Bringing Words to Life
Young People
We want to extend our after-school sessions to more local children who may have limited support at home when it comes to literacy.
About this cause
Bringing Words to Life (BWtL) is a literacy charity based in Blaydon, founded in 2012 by a published journalist and author and is managed by a Board of six Trustees. The charity has nine staff and 25 volunteers, who work to deliver our programmes. Our programmes are developed to encourage people to embrace literacy. One in five adults in the Gateshead area struggle with literacy and our organisation, through its work with groups such as Youth Offenders, those battling addiction.
How this cause brings people in the community together
Encouraging young people to embrace literacy and what it can enable to do in the future from an early age is important in an area such as Gateshead where one in five adults have the literacy ability of a primary school student. Our project brings together young people to write about things which they are knowledgable of, thus allowing them to improve their confidence when it comes to writing. This is carried out after school in our office in Blaydon, where we provide the support and encouragement for them to fulfil their potential without being 'marked' as they would in the usual school setting. This project benefits those who struggle with literacy, teen mothers, youth offenders, young carers and those who use writing as a form of escape. The work is facilitated by a former journalist.