Laing

The John Laing Charitable Trust has been supporting the National Literacy Trust since 2006 and has donated £80,000 to date establishing a programme called "Reading is Fundamental" in Scotland.

The successful partnership has led to the John Laing Charitable Trust agreeing to a further three years of annual funding of £20,000 to extend the reach of the programme.

This overall commitment by the John Laing Charitable Trust to the programme of £120,000 by 2012, is a reflection of the success of the scheme and will ensure that the programme is rolled out nationally.

Although the programme was initially called Reading is Fundamental, it was renamed in 2010 to the National Young Readers' Programme in order to better describe its work.

John Laing's four year funding programme came to an end in Scotland in 2010, with the programme well established. By then it was able to generate sustainable local funding as a result of the proven successful track record of the benefits achieved from the programme. In the previous year, the National Young Readers Programme smashed its' targets, with over 2,145 children benefitting from the programme.

John Laing has agreed to continue to fund the programme and for 2011/12 and has donated a further £20,000.