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TOC announces partnership with Schoolreaders at Soros Fund Management LLC sponsored House of Commons event

Posted by Narinder Uniacke on 30th June 2023

Claire Coutinho MP and Chair Samantha Huggins welcome Schoolreaders as The October Club’s charity for the year 2023.

LONDON, Friday 30th June: The October Club, a committee of philanthropists based in the City, officially launched its partnership with this year’s chosen charity, Schoolreaders, at the House of Commons yesterday. The event was hosted by Claire Coutinho, Conservative MP for East Surrey along with Samantha Huggins, Chair of The October Club, and attended by October Club committee members, Schoolreaders representatives, and October Club supporters.  The evening was kindly sponsored by Soros Fund Management LLC.

Since 1987, The October Club has raised over £15 million for transformational projects across 35 charities, and last year raised a phenomenal £860,000 at their annual fundraising gala dinner at The Savoy.  In 2023 it will raise funds for Schoolreaders’ Northern England expansion programme. This Bedford based charity has been supporting primary school children with one-to-one reading support sessions through its network of volunteers for a decade.  With support from The October Club the charity will significantly expand its reach into the North of England enabling 26,000 additional children to benefit from vital literacy support over the next three years.

“Our partnership with Schoolreaders aligns perfectly with our mission to support and uplift individuals, communities and the next generation” said Samantha Huggins, Chair of the October Club. “Together, we are dedicated to giving more children the opportunity to develop essential reading skills and unlock a world of possibilities.

As Chair of The October Club, I am immensely excited about this partnership and the incredible impact it will have on children's literacy across the North of England, with a particular focus on reaching the most disadvantaged regions. When we met and heard about the simplicity and effectiveness of the Schoolreaders model, we knew it would be a project for which the funds raised will prove transformational”.

During the partnership, Schoolreaders will recruit, train and support over 2,000 new volunteers placing them into primary schools across key regions of the North. 

Jane Whitbread, Founder of Schoolreaders said, “Schoolreaders is honoured to have been chosen to work with The October Club, particularly as 2023 marks our 10th anniversary.  Our work over the past decade has shown that this simple, effective and scalable model produces outstanding results not only on children’s reading ability but also on their reading fluency, confidence and enjoyment. Reading is the gateway to learning and with 1 in 4 children currently leaving primary school not reading to the expected standard it is vital that child literacy is prioritised. 

With the October Club investment, Schoolreaders is able to significantly accelerate its growth into the North of England leaving a very significant and lasting legacy for the futures of 26,000 children”

Claire Coutinho MP said, “Being able to read, and read well, is the single greatest gift we can give to every child.

Our children are now the best readers in the Western world but there are still too many young people who fall behind.

I’m delighted that The October Club has put its philanthropic powerhouse behind Schoolreaders this year. This will make a meaningful difference to tens of thousands of children for the rest of their lives”