Pan Macmillan joins The Multibank’s 'Kits for Kids' campaign
Pan Macmillan is partnering with The Multibank charity to donate 15,500 children's books to a new campaign providing essential holiday and back-to-school items for families in need.
The Multibank charity has launched its 'Kits for Kids' campaign to support more than 10,500 children across the UK. With research from charity partner The Felix Project reporting that 67 per cent of teachers are concerned about the children they teach experiencing holiday hunger this summer, the campaign aims to relieve the pressure on parents whose budgets struggle to cope with the costs of the school holidays and the return to school.
‘We hope these books offer a little bit of joy and relief during the summer holidays, giving children a chance to escape into a new story and build a lifelong love of reading’
— Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan
To help support these families, Pan Macmillan has gifted 15,500 children's books to the campaign. The books will be included in 10,500 backpacks distributed across six communities: Wales, Scotland, Greater Manchester, London, Tees Valley and Birmingham. Pan Macmillan joins a coalition of businesses supporting the initiative, including Amazon, Hasbro, Colgate, Bookmark Reading Charity and Manchester City in the Community.
Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, said:
'We believe in the power of books to open up worlds of possibility, and we know that owning books from a young age can have a huge impact on a person's life. But with rising costs, many families are facing tough choices. We really admire the work Multibank is doing to support parents and carers, and so we are proud to be donating books to their summer kits. We hope these books offer a little bit of joy and relief during the summer holidays, giving children a chance to escape into a new story and build a lifelong love of reading.'.
The backpacks, which were packed by Amazon volunteers, contain a range of age-appropriate essentials, from stationery and scientific calculators to lunch bags and water bottles. Additional donations from partners include toothpaste, games, and sportswear.
Multibank founder and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted that the campaign demonstrates 'the reservoir of will across British businesses to do good as well as do well'. He added: 'The donations of entirely new items means we can gift proper presents to kids who need them the most. And they can now make the most of the games and the books during the last weeks of the school holiday and enjoy themselves more knowing they have new kit to go back to school with'.
