The Standard was awarded the prize at a ceremony held at Madame Tussauds last Friday. There were more than 40 nominees for this national category, whittled down to a final four contenders that included literacy champions Richard and Judy and Stephen Fry. The Standard campaign has been recognised for its “inspirational contribution to the promotion of literacy and creative writing”.
This is the second award for ‘Get London Reading’ which has raised £190,000 in four months, enough to sponsor 380 reading volunteers with our partner charity, Volunteer Reading Help, who will read to 1,140 children in primary schools. More than 700 Evening Standard readers have completed applications to become volunteers. VRH have already trained and placed 68 volunteers in schools, and a further 200 will be trained by the end of this month.
The judging panel said: “Of all the literacy projects and campaigns we considered, we felt that the Evening Standard’s campaign has had the highest impact and has been most effective in achieving the aim of getting people into reading and writing. The Standard has encouraged people at every level of society to get physically involved to make a tangible difference in their schools and communities. Get London Reading is truly an inspiration to young and old and no one deserves this accolade more.”
