We're excited to announce the winners of our Call for Ideas 2018! Earlier this year, we asked groups of young people to send us their brilliant ideas for empowering others to read more. We received 36 original, exciting and creative applications. Our panel of young judges such a really difficult time shortlisting applications that in the end they chose SIX projects to receive funding. We hope you think they're as brilliant as we do!

Working on a brilliant idea of your own? Apply for £50-200 to run a youth-led project here

Birtley Library silent disco

The Reading Hackers at Birtley Library plan to use a silent disco to promote the library to other young people in their community.

"Libraries are meant to be quiet spaces - a disco goes against that idea ... but a SILENT one plays by the rules. The perfect mix! We think people will love the idea of having something like this in a library setting, because who'd expect to dance in a library?!"

The group will create book-themed playlists and spend the money on renting disco equipment, buying glowsticks and sending everyone home with a goody bag of books.

Gateshead Youth Council holiday reading

Gateshead Youth Council are going to host a storytime lunch session for asylum seekers in their community during the school holidays.

Group leader Valerie says:

"the families we work with tend not to read English for pleasure as it's hard when it's not your first, or even second language, but they know that it will make a massive difference so they do try. We want to get a storyteller in for the morning to get the children really excited about a story, then we'll spend more time reading with the children in smaller groups in the afternoon."

The group will spend half their allocated money on a storyteller and books for the children who visit, and the other half on groceries for families to take home.

Patcham High School magazine

Patcham student library committee want to use their pot of funding to set up and print a magazine for their high school. The magazine will include student book reviews, cover design competitions, creative writing slots, advertising for library events and a page promoting new releases.

Each issue will come with edible prizes and new books for student contributors, and lots of opportunities for students to get involved in the publishing process.

The Booklings podcast

The Booklings are a high school book club based in south London. They already interview authors over Skype, Twitter and in person, and now they want to share their interviews with the world.

The group will spend their £500 on microphones, headphones and recording equipment so that they can turn their author interviews into a series of podcasts. They will promote the podcast around the school and invite other students to act as guest interviewers. The best news is that anyone will be able to subscribe - look out for further updates of when you'll be able to listen in!

You can join in with Booklings author interviews on Twitter - just follow @glenthornelrc and use the hashtag #BooklingsChat

Poetry workshops at Queen Elizabeth School

Hannah Hodgson is a professional poet whose first pamphlet will be published this year. She wants to run a series of poetry workshops in her old school.

"There is no way that I would have become a poet without accessing poetry outside of analysing it in school. That was when it clicked for me and I began writing."

Hannah will run workshops to empower students to write their own poems, and print the best ones on postcards, which will be handed out around the school and in local businesses. She also wants to host a school poetry slam, where young poets can showcase their new skills and compete for a one-year Audible membership.

Cannock Library Shakespeare Festival

Cannock Library Reading Hackers want to shake up Shakespeare with a festival for children this spring. The group will hire street performers, jugglers and an ice cream van to attract people to the library, and will run craft activities and poetry sessions based on popular plays.

"We want Shakespeare to be enjoyed by young people rather than dreaded - and we want to show everyone in our town that Shakespeare isn't just for English Literature exam day!"

The group will promote the festival in schools, on social media and through local networks.

Get involved

We'll be sharing updates from our six teams on Twitter and Instagram as their ideas progress. Follow us @ReadingHackers to see how they get on.