The Power of Reading: Our Year in Numbers
The Reading Agency’s latest data shows the widespread reach and life-changing impact of our reading programmes and initiatives across the UK last year.
As a charity, we are dedicated to harnessing the transformative power of reading to boost literacy and life outcomes, improve wellbeing, and connect communities.
Our impact over the past year is a powerful reminder that the simple act of picking up a book can spark profoundly positive change for individuals and communities. Get in touch to see how you can support us as we aim to get even more people fired up about reading.
In 2023-24…
We reached over 2.4 million people through our various partnerships and campaigns. This included over 1.3 million children and 1 million young people and adults from many different backgrounds and walks of life. We collaborated with a staggering 24,000 partner organisations, ranging from libraries and schools to prisons, hospitals, community centres and more.
The effects of our expansive work last year were profoundly felt, and one heartwarming impact was connecting people. We hosted 9,399 reading groups across the year and over 36,000 meaningful connections were made through our Reading Friends programme, tackling loneliness through shared reading. Around 83% of Reading Friends participants reported feeling more connected to others, while 68% felt less lonely after taking part.
Reading also proved to be a powerful tool to support mental health and wellbeing. Over 85% of adults found their books from the Reading Well collection helpful. Participants of initiatives like The Road to Reading and World Book Night reported feeling more relaxed (84%) and having their moods boosted (71%) thanks to reading.
Perhaps most inspiring were some of the personal accounts highlighting reading’s life-changing effects. One 10–11-year-old said the Summer Reading Challenge boosted their confidence, while a reader credited a Reading Well book as being “life changing” for their depression. A Reading Friends member shared how it gave them newfound confidence and a social outlet after feeling lonely.
Behind these transformative experiences were the 15.5 million books, eBooks, audiobooks and reading resources accessed through our programmes, including over half a million books supporting health and wellbeing.
