This year my hairy upper-lip will be supporting Read for Good’s Hospital programme – providing brand new books and regular storyteller visits to the UK’s 30 major children’s hospitals.

This year, a young child of some very close friends of ours was diagnosed with cancer. On their many gruelling visits to hospital they had support from Read for Good who took the time to read to the family and provide a chink of joy and relief. It was these small acts of generosity that made the unbearable bearable.

Read for Good ensure children and young people have access to a wide and vibrant choice of the best brand new books, and provide the all-important inspiration to help them discover a life-changing love of reading. And they do this irrespective of the context. Like me, they are passionate about the power of reading.