Let’s Talk Reading – SBL Donation Update

committee53
Jul 15
3 min read

In last summer’s BookTalk, ‘Let’s Talk Reading’ submitted an article about our work, and we came to show you some of our books and talk about our work at the July 2024 meeting. We are delighted to tell you that some of the SBL members at that event have become ‘Let’s Talk Reading’ volunteers.

A quick reminder: ‘Let’s Talk Reading’ is a small, volunteer-led, Ipswich charity, which started in 2016, to encourage parents and children to enjoy reading together. Our work is informed by national research and is designed to change the persistent problem of low literacy across Ipswich which seriously reduces life chances for many children and young people in the town. In November 2024 we were told that we would be receiving the Kings Award for Voluntary Service ‘the MBE for volunteer groups’. The Lord Lieutenant presented us with the Award on June 16^th 2025.

Suffolk Book League gave us a generous donation of £500 in 2025, and we decided to use it to increase the books available to children with additional needs. We talked to schools and nurseries about what they thought would make a difference to children, and the kind of books that they would benefit from and have ordered books to meet that need. We came to the meeting on June 11^th 2025 to show you some of the books we have bought.

As a result of the requests, this is what we have done.

Ordered 40 board books, for a wide age range, for Thomas Wolsey School to add to their library. These books are for children who need extra help to enjoy books and can’t use softback books. As part of our contact with Thomas Wolsey we offered Storytimes for some of the classes, where we read stories using books, sensory materials and sounds and played games based on songs. The children responded so well to the Storytimes that Thomas Wolsey School has asked us to do sessions each term.
Ordered 85 books for children at Happy Tots, Little Learners, and Brookside pre-schools, to help with their specific learning needs. Many of the young children at the pre-schools need books which help them name everyday objects, others love rhyming books, and everyone loves books with flaps!
Murrayfield has a group of children who need books about emotions and behaviour, and we’re supplying them with 23 books. They also have a child who is sight impaired and needs age appropriate books in a large font. We’ve found that Guide Dogs for the Blind provide this through ‘Customeyes’ at the retail price of the book, and the child is able to choose what they’d like to read.
That means that your donation has bought 150 books to meet children’s specific needs. Some will form part of a library for the schools, and where a child develops an attachment to a book, the group will be able to donate it to them.

The schools and pre-schools really appreciate what the donation will be providing for them. We will be asking for feedback and will send you this once we’ve delivered the books in early July.

These are some of the books we bought – thank you!