Read for Good, National Charity and links with the FCBG

Every year at our conference some of the books from the publishers’ exhibition have been donated to Read for Good. Tash Hyde, the Read for Good Publisher and Book Sector Lead, explains how those books are used.

“Read for Good has been a charity close to my heart for the last decade or so. I can’t think of many causes more worthwhile than helping children bear the pain, endurance and crushing boredom of ongoing illness, and the work Read for Good do – not only with taking books into hospitals, but also their Storytellers, their Readathon campaigns, all of it – is vital. No, it’s more than vital, it should be a public service.” Jamie Smart, 2026

 

Read for Good started off back in 1984 as a stand against the talk of doom and gloom in the publishing sector in the face of the arrival of the personal computer (with echoes of today, just with different technology!).

Since its inception, we have worked around the same principles on children’s reading for pleasure – that children should be able to choose what they want to read (and therefore having access to a wide range of reading material is important), their reading should not be assessed by tests or tasks and that all reading should be valued.

Readathon® has continued to support reading for pleasure in schools. The money raised helps Read for Good’s hospital programme, providing brand-new books and professional storyteller visits for children in 31 major children’s hospitals across the UK, from Belfast to Bangor, Truro to Aberdeen, Norwich to Newcastle.

“When we were in hospital we saw the Read for Good trolley on the ward – it felt like a little beacon of hope, shining out in the middle of the night.”– Parent, John Radcliffe Hospital

We support these flagship programmes with our Brilliant Boxes of Books, giving schools, SEND schools, medical and community settings the chance to apply for a wonderful, curated collection of books targeted to the children they work with. In 2024/25 we sent out 15,000 books via Brilliant Boxes of Books thanks to book donations from our amazing partners including the FCBG Conference. The support from the Federation and the publishers attending the conference makes such a huge difference to our charity and to the children we reach. With over 800 applications for a Brilliant Box of Books so far this year, the need in the National Year of Reading seems greater than ever!

“I was in tears this morning when I opened your box of books – I never dreamt there would be so many and such variations! Thank you.” – Teacher