Z-arts are aiming to raise £2,500 through a Just Giving campaign which aims to encourage children and families from all over Manchester to enjoy reading for pleasure. The funds will enable Z-arts to bring an iconic BookBench sculpture to Hulme and to one of the schools who have been to visit the immersive experience. The BookBenches will create a legacy for all the children who have been to Z-arts to visit Bear Hunt, Chocolate Cake and Bad Things, the interactive exhibition which is enabling children and families to relive the bear hunt through the eyes of Michael Rosen and see his poems and stories come to life from the page.
Manchester has some of the highest levels of poverty in the UK and in Hulme, the home of Z-arts, over 50% children are living under the poverty line. We know from research that living in a family with low income is a strong predictor of low educational performance and Z-arts wants to help combat this by providing out-of-school activities that can help build self-confidence and improve children’s chances in life by helping them to enjoy reading and improve literacy.
Z-arts now need your help to achieve these aims. We want to bring an iconic BookBench sculpture to Hulme and create a legacy for all the children who have been to Z-arts to visit Bear Hunt, Chocolate Cake and Bad Things so children and families can read and spend quality time together, sharing stories and making memories. £2,500 will provide a BookBench for Z-arts and support one of the schools in Hulme who have been to visit the immersive experience.
- Reading is a fundamental building block in developing broader literacy skills which will enable children to fulfil their potential and play a full part in the economic and cultural life of the city.
- National Literacy Trust research shows that children who read daily outside out of school are five times more likely to read above the expected level for their age than those who never read outside of school.
- We are very proud to be working with Manchester City Council and the National Literacy Trust on the Read Manchester campaign which aims to promote reading and boost literacy throughout the city.
- Z-arts are proud hosts of the immersive experience based on Michael Rosen’s writings, Bear Hunt, Chocolate Cake and Bad Things which takes Michael’s imagination and stories off the page and brings to life his characters, ideas, poems and delightful words.
- Bear Hunt has been a wonderful way for Z-arts and Michael to encourage readers young and old alike to pick up a book and start reading.
- £2,500 will provide a BookBench for Z-arts and support one of the schools in Hulme who have been to visit the immersive experience. The benches provided by Wild At Heart will be decorated to reflect the many books that Michael has written. Z-arts will invite all the Hulme pupils that have visited us to see Bear Hunt to enter our competition to tell us why their school needs a BookBench.
- The entries will be judged by Michael Rosen and our Patron Ben Faulks. Just by taking part in the competition children will already be starting to improve their reading and writing skills and the lucky winner will receive their very own book bench for the school.