Enterprise-rent-a-car and Lancôme. Generous sponsorship from these esteemed partners enabled the National Literacy Trust to put on a fantastic evening of fundraising.

The charity would also like to acknowledge the support of all the other valued partners that made this event possible, particularly Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House UK, Slaughter and May, Vitruvian Partners, WHSmith and Willis Towers Watson.

For nearly 30 years, the National Literacy Trust has led the campaign to transform the futures of the UK’s most disadvantaged children and young people by improving their literacy levels. In the past year, the charity has directly supported the literacy of 700,000 children who were out of school and couldn’t access digital learning. Furthermore, the Trust distributed over 575,000 books, magazines and writing resources during lockdown to support children in disadvantaged communities. This is on top of working with over 6,400 schools and welcoming over 1m unique users to Words for Life, the charity’s family-focused literacy learning site. This vital work would not be possible without the generous fundraising support from businesses, communities, and members of the public.

Jonathan Douglas CBE, CEO of the National Literacy Trust, said: “It was brilliant to be able to host our gala event in person for the first time in three years. I would like to say a huge thank you to all our partners for their generous support on the night, which helped us to raise such a fantastic amount for our crucial work to improve literacy levels in the most disadvantaged communities. We were honoured also to be joined by so many influential authors and illustrators, who did a brilliant job hosting tables throughout the evening. Ongoing support and enthusiasm for our work from the literary world pays tribute to how important literacy is in the UK today.

“Low levels of literacy are threatening the futures of millions of children and young people in the UK from disadvantaged backgrounds. The incredible funds raised at our charity auction last night will support our vital work to give children living in the UK’s poorest communities the literacy skills they need to find a route out of poverty and lead successful, happy and healthy lives, regardless of their background.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Imogen Daldy .