15 October 2025

Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 - one donation, twice the impact!

Chapter One to take part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 to raise £15,000 in one week!

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Gift literacy. Unlock imagination. Transform lives

This December, Chapter One is taking part in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge to raise £15,000 in one week! The campaign will help us raise vital funds to meet the increasing need for one-to-one reading support for children facing disadvantage in communities across the UK.

The Christmas Challenge is a great opportunity to make a donation to Chapter One as donations will be doubled! From midday on Tuesday 2 December until midday on Tuesday 9 December, every donation made on our Christmas Challenge campaign page will be matched until we reach our target of £15,000.

How can you get involved?

🌟 Visit our Christmas Challenge campaign page (link coming soon!) and make a donation from midday on Tuesday 2 December until midday on Tuesday 9 December. Set a reminder so you remember not to miss your chance to double your donation!

🌟 Register for Chapter One's Big Give Christmas Challenge Festive Book Guide event on 5 December at 12.30pm. Join us and connect with other Chapter One volunteers and discover perfect books for the young readers in your life - all while supporting a great cause. Sign up here!

🌟 Help us to spread the word and share information about the campaign with your networks.

Funds will be used to provide Chapter One one-to-one online reading sessions to more young children like Ayden, setting them up with the reading skills and confidence needed to thrive through education and life:

He's beaming. He's excited when it's his [Chapter One] call. He loves going on Chapter One... just even when we're doing guided reading, or when I've put something on the board, he'll read it. He's taking that interest more, he's soaking up the environment.

Amirah Sattar, Ayden’s teacher, Meadow Bank Community School, Bradford

Help us close the reading gap

In schools across the UK, the fundamental skill of reading - the key that unlocks a world of opportunity - remains frustratingly out of reach for too many children. In 2025, a staggering 37% of 11-year-olds facing disadvantage in England left primary school unable to read at the expected standard. This can throw their whole life off track, and make it impossible to reach their potential.

Finding joy in reading is crucial; multiple studies indicate that reading motivation and enjoyment are positively correlated with reading ability. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator that a child will grow up to enjoy a happier and more successful life – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational backgrounds or their household income.

The children genuinely enjoy their sessions with the volunteers, and these one-to-one interactions have not only strengthened their reading skills but also sparked a newfound love of reading. It's an incredibly effective and well-loved programme that continues to deliver real results at our school.

Ian Morgan, Deputy Head Teacher, Drayton Park Primary School, Islington, London

How your donation makes a difference

🌟 £5 doubled to £10 could provide five children with a summer activity book to keep the reading magic alive during the summer holidays.

🌟 £9 doubled to £18 could provide a 30-minute 1:1 online reading session for a child.

🌟 £20 doubled to £40 could help to improve our online platform with fun and engaging activities

🌟 £33 doubled to £66 could provide a set of noise-cancelling headphones for a classroom of ten children, who’ll use them for their weekly online sessions.

Funds raised through the campaign will help us to provide more weekly 30-minute online reading sessions for children aged 5 to 8. Through consistent one-to-one support, children become better readers, grow more confident in their reading abilities, and discover the joy of reading for pleasure. As their confidence builds, they become more motivated to read independently and more confident in communicating with others.

Children and their reading volunteers from our corporate partners use our online platform to read stories together and play word games that develop literacy skills whilst sparking genuine enjoyment. This blend of support, encouragement, and fun inspires children to believe in themselves as readers – and when children feel like readers, their aspirations soar. This academic year, we aim to support 3,800 children across 13 areas of the UK.

We have gone from having a child who would cry if I asked him to read me some pages, to a child who enjoys selecting a book and reading it to me and his brother.

Parent of Charlie, a Chapter One pupil in London

Your donations will be matched!

Donations to our campaign will be generously matched by The EQ Foundation, Clyde & Co, Compare the Market, Datagraphic, Euromonitor and Taylor & Francis, meaning your money can support twice as many children facing disadvantage.

Questions?

For further information, read our FAQs and/or please contact: Rhiannon Lucas-Thompson, Fundraising Officer, at rhiannon.lucas-thompson@chapterone.org

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