LATEST CAMPAIGN NEWS
November 12th: The auction is now over. £14,459.65 raised!
The auction is now over and we have raised £14,459.65 for the National Literacy Trust. Thank you to all that took part in the event.
November 11th: New - Join the "guess the celebrity game"!
For the last remaining days of the auction we thought we'd offer our loyal followers a little game -
guess the celebrity!
A rather brilliant graphologist has anonymously analysed four of our lovely envelopes. The winner will not only bask in glory but will receive a Pushing the Envelope calendar with some of the brightest and best entries featured.
November 2nd: Auction now Live!!
The auction is now live, Click Here to get bidding
October 30th: More envelopes added!
Westlife, Dame Vera Lynn, Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, Little Artists and more...!
See who's involved page for details.
October 16th: Million minutes celebrations for US youth
Pitney Bowes and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are celebrating after helping young people across America to collectively read for more than one million minutes in the 2009 "Fast Break To Reading"program.
Starting in June, the national literacy initiative between Pitney Bowes and the WNBA encouraged young students to read throughout the basketball season and track their minutes via the website.
Ten WNBA teams participated in the Fast Break To Reading programme in collaboration with a local literacy organisation. The teams also worked with Pitney Bowes to hold Reading Timeouts with local young people to read and speak about the importance of literacy and education.
The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) , the nonprofit literacy organisation for the national programme, also helped raise awareness of literacy and education, encouraged young students to participate, and offered tips for families on how to make reading more fun and effective during the season.
October 14th: A shed load of new envelopes added!
JLS, Ricky Hatton, Sandra Howard, Lady Gabriella Windsor, Lilia Kopylova and more!
See who's involved page for details.
October 8th: A fresh batch of talent!
Adrienne Chinn, Jo Joyner, Grayson Perry and Michelle Ryan added to the site.
See who's involved page for details.
September 28th: National Literacy Trust announces their Reading Champions school of the year winner for 2008/09
Ambleside Primary School, Nottingham, has been announced as this year's 'Reading Champions school of the year' winner for the innovative and creative way they have developed their Reading Champions project, with the pupils really taking ownership of the project and driving it forward. The Reading Champions Project Manager, Nick Batty, visited the school on Wednesday 23 September to present them with their £500 prize and a certificate recognising their success.
For more information please click here.
September 22nd: A bumper crop!
Ian Hislop, Sarah Waters, Trevor Eve, Debborah Moggach and may more added to the site today!
See who's involved page for details.
September 14th: New envelopes!
Amir Khan, Sadie Frost, Philip Pullman and Barbara Dickson's envelopes now on the site!
See who's involved page for details.
September 14th: National Literacy Trust launches a Manifesto for literacy.
8 September was International Literacy Day. To mark this, the National Literacy Trust is launched its Manifesto for literacy to call on political parties to prioritise literacy in their manifestos for the anticipated May 2010 election.
Developed in consultation with over 30 national organisations the Manifesto for literacy makes specific recommendations for government to develop literacy support for families, to modernise literacy teaching and to run a national campaign taking literacy to new audiences.
To find out more and register your support please Click here.
September 8th: New update!!
Michelle Mone and Raymond Briggs added to the site!
See who's involved page for details.
September 8th: The public selects..... Banksy!
Banksy is one of Britain's most in-demand celebrities according to a national poll conducted for the charity campaign Pushing the Envelope.
The poll reveals which celebrity they would most like to see design an envelope for the charity campaign which raises money for the National Literacy Trust and is funded by Pitney Bowes. Other popular stars included Harry Hill, Bear Grylls and Jenson Button.
On 2 November 2009, a host of celebrity-designed envelopes will be auctioned on eBay as part of the sixth annual 'Pushing the Envelope' charity campaign. In the past, many celebrated entertainers, authors, illustrators and artists have lent their support, including Kate Winslet, Bruce Forsyth and Damien Hirst.
September 8th: The public selects..... Banksy!
Banksy is one of Britain's most in-demand celebrities according to a national poll conducted for the charity campaign Pushing the Envelope.
The poll reveals which celebrity they would most like to see design an envelope for the charity campaign which raises money for the National Literacy Trust and is funded by Pitney Bowes. Other popular stars included Harry Hill, Bear Grylls and Jenson Button.
On 2 November 2009, a host of celebrity-designed envelopes will be auctioned on eBay as part of the sixth annual 'Pushing the Envelope' charity campaign. In the past, many celebrated entertainers, authors, illustrators and artists have lent their support, including Kate Winslet, Bruce Forsyth and Damien Hirst.
September 4th: Literacy in the run-up to the next election
As parties gear up for the last parliamentary term before the next general election the National Literacy Trust has been looking at the likely policy direction of each party with regards to the literacy agenda. In general, the Labour party has firmly embedded literacy within the draft legislative programme, while the Conservatives have continued their attacks on exam standards and 'soft skills'. The full summary can be read here.
September 2nd: The National Literacy Trust takes over the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square!
Ex-teacher Gary Wilson was recently selected for the Anthony Gormley One & Other project in Trafalgar Square. He used his hour to promote and raise sponsorship money for the work of the National Literacy Trust. You can find out more about his hour, view photos and donate to his Just Giving page here.
September 2nd: Sheffield part of 6,000 book giveaway!
More than 200 children from some of Sheffield's most disadvantaged areas received free books as part of the fifth annual WHSmith Trust Summer Read organised by the National Literacy Trust. The initiative, which promotes a love of reading and encourages life-long reading habits, is running across 17 locations. Activities include storytelling, fancy dress and arts and crafts and across the UK, more than 6,000 books will be given away - two for each child.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, commented: "The WHSmith Summer Read is particularly important for children who may have little access to books outside school, and may not be not confident in choosing something to read that they will enjoy on their own. Crucially, this is over the summer break from school - a time when children's reading habits can drop off."
Since its inception, Reading Is Fundamental has given more than 850,000 books to over a quarter of a million children.
August 28th: A bumper selection added!
David Coulthard, Fearne Cotton, Giovannie Corvaja, Alex Scheffler.
See who's involved page for details.
August 24th: Latest Additions!
Griff Rhys Jones, David Jason, Daniel Sinsel, Zoe Wanamaker, Paul Bradley, John Knapp-Fisher.
See who's involved page for details.
August 21st: New envelopes in!
Atul Kochhar, Michael Barrymore, Ben Kelly, Helen Mirren and Roxanne Pallett.
See who's involved page for details.
August 11th: Latest Additions
Frederick Forsyth, Martha Lane Fox, Nicky Hambleton-Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Ms Dynamite (Niomi McLean-Daley), Penny Smith, Terry Jones and Wayne Hemingway
See who's involved page for details.
August 14th: A bumper selection added!
Alastair Stewart, David Bellamy, George Bond, Hannah Firmin, Jenny Agutter, Sir Bernard Ingham, Stephen Merchant, Timmy Mallett, Tomma Abts and Uri Geller! all added to the site!
See who's involved page for details.
August 14th: Why fathers matter to their children's literacy.
The National Literacy Trust recently conducted a research review that pulled together all the empirical evidence that fathers' involvement in their children's literacy is vitally important and highlighted some specific knowledge gaps.
Read the article.
August 7th: New additions!
Derek Jacobi, Josh Lewsey, Ken Hames and Rosie Marcel added!
See who's involved page for details.
August 5th: Zandra Rhodes interview
Read a great article on Zandra Rhodes here.
August 3rd: Site update!
Carol Smillie, John Le Carré and Laura Hambleton now on the site!
See who's involved page for details.
July 27th: Andrew Marr, Liza Tarbuck in latest updates!
Andrew Marr, Liza Tarbuck, Zandra Rhodes and Joanne Harris added to the line-up!
See who's involved page for details.
July 20th: More names added!
More names added to this years list of participants. Colin Jackson, Jeremy Strong, Quentin Blake and more...
See who's involved page for details.
July 9th: New names announced!
We have announced the first people taking part in this years auction including Sir Ian McKellen.
See who's involved page for details.
June 25th: Who would you like to see Pushing the Envelope?
Take part in our latest poll on facebook here
