The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that changes lives through literacy. In 2008, we are celebrating 15 years since our launch in 1993.

One in six people in the UK struggles to read and write. Poor skills compromise the health, confidence, happiness and employability of individuals and have a negative impact on our national economy.

We have a vision of a society in which everyone has the reading, writing, speaking and listening skills that they need to fulfil their own and, ultimately, the nation’s potential.

To make a real difference, whole communities need to work together. We help to make this happen.

The National Literacy Trust links home, school and the wider community to inspire learners and create opportunities for everyone. We support those who work with learners through our innovative programmes, information and research. We bring together key organisations to lead literacy promotion in the UK.

We focus on:

• empowering learners - our practical initiative, Reading Is Fundamental, UK, promotes a love of reading among children and young people in areas of disadvantage, and empowers both children who are disengaged from learning and parents who may be unconfident about their own skills.
• supporting professionals - our campaigns and initiatives aim to influence practice and enable professionals to work more effectively to improve literacy skills and the enjoyment of reading.
• influencing policy and practice - we emphasise a partnership approach, in which whole communities work together to improve individuals' enjoyment of reading and literacy skills. However, we also recognise that this needs to operate within a systems approach; looking at the system as a whole, seeing how the pieces interrelate and working out the most effective way to move forward. Our website provides analysis of current policy and summaries of research findings and their implications, and our news service provides a daily summary of literacy-related stories.