Schoolreaders Volunteers celebrated by The Queen at National Year of Reading event

Schoolreaders was honoured to be part of a special celebration at the British Library, where some of our volunteers and CEO had the opportunity to meet Her Majesty The Queen as part of the National Year of Reading 2026.

The Big Lunch: Sharing Stories event brought together volunteers, charities, educators and literacy champions to celebrate Volunteers' Week and recognise the incredible people who give their time to help children discover the joy of reading. There was even a special appearance from everyone's favourite literary bear, Paddington!

Representing Schoolreaders were two fantastic volunteers, Laura from Oxfordshire and Gary from Walsall, alongside CEO Sally Wrampling. During the event, they enjoyed afternoon tea with Her Majesty, who praised the work of Schoolreaders in helping improve children's literacy and life chances.

The recognition comes at an exciting time for Schoolreaders. Every week, our volunteers support more than 40,000 children in primary schools across the UK through one-to-one reading sessions, helping pupils build confidence, improve their reading skills and develop a lifelong love of books.

As a lead delivery partner for the National Year of Reading 2026, Schoolreaders has committed to delivering an ambitious 1.5 million reading sessions during the year. Every reading session represents another opportunity to help a child grow in confidence and unlock their potential.

The Big Lunch was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate not only this national commitment to reading, but also the thousands of Schoolreaders volunteers who generously give of their time to transform children's lives, one page at a time.

Reflecting on the day, Sally Wrampling said:

"We were delighted to attend the Big Lunch with some of our brilliant Schoolreaders volunteers. The day felt like a wonderful celebration of the people who give so generously of their time, not only to improve children's literacy, but to pass on the joy of reading to the next generation. It was a great honour to meet Her Majesty The Queen, and incredibly encouraging to see her continued commitment to improving literacy."

To every Schoolreaders volunteer: thank you. Your time, enthusiasm and encouragement are making a lasting difference to children across the country, and we couldn't be prouder to see your contribution recognised on such a special occasion.