A reading initiative aimed at assisting people working with vulnerable adults or teenagers got underway this week

Bookbinders is a scheme designed to support groups with poor literacy skills that are outside of mainstream education. Initially designed to support former homeless clients of Porchlight, the scheme is also perfect for young people not in education or training (NEETs) as well as schools wanting to support parents where English is an additional language.

A briefing event was hosted at Abbots Barton Hotel in Canterbury where organisations and individuals preparing to use the scheme met staff from the educational charity KM Charity Team who created the initiative.

Richard Barnard of homeless charity Porchlight said: “Bookbinders is going to be a great initiative that really helps some of our clients, who might be homeless or otherwise disadvantaged, to get really interested in literacy. Hopefully that will get them involved in looking at qualifications so they can move forward with their lives.”

Launch event of the BookBinders scheme at the Abbots Barton Hotel in Canterbury.

Bookbinders is loosely based on a book group format but with a much broader remit enabling re-introduction to reading and practical literacy.

Penny Bill from Kent County Council said: “When we become adults literacy skills continue to be really important to us, they keep us in touch with the world and help us to feel involved in society.”

Excited to be involved Milissa Murdoch of Amity Fund added: “It’s an innovative new way to reach disadvantaged people and offer them opportunities they might not otherwise have.”

Bookbinders scheme will help people improve their futures by improving their literacy skills.

To discover more about Bookbinders, visit www.bookbinders.org.uk