Reading the room: How BookTrust encourages more families to read

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For an organisation that promotes the benefits of reading, it’s perhaps not surprising that learning and curiosity are at the heart of BookTrust’s approach.

The charity has a strategic commitment to behaviour change: getting a generation of children reading – across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – through programmes that provide families with books, resources and advice to encourage parents and carers to read with their children.

Such a significant goal requires dedication to evidence: producing it, gathering it, analysing it and acting on it.

“Learning, evidence and insights are very much a cross-organisational endeavour within BookTrust, ” says Ruthann Hughes, director of research and impact at the charity. “Having an evidence-led way of working requires learning to be happening in quite a big cross-functional organisation, so it’s very much a shared endeavour.”

While the research and impact team contributes significantly to this, it works closely with other teams within the organisation. This ‘shared endeavour’ involves collaboration with, for example, a design and innovation team ...