Children's Bookfest

For Children's Bookfest, helping children by gifting books is a wonderful way to ensure they feel the joy of having books that belong to them. There is a well established link between childhood book ownership and a happy, healthy life. Yet, research by the National Literacy Trust shows that 1 in 15 children live in homes without any books at all. The charity aims to address this issue with their BookFests taking place in Chichester and Bognor Regis every year. They also provide books to local foodbanks and to many other local schools through their outreach initiatives.

During the BookFests, several popular authors lead inspiring sessions in state primary schools around the Chichester area. The authors interact with the children not only encouraging them to read but also inspiring them with ideas to write their own stories.

Grants awarded from the Foundation have, over the years, enabled these inspirational talks to take place. All the children participating in the festival met the authors and received a new book dedicated to them.

An author taking part in a recent Bookfest said:

"Many book festivals bring books to the places they are wanted. The wondrous thing about Bookfest is that it brings books to the places they are needed. Every child goes home with a book, so the positive effects of an author visit last far beyond the time we spend in school. It is one of the best, most well organised school visiting festivals in the UK. It changes many children’s lives forever."

Children attending Children's Bookfest showing their books

Find out more about Children's Bookfest on their website.

Reaching Potential is our latest report in the Sussex Uncovered series. It highlights the challenges faced by our county and the vital role of local charities. They help those who are disadvantaged so they can reach their full potential. Read the report Reaching Potential.

“Receiving a book and meeting the author was an invaluable and inspiring experience for all the students. Through your festival, 180 children now have a book of their own, which is amazing and not something we could provide without your support.” 

A school teacher attending Bookfest

39 Youth Club

39 Youth Club runs weekly clubs for young people in Bognor Regis. Within their safe space, they organise various art, music and sport activities. A recent grant from the Foundation helped fund their ‘Cooking with Young People’ project, which offered weekly cooking sessions and produced free, healthy meals for 40 young people.

The impact of Cost of Living crisis

Over the last couple of years, the Cost of Living crisis has greatly impacted the young people attending the Club. As many families were less able to afford to buy food, often attendees were arriving hungry at the sessions. The Club started to offer hot meals, but their aim was also to increase their support by providing more varied food and giving young people the skills to help themselves.

Learning to cook healthy meals

In addition to help reduce the impact of food poverty for these families, the Club’s staff have been teaching their young people about nutrition and how to cook healthy meals on a budget. This has given them the skills to support themselves and their younger siblings at home. It has also helped them feel more valued and build up their self-confidence.

We have heard from a member of staff at 39 Youth Club:

“A 14-year-old attending our sessions suffered personal trauma leading to school changes and bad life choices. He spoke to our Lead Youth Worker and it was discovered that he had a love of cooking and wanted to learn new skills, so he became part of our cooking programme.

When he first started, he preferred staff to take charge and just tell him what to do, but after months of working together he now feels more confident. He uses his spare time to search new recipes and cost them out, and then comes to the Club with his own ideas. He regularly cooks for the other Club’s members and prepares leftovers to take home to their families.

We have encouraged him to speak with other members and share his ideas. He is now capable of organising a group of four other members to prepare, cook and serve a meal for 20 young people, he cooks at home for family members and visitors, and often takes meals to his grandparents. His school’s teachers have told us that he is now attending cookery classes at school. We continue to work with him and help him grow.”

To find out more about 39 Youth Club, visit their website.

Read more about the groups we support.

“Thanks to the funding, we were able to expand our offer from two to four sessions per week. We also added in extra sports activities, with fitness sessions followed by talk about nutrition and diet. We have been able to do more to address our young people's anxiety and needs.”

Crimsham Farm

Crimsham Farm is a needs-led community farming project in West Sussex, entirely built and tailored around their users, and run by a dedicated and passionate group of ex-army volunteers and young adults with learning difficulties.

The group recently received a grant of £9,998 for their core organisational costs. Discover more by watching the video above.

To find out more about this organisation visit the Crimsham Farm website