National Literacy Pledge

Helping to transform lives through literacy

Edgbaston Foundation have signed The National Literacy Trust’s ‘Birmingham Literacy Business Pledge’ with the aim to equip young people in the area with the literacy skills they need to succeed in life.

If every child left primary school with the required reading skills, the UK economy could be £32.1 billion bigger by 2025. By improving literacy in Birmingham, businesses can strengthen their workforce and improve economic productivity in the city.

The scheme works to target those individuals that are leaving primary education with low literacy skills and young people that are missing out at GCSE level.

29%

In 2018, 29% of pupils in Birmingham left primary school unable to read at the expected level for their age.

41%

In 2018, 41% of young people in Birmingham did not achieve good GCSE grades in English language and maths.

50%

50% of wards in Birmingham rank in the top 10% of literacy need in England.

Story Exchange

Birmingham Stories is a National Literacy Trust campaign to raise literacy levels and change the life stories of young people and adults across the city.

Edgbaston Foundation supports Birmingham Stories with the ‘Story Exchange’ – a narrative 4 model to help young people understand themselves and one another better through the power of empathy.

The Story Exchange invites students from different schools to Edgbaston where they work in pairs, sharing stories from their own lives, before reuniting as a group to tell one another’s story back to the room, using the first person – inhabiting that experience and making it their own; really stepping into somebody else’s shoes.

Young Birmingham Poets

Young City Poets aims to improve pupils’ enjoyment of writing, their motivation to write and their attitudes to poetry. It is a partnership project between National Literacy Trust, Edgbaston Foundation, The Midlands Art Centre and the Library of Birmingham.

Edgbaston Foundation invites secondary schools to explore behind-the-scenes at Edgbaston Stadium, with an opportunity to gain an exclusive insight with a Q&A with a Warwickshire player. The visit provides an enjoyable cultural experience used as a stimulus for writing poetry.

Find Out More

Support the Edgbaston Foundation

Or contact Community Coordinator Chandni Paul via chandnipaul@edgbaston.com.