Hammond Backs Premier League Reading Stars Campaign

Dean is Leicester City’s ‘Reading Star’ in the Premier League Reading Stars programme, which is run in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, and has set reading challenges for participants of Premier League Reading Stars . 
This year, several of the players including Dean are reading role models in their own families and have chosen books which they enjoy reading at home to their children.
Dean said: “I read with my family all the time. I’m a dad so I love reading to my daughter and my son. Books like ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘The Tiger came to Tea' are really good books that they enjoy listening to and getting involved in.
“Just before bed-time with the kids, or during the day, it helps them relax and helps them to learn.”
Schools can sign up to take part in the programme by. 
The Reading Stars join the Premier League and the National Literacy Trust in calling on all dads to take an active role in reading to their child and supporting their literacy.
The National Literacy Trust is a leading partner of the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign which highlights the crucial role of fathers in supporting their child to read.
Jim Sells, Manager of the programme at the National Literacy Trust said: “Parents have a huge impact on their child’s motivation and ability to read and it’s great to see so many of our Reading Stars, who are also dads, sharing their love of reading and books.
“As shown by the proven success of our Premier League Reading Stars programme, now entering its 12th year, using football as a hook to get children to enjoy reading enriches their lives, helps them to succeed at school and gain vital skills for the future.”
According to research carried out by Newcastle University for the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign, a father reading daily to a five-year-old means that a child’s reading will be almost half a year more advanced than a child read to less than once a week by their father.
To support their children’s literacy, dads (and other family members) can:
- Get inspired by watching Premier League footballing dads talking about what they enjoy reading with their children and take part in the fun football reading challenges at
- Read for 10 minutes a day with their children
- Visit to find book recommendations, activities and tips on making reading and writing fun for children
The Premier League Reading Stars programme uses children’s passion for football to motivate them to enjoy reading and to improve their reading levels.
In the programme, each Premier League club selects one of its players to become a Reading Star to talk about their favourite books and set reading challenges via online videos.
These challenges are used to support over 30,000 children in 1,000 schools and libraries, who are taking part in a 10 week reading intervention with Premier League branded materials, including certificates, wristbands, reading journals and wall charts.
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore added: “Premier League Reading Stars is a fantastic example of the work carried out by our clubs and their Foundations which encourage young people to make positive choices.
“Over the last 11 years it has used the power of football, and the popularity of Premier League clubs and players, to encourage children to enjoy reading, and to talk about the books they read.
“The focus of Reading Stars this year – parents reading to their children – will resonate with many Premier League players and I wish the project every success.”
Premier League Reading Stars is funded by the Premier League. The Welsh Government has renewed funding to deliver Premier League Reading Stars Cymru in schools across Wales in 2015.