Funding boost for independent Yorkshire bookshops encouraging young people to read
A string of Yorkshire bookshops have received a boost in their efforts to help local young people gain confidence in reading, after six stores in the region received grants from publishing giant Penguin.
A total of 44 independent bookshops nationally have been selected to receive grants between £1,500 and £5,000 as part of the Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant 2026.
Penguin said it had received 159 applications from booksellers seeking support for the delivery of initiatives aimed at “igniting and fostering” a love of reading amongst young people.
The grants will fund a range of projects which include courses to increase the verbal reading confidence of parents and guardians, a book gifting scheme aimed at children in care, and a young footballers’ reading club.
Amongst the Yorkshire bookshops selected was Holdfast Books, a converted 1940s coal barge located at Leeds Dock which was launched as a shop in 2022.
Victoria Bonner, who runs Holdfast Bookshop with her husband Chris Bonner, said the grant would enable the business to continue its work giving books to local children who are in residential or foster care, or those who are receiving support from children’s services at home.
She said: “Reading means the world to us and we want to help children who might not otherwise have access to books.
“We are very grateful to Penguin for helping us to do this, and can’t wait to get the books out there to children who are living with challenging situations - we know reading can be a comfort and a distraction and it’s great to be able to share that.”
It comes after Holdfast also launched a similar scheme over Christmas with help from its customers. The grant award comes during the National Year of Reading campaign, a year-long scheme from the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust aiming to tackle the decline in reading enjoyment in the UK.
According to the National Literacy Trust, fewer than 28.6 per cent of children aged between eight and 18 in the Yorkshire and Humber region say they enjoy reading in their spare time, a figure over four percentage points below the national average.
Another Yorkshire bookshop to receive money from the Penguin Grant scheme was Clutterbooks, based in Hornsea, East Yorkshire.
The company has been named as a recipient of the grant having opened its doors for the first time less than a year ago.
Georgina Wilson, co-founder Clutterbooks, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded one of the Penguins Children's Bookshop Grants for this year. It is extra special with it being The National Year of Reading, and being our first year open.
“When we were first making plans for the shop, having a dedicated children’s room and running children's bookclubs were high on the agenda. With Yorkshire and the Humber having been highlighted as having the lowest reading for pleasure rates among children in the country, we always wanted to do something to turn this around and help the children of Hornsea and the surrounding areas.”
Using the grant, the shop now plans to deliver children and teenage book clubs throughout the year. The shop will host specific clubs for ages 8-11 and 12-15, and also clubs specifically for children who are home educated.
Ms Wilson added: “It was so important to us that our book clubs are open to all children, not just those families who can afford it. I want all children to have the same opportunities, so by having the grant money we can cover the costs of the clubs and give everyone a chance to attend.
“Reading has such a huge impact, in education, but also for wellbeing. Reading can improve spelling, enrich language and vocabulary, provides knowledge, improves concentration and focus, increases the ability to empathise and takes us away to all sorts of different and exciting worlds.”
Every child who comes to one of the Clutterbooks events will also receive a book to take home and keep as well as refreshments and some craft activities. Also amongst the Yorkshire bookshops to receive the grant was Little Fox Bookshop, in Whitby, and The Whitby Bookshop. Read Bookshop, based in Holmfirth, and The Book Stop, in Halifax, have also received money from the scheme.
Speaking on the grant scheme, Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “It has been uplifting and exciting to see the enthusiastic response to the Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant and we thank every single bookshop that entered.
"The ingenuity of our independent booksellers and their steadfast commitment to supporting their local communities and the young readers within them is truly inspiring and was evidenced in all the applications submitted.
"I feel sure that the work set to be delivered by the grant recipients will not only have a lasting impact on children, families and communities but also help to spark further innovation and ideas across the country, helping even more young people discover the joy of reading for pleasure. That is our hope and our aim for this grant and we are excited to see the ideas come to life in their communities.”
Elspeth Dougall, head of sales: independents and wholesalers, at Penguin Random House UK, added: “Independent bookshops are embedded in their communities, so we knew we would get a great response to the grant. But we’ve been blown away by the volume of applications, and the level of creativity and thought reflected in them. It’s a powerful reminder of what these shops are doing every day, and their vital contribution to children’s literacy and reading for pleasure across the UK.”