Tomas Cerny of Hamilton Academical FC joined Skills Minister Keith Brown to launch the second year of the SPL Reading Stars literacy project in Easterhouse 18 March 2010.
SPL Reading Stars is endorsed by 12 clubs and 12 volunteer players. Each player attends learning sessions at libraries local to their club and has chosen their favourite adult and children’s book for their libraries to receive. Twenty-one partner libraries, in total, will carry out targeted literacy work with children and adults from their local community. Every school child throughout Scotland will have the opportunity to engage with the initiative.
2,800 schools benefited from the programme last year, receiving SPL Reading Stars campaign packs. Of the 200 adults that took part in last year’s programme, 91 per cent said they read more as a family after taking part and 100 per cent felt their child was reading more.
Keith Brown, Skills Minister, said: “The Scottish Government is committed to improving literacy and numeracy skills in Scotland. Last year’s SPL Reading Stars has been a great success which is why we have committed £70,000 to enable this year’s programme to go ahead. The support and dedication from both the programme tutors and football players is greatly appreciated.”
Neil Doncaster, SPL Chief Executive, said: “Building on last season’s success, I am delighted to announce a second year of SPL Reading Stars. This innovative partnership uses SPL footballers as positive role models to capture the imagination of families up and down the country, and gets the message across that reading is an important and valuable skill.”
Damien Yeates, Chief Executive, Skills development Scotland, said: “SPL Reading Stars is a great way of championing literacy skills and encouraging people to pick up books. The thought of getting help with reading, writing and numbers can be daunting for many people. But it’s not like going back to school. It can be fun and relaxed and take place in familiar surroundings.
“The Big Plus plays a key role in tackling literacy and numeracy levels and the associated stigma, in Scotland. If we improve literacy levels we can dramatically boost chances for individuals across the country as well as benefiting the economy.”
The SPL Reading Stars and their book choices...
Aberdeen FC (Richard Foster)
The Green Mile (Stephen King) & Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (JK Rowling)
Celtic FC (Shaun Maloney)
It's Not About the Bike (Lance Armstrong) & Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)
Dundee United FC (Sean Dillon)
The Van (Roddy Doyle) & Big Friendly Giant (Roald Dahl)
Falkirk FC (Tam Scobbie)
Roy Keane: The Autobiography (Roy Keane) & Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Hamilton Academical FC (Tomas Cerny)
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) & Way of the Peaceful Warrior (Dan Millman)
Heart of Midlothian FC (Craig Thomson)
The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) & George’s Marvellous Medicine (Roald Dahl)
Hibernian FC (Graham Stack)
Blessed: The Autobiography (George Best) & The Three Little Pigs (Ladybird Early Reading Books)
Kilmarnock FC (Allan Russell)
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (Kate Summerscale) & Fantastic Mr. Fox (Roald Dahl)
Motherwell FC (Lukas Jutkiewicz)
The Winter of Discontent (John Steinbeck) & The Giver (Lois Lowry)
Rangers FC (Andrew Little)
No Prior Experience (Graham Little) & Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (JK Rowling)
St Johnstone FC (Paul Sheerin)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) & The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson)
St Mirren FC (Jack Ross)
Omerta (Mario Puzo) & Dear Max (Sally Grindley)
