About us Why we are needed We believe life is better when everyone can read well and express themselves with confidence. Sadly, last year nearly 200,000 children left primary school unable to read to the expected level. Illiteracy is a persistent national problem in the UK. Our challenge is to ensure that every child leaves school with the skills and confidence to reach their true potential and control their own lives. The statistics of literacy in the UK are shocking and show the scale of the challenge we all face: 29% of children left primary school last year unable to read to the required level 70% of pupils permanently excluded from school have difficulties with basic literacy 25% of young offenders have reading skills below that of the average 7 year old If current trends continue, we will have left behind 1.5 million children by 2025 Poor literacy skills cost the UK economy £81 billion every year You can help a child start a new chapter by becoming a Beanstalk trained reading helper or by supporting our work.