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Children’s laureate Malorie Blackman today (1st April) helped launch ReadWell, a scheme that takes free books and storytellers into children's hospitals, at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Set up by Read for Good in 2010, ReadWell delivers new books to children in hospital. The books, which are sent by publishers, are replaced every few weeks, meaning the children can keep a book they particularly like.
Blackman said her support for the charity is a “no-brainer”, adding: “When you’re a child in hospital it can be very isolating and boring,” she said. “This seems a perfect way for them to feel connected.”
During her visit, Blackman visited groups of teenagers and younger readers to talk to them about reading and writing, including six-year-old Lola Robinson (pictured).
ReadWell is currently working in 14 hospitals in the UK but is aiming for 30 by the end of 2015, meaning it would reach 95% of all seriously ill children in hospital in the UK.
The charity is funded by a mixture of individual donations, publishers and the Readathon Sponsored Read, which is also organised by Read for Good. The readathon is a national sponsored reading event, run in primary and secondary schools. As well as ReadWell, the money raised is given to cancer charity CLIC Sargent, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, and Together for Short Lives, an organisation that helps children with life-threatening conditions.