Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York 'thrilled' to support Nick Ferrari's Kids Who Read Succeed campaign

10 January 2025, 09:07

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York 'thrilled' to support Nick Ferrari's Kids Who Read Succeed campaign

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York said she is 'thrilled' to support Nick Ferrari's new initiative to promote reading among early years children and raise awareness of literacy rates.

The new initiative, called 'Nick Ferrari's Kids Who Read Succeed,' is a series of free audiobooks, read by a host of well-known names, celebrating the work of Beatrix Potter, one of Britain's most loved children's authors.

Ms Ferguson said she was "delighted" to read Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit aloud and "bring the book alive" for listeners.

Expressing gratitude to Nick and LBC for championing child literacy, she added that the project will inspire hope by encouraging "imagination not just of children, but of parents, of granny, grandpa, uncles and aunts and everybody else."

Read more: LBC Highlights Vital Work of Schoolreaders in Transforming Children’s Literacy

Read more: Addressing the crisis in children’s reading enjoyment must become a national priority

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, reads the Tale of Peter Rabbit

She said: "It's really exciting that Nick Ferrari has decided to go into the new year championing the voices of stars that will bring books alive to you, the listener and to the viewer.

"I'm thrilled to be able to be one of those people in January. I'm not saying I'm a star, but I'm saying I love children's books and I love to read and write them. I'm delighted to be able to read Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

"To all of you out there, there is hope. We are going to encourage imagination not just of children, but of parents, of granny, grandpa, uncles and aunts and everybody else.

"Thank you so much to Nick Ferrari and LBC for doing this initiative to inspire young people and old people and any people, and especially children, to really love the power of a book."

Kids Who Read Succeed with Nick Ferrari is being supported by two leading children’s literacy charities – the National Literacy Trust and Schoolreaders.

On his weekday breakfast show, Nick regularly hears from parents and teachers about the low levels of literacy among children in the UK.

Children’s enjoyment of reading has plummeted to an all-time low with only a third (34.6%) saying they enjoy reading in their free time and 1 in 10 children say they do not own a book.

Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust, said: “Children and young people’s enjoyment of reading has reached a record low. Given the positive impact reading for pleasure can have on so many areas of children’s lives – from boosting their confidence and wellbeing to improving their academic performance and life chances – failure to tackle this crisis now will put children’s futures at risk.

“That’s why initiatives like Kids Who Read Succeed with Nick Ferrari are so important. A fantastic range of storytellers will bring the magic of books to life and directly into families’ homes, capturing children’s imaginations and unlocking an enjoyment of stories which can be the first step on a child’s journey to becoming a reader.”

Sally Wrampling, Chief Executive of Schoolreaders, said: “We are delighted to be working with LBC on Kids Who Read Succeed with Nick Ferrari to inspire children to discover a love of reading. At Schoolreaders, we see first-hand how vital the enjoyment of reading is in helping children reach their potential. Reading enjoyment has been shown to make more of a difference to a child’s future attainment than family’s socio-economic background. We hope that by working with LBC we will be able to spread this enjoyment to even more children, helping them to improve their literacy and life chances.”

To encourage reading the among early years, Kids Who Read Succeed with Nick Ferrari is a series of free audiobooks, read by a host of well-known names, celebrating the work of Beatrix Potter, one of Britain's most loved children's authors. From Friday 10th January and across the next 10 weeks, a new audiobook will be released every Friday. They will be broadcast on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast and on video on Global Player and LBC.co.uk.

The narrators include high profile figures such as the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, actor Dame Maureen Lipman, Classic FM presenter Alan Titchmarsh, Radio X breakfast host Chris Moyles and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson – each reading a Beatrix Potter book such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny.