An event was held on Saturday, 12 May by the RALAC (Raising the Achievements of Looked After Children) team at Leicester City Council to mark the launch of this year's Letterbox Club.
This year, Leicester City has 68 looked-after children enrolled in the Letterbox Club, their highest number to date. The Letterbox coordinator, Vandana Ferguson, attended the Letterbox induction day in London on 7 February and was inspired to hold an event to launch Letterbox Club for 2012.
The event, attended by Letterbox Club founder, Rose Griffiths (pictured with Vandana), was open to all looked-after children, aged five to 12. In all, there were 17 carers and 30 children in attendance.
The children in Years 3, 5 and 7 were invited to attend a 'Brite Readers' event with their carers, which was a free, fun interactive reading event.
The children were able to collect their first parcels, along with other free goodies supplied by the Letterbox Club team, and find out more about how the programme works and what to expect over the next six months.
There was a range of free activities for children to enjoy, including storytelling, face painting and crafts. An educational psychologist was on hand to offer some one-to-one advice on reading strategies and also ran an informal workshop for carers to support reading within the home.
The event provided the opportunity for other teams within the local authority to provide information and advice around supporting reading. Library services, Bookstart, Sure Start Children’s Centres, the Whatever It Takes reading initiative and The Reading Shop attended the event.
The following comments were recorded:
• Loved the Letterbox parcels
• Great for kids
• Will come again
• Everyone really friendly
• Very fun with loads to do
• Incredible and enjoyable, loved it!
• Face painting was brilliant!
• Loved meeting other people and reading books
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