Literacy at Stationers’ Company
The Stationers’ Company through our charitable and professional activities is an active and engaged supporter of literacy and reading from primary age schoolchildren to adults. From literary lunches with guest speakers to evening presentations ranging from maps to Shakespeare, there is a diverse programme highlighting the vital importance of books and reading to our members and networks. See the Events [live link] page for inspiration!
We support the Queen’s Reading Room and the National Literacy Trust and on 15 July 2025 Her Majesty Queen Camilla was cloathed by the Master as an Honorary Freeman and Liveryman in recognition of her dedication to promoting literacy.
Helping children reach their potential
The Stationers’ Foundation supports three supplementary schools in Somers Town in central London that help primary school-age children (around 60 in total) who have fallen behind their peers in reading, writing, and maths to achieve their full potential. These ’Stationers’ Schools’ are able to provide small classes for pupils, as well as one-to-one tuition for those that need it most, so that they can work intensively on key skills such as reading. The grant from the Foundation helps them to prepare both for secondary school and to enjoy reading in later life.
The Trustees continued their support for an additional supplementary education programme by providing a grant of £14k (match funded) to Team Up for the 2025/26 academic year for secondary school age children. Team Up uses qualified teachers to train sixth formers and undergraduates to tutor disadvantaged 9-16-year-olds in English and Maths within their own schools. Team Up’s programme is closely aligned with the national curriculum and on average achieves progress of +0.8 grades compared with +0.3 grades with mainstream teaching alone, which equates to 10 months’ progress in 12 weeks. The 2024/25 pilot programme in Hammersmith and Newham was judged to be successful and so this has led to a new programme being established at Leigh Stationers’ Academy. The Team Up programme has an added benefit for the tutors (sixth formers and undergraduates, the latter often the first in their families to attend university) by developing their confidence and knowledge as well as that of the pupils they are tutoring.
In 2025 the Foundation spent a grand total of £374,550 on good causes (2024: £390,066) relating to its twin strategies of actively supporting literacy, including digital literacy, and education work within the communication and content industries. Of this, the majority went to support the two Stationers’ Academies, Supplementary Schools and SHINE, and to fund 28 vocational Bursaries and Awards for students on high quality courses ranging from journalism to publishing and visual communication, from copyright to big data science and from archives to library and information management. In total grants were made to 31 Recipients (2024: 31).
National Year of Reading 2026
The Stationers’ Company is a Pledge Partner. As part of the National Year of Reading in 2026, a grant of £15,972.26 from The Stationers’ Foundation was given to Leigh Stationers’ Academy to refresh and rejuvenate the Library located at the heart of the site in the Crown Building. The students unpacked and catalogued over 4,000 new books.
The funding has enabled the academy to purchase a significant range of new books to broaden and update the library’s offer. This includes up-to-date non-fiction, texts reflecting a wide range of cultures and experiences, and novels across a wide variety of genres. A new section has also been created to support students who find reading more challenging, including modern graphic novels and dyslexia-friendly texts. Footfall increased and over 20 students gave up their time to take part in this transformation.
The restocking was led by the Academy’s voluntary Library Ambassadors, whose role in the project has grown rapidly. Ms Hamilton-Cox, Assistant Principal, said: “Our Library Ambassadors have been at the centre of this project from the very start. What began with seven volunteers has now grown to more than 20 pupils, all giving up their time to unpack, sort, catalogue and shelve the new books. We started with 42 boxes and over 4,000 titles, and the library is already becoming a more vibrant, inclusive space where students feel excited to read, learn and spend time.”
Mr Sparks, then Principal, added: “We are incredibly grateful to The Stationers’ Foundation for their generous grant, which is making a tangible difference to students’ access to high-quality books and to our wider culture of reading. At a time when national attention is rightly focused on encouraging reading for pleasure, this investment is helping to build momentum across the academy, supporting every student to find books they love and strengthening our commitment that no child will be left behind.”
The library refresh is ongoing, with the new stock continuing to be organised and showcased to ensure students can quickly find books that spark interest and support learning across the curriculum. With national momentum around reading, and in a year when one of the academy’s Sixth Form students had the privilege of meeting Her Majesty The Queen, this investment has felt especially meaningful.
Mr Joseph Sparks, then Principal, said: “The Stationers’ Company and The Stationers’ Foundation are not simply funding projects; they are investing in young people and in the wider life of the academy. Their support is helping to create richer experiences, greater opportunity and lasting impact for students and families.”
Enjoyment and encouragement of reading creates impact across all Stationer activities.
The Young Stationers’ Book Club get together every other month- usually over drinks – to catch up and chat about a book chosen by the members via a WhatsApp poll. It’s been a great way for us to stay connected between other Company events. Of the books so far, the favourite has been Hanako Footman’s 2024 debut novel, Mongrel published by Footnote Press. Contact Lucy Williamson, Book Club Coordinator for more information.
Literary Lunches
We have always celebrated writing and the enjoyment of books with many events in Hall including Sir Greg Doran in April 2026 talking about Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare and his quest to track down more than 200 of the First Folios worldwide. In 2019 we started a series of informal Literary Lunches that meet every couple of months. Authors featured have included:
- Simon Heffer
- Jon Drori
- Angela Clarke
- Caroline Shenton
- Peter Day
- Margarette Lincoln
- Stig Abell
- Margaret Willes
- Domonic Holland
- Adrian Philips
- Chris Mullin
- Jessica Duchen
- Rob Jobson
A new feature for 2026 is the Desert Island Book recommendations within Stationers’ News.
Articles and reports of literary interest within Stationers’ news all carry the Year of Reading 2026 byline, e.g. Annie Quigley article and the Stationer who invented the novel.
SHINE
An endeavour of the Stationers’ Foundation, The Shine School Media Awards is a free national competition that rewards a diversity of talent from secondary schools across the UK who work on the writing, editing, design and fund-raising for a school newspaper, magazine or multimedia project such as a podcast or digital publication.
The goals of Shine are multi-faceted, with a primary aim being to encourage an interest in developing print and digital publishing skills in young people, helping them to improve literacy, nurture creativity, develop commercial and business skills, encourage teamwork and develop leadership skills