As Director of Fundraising and Communications for Beanstalk, I am proud to be working with the Yorkshire Evening Post on its 'Get Leeds Reading' campaign.

Illiteracy is a major problem affecting many thousands of children and adults, often with catastrophic consequences. Last year 1,110 children in Leeds left primary school unable to read to the required standard.

The impact of not learning to read at primary school has devastating consequences for a child's future life chances. For example, 70% of pupils permanently excluded from school and 60% of the prison population have difficulties in basic literacy skills.

Beanstalk makes a difference by supporting primary school children in Leeds who are struggling with their reading. Our reading helpers work with them for a whole year, providing the one-to-one support they so desperately need to catch up.

We want to double the number of children we support in Leeds as part of our 40th Anniversary.

It costs £312 to provide a whole year's literacy support to one child, while £27 would buy three hours' support.

Please donate today to give a child from Leeds the best possible opportunity to read, grow and succeed.

We've set up this appeal page so you can be sure that all the money raised will go on the 'Get Leeds Reading' campaign. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to Beanstalk and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Don't forget to ask your employer if they will match fund any donations you make or if their charity committee will make a donation to the campaign too!