‘Thank you for thinking about my family and not just locking me away.’
Raising Readers offers parents in prison the chance to choose a book to send home to their child. It becomes a tangible link between parent and child despite the distance and difficult circumstances. There is also a bespoke bookplate for parents to include a personal message that transforms the book into a special gift.
The books are displayed on a dedicated stand in the library where staff are on hand to help prisoners choose the best book for their child. Most important of all, we provide copies of the book for both parent and child so they can read together over the phone or during a visit.
‘My son loves his book and at one point he was sleeping with it. Every night when I rang home we had to read it together.’
Following the success of Raising Readers with prisoner parents, we received requests from prisons for the project to be extended to grandparents, uncles and siblings. We said yes of course – the project is all about connections of every kind.
In 2024 Raising Readers ran in 40 prisons across the country and we sent 7500+ books to support families.
‘It gives me a chance to connect with my girls while I’m in prison.’
What we provide:
• A careful selection of books every quarter
• Bespoke bookplates to write a personal message
• A detailed handout of the titles, ranging from babies to young adults, to choose from with a brief summary of the book (You can see an example booklist below)
• A poster and flyers to display in the library or round the wings to advertise the project
