Founded over a century ago, BookTrust has grown into the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, reaching millions of families every year. Its mission is to inspire a love of reading in children, because reading can transform lives.

Through its Bookstart programme, BookTrust gifts free books to babies and children across the UK, and continues to support children’s reading right through to the age of 13, alongside initiatives like the Waterstones Children’s Laureate and support for new and diverse authors and illustrators.

But its work goes beyond handing out books.

BookTrust also carries out research into the benefits of reading and families’ reading habits, using the evidence to reach the children who need books most, particularly those from low-income and vulnerable backgrounds.

Its vision is ultimately about something much bigger than any single book: a society in which every child, regardless of their background, grows up with a love of reading and the doors that opens.

This matters as children’s reading for pleasure has been declining in recent years. Reversing that trend means moving beyond simply providing books and asking a more important question:

What would it take for every child to grow up loving to read, not just knowing how to?

At 30 for 30, we are proud to celebrate a charity that has spent more than a century answering exactly that question.

Today, we celebrate BookTrust, and everyone working to get every child reading.

Find out more about BookTrust at www.booktrust.org.uk