Each winner to receive £4,000 worth of books and stationery for their school
TGJones has revealed the winning reviews of its Bitesize Bookworms campaign, a national reading competition in which primary school children aged between five and 12 years old were challenged to describe their favourite book in 25 words or less.
Split across three primary school age groups, the high-street retailer received thousands of reviews as part of the campaign, with a judging panel consisting of MC Grammar, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan eventually picking out three winning entries, from the ingenious to the hilarious.
“It’s a funny and relatable book; my cat judgementally stared at me while I laughed loudly, snorted juice everywhere, and missed every bedtime until completed.”
Each winner will receive a £200 TGJones Gift Card, plus £4,000 of books and stationery for their school.
The judging panel also chose three runners-up from each age group, who will receive a £50 TGJones Gift Card and £500 of equipment for their school.
The retailer launched the Bitesize Bookworms competition earlier this year in support of National Year of Reading 2026, the biggest campaign in a generation designed to inspire everyone to discover a passion for reading and embed it into our everyday lives.
A Department for Education initiative supported by the National Literacy Trust, the National Year of Reading is delivered with the support of major sponsors and partners, including TGJones.
The campaign has encouraged the nation to Go All In in 2026, reading into our passions and interests to get more out of the things we already love, whether it’s football, gaming, music, sci-fi, or baking.
TGJones’ competition added to the momentum, encouraging readers to pick up a book and share their recommendations with others to spark a conversation about reading.
Alex Willson, CEO of TGJones and Head Judge of Bitesize Bookworms, said: “Nothing is more creative than a child’s imagination and we wanted to celebrate that unfiltered, accidental comedy that comes from a child giving their honest opinion about their favourite book – and the winners of our competition provided us with just that.
“Reading is so important for a child’s development, and as partners of the National Year of Reading 2026 we hope this campaign has encouraged more children to pick up their favourite book.”
People in Edinburgh are going All In for Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, as local groups prepare to host National Lottery-funded arts, sport and community activities, inspired by the Games.
With just three weeks till the Games begin, four projects in Edinburgh have received over £26,000 (£26,919) of National Lottery Awards for All funding, including Big Hearts Community Trust, Edinburgh Giants Inclusive Sports Club, Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival and Fischy.
This will help bring people together, encourage participation and help local communities by creating inclusive, locally led activities and events that build excitement, pride and connection ahead of an unforgettable summer of sport.
The awards are part of an additional £2.2 million investment through National Lottery Awards for All Scotland, delivered jointly by The National Lottery Community Fund, sportscotland and Creative Scotland.
The announcement is part of the wider All In campaign, Glasgow 2026’s Scotland‑wide movement inviting communities, schools, sports clubs, cultural and voluntary organisations and businesses to celebrate the Games in their own altogether brilliant way.
Big Hearts Community Trust will use its funding to expand its Together Equality Achieves More (T.E.A.M) project, providing access to free activities for children and young people, aged between eight and 12 years old from multicultural communities across Southwest Edinburgh.
Amanda Farquhar, Head of Delivery at Big Hearts said: “The Big Hearts’ TEAM project is about building a community that celebrates our young people in all their diversity and helps them thrive emotionally and physically through sport.
“We are grateful to National Lottery players whose support has enabled our charity to bring the spirit of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games to south-west Edinburgh. We look forward to hosting more opportunities for young people to get active and build friendships outside of school.””
Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival will deliver a five-month community Carnival Arts programme and a street parade to coincide with the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Explaining how the funding will be used, Giles Agis, Carnival and Community Manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this National Lottery Awards for All Scotland funding.
“This support will help Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival bring communities together through carnival arts, music, dance, and cultural celebration, marking the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in a way that is inclusive, creative, and rooted in Scotland’s diverse communities. We are very grateful to National Lottery players for making this possible.”
Other projects to receive funding, include Edinburgh Giants Inclusive Sports Club, will help train and certify 12 people in wheelchair rugby league coaching and first aid so they can then develop, run and evaluate a 9-month wheelchair rugby league programme for around 100 disabled children and young people living in Edinburgh.
Fishcy received support to deliver a free, celebratory Commonwealth Games 2026 online music and movement event to engage primary schools and Additional Support Needs schools across Scotland.
The funding is helping remove barriers to participation, enabling more people to take part in sport, arts and community activities while supporting health, wellbeing and social connection. Projects will also celebrate Scotland’s cultural diversity and ensure communities across the country can feel part of Glasgow 2026.
Announcing the first 40 grants totalling £317,456, on behalf of National Lottery Awards for All Scotland distributors, Neil Ritch,The National Lottery Community Fund Director for Scotland,said: “We’re delighted to support Big Hearts Community Trust, Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival and Edinburgh Giants Inclusive Sports Club and Fischy to bring the spirit of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games to their community through The National Lottery Awards for All Scotland.
“It’s really exciting to see so many communities go All in and get inspired to deliver sports, arts and cultural activity. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re helping make sure the benefit of the Games is felt in communities right across Scotland.”
Chris Ansell, Glasgow 2026 Director of Live Programmes and Engagement, said “From Shetland to the Borders, we want every community in Scotland to feel part of Glasgow 2026.
“The response from communities across the country has been brilliant with the nation really embracing the spirit of the Games and channelling it into sport, arts and cultural activity. Thanks to support from the National Lottery, we are gathering communities together to celebrate the Games in their own way.
“These projects are proof that the impact of the Games reaches far beyond our incredible venues, sparking something real and lasting in communities. We couldn’t be more proud to see that happening right across Scotland.”
National Lottery Awards for All Scotland has awarded grants of up to £10,000 to help groups deliver activities that resonate with local communities. Funding remains available for projects taking place after the Games, helping extend the legacy of Glasgow 2026 long after the closing ceremony.
Community groups interested in applying can find out more about National Lottery Awards for All Scotland on The National Lottery Community Fund website.
New research reveals depth of country’s reading enjoyment challenge
Scottish authors, Dennis the Menace and primary school children join Her Majesty to launch the National Year of Reading in Scotland
Campaign inspire nation to ‘Go All In’ on their passions through reading launches as new National Literacy Trust research reveals just 3 in 10 Scottish children and young people enjoy reading and 1 in 6 read daily [report attached]
Offering hope, the research also spotlights opportunities to reconnect Scottish children and young people with reading through their passions and visual media, including comics
Power of comics to inspire reading celebrated at event, while school children present Her Majesty with bespoke Dennis the Menace comic strip
Her Majesty The Queen launched the National Year of Reading in Scotland yesterday alongside iconic Scottish authors, beloved comic characters, 150 local primary school children, and supporting publishers, businesses and charities at the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.
The initiative from the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust, of which Her Majesty is Patron, seeks to address the steep decline in the nation’s reading enjoyment and launched in Scotland amid new research from the charity revealing startlingly low numbers of children and young people in the country who enjoy reading and read daily in their free time.
To help address this challenge, the campaign is asking the nation to ‘Go All In’ on their interests and passions and (re)discover how reading can unlock the things they already love – from music and sport to films, food and family time – in whatever way works for them.
Backing the campaign, award-winning Scottish authors Jackie Kay, Val McDermid and Sir Ian Rankin were unveiled as National Year of Reading ambassadorsat yesterday’s event.
Award-winning author Val McDermid said: “Reading is the greatest gift we can give our children. And ourselves.”
Government,business and charity partners including Education Scotland, DC Thomson, Scottish Book Trust andThe Scottish Library and Information Council (SLiC)also showed their support for the campaign, joining a roundtable discussion, which Her Majesty visited, to agree the priorities and actions required across the year to spark of love of reading in Scotland’s early years settings, schools, communities and homes.
The National Literacy Trust’s latest research provides compelling evidence to underpin the urgent need for the initiative. Based on a survey of 7,739 children and young people aged 8 to 18 in Scotland, the report revealed that just 3 in 10 (30.3%) said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2025, while only 1 in 6 (16.8%) said they read daily in their free time.
Vast numbers of children and young people in Scotland are therefore missing out on the vital benefits that reading can bring, including enhanced reading skills, wellbeing, empathy and confidence, as well as additional gains outlined in today’s report around supporting relaxation (61.4%), learning (54.0%) and creativity (48.0%).
Further insights from the research, which help to identify ways to tackle low levels of reading engagement amongst Scotland’s children and young people, underscore the principles of the National Year of Reading’s ‘Go All In’ campaign to encourage people of all ages to dive deeper into the things they already love through reading in all its forms – from print books to audiobooks, digital magazines to graphic novels, and more.
Indeed, children and young people in Scotland who don’t currently enjoy reading said that finding reading materials based on their passions, as well as visual media, would motivate them to read, such as books relevant to their interests and hobbies (37.4%), compelling book covers and titles (29.7%) and autonomy of choice in what materials they read (25.4%).
The research also found song lyrics, fiction, non-fiction and comicsto be the most popular reading materials for Scotland’s children and young people. Comics could provide a particularly unique opportunity to engage boys, who continue to lag behind girls in their enjoyment of reading (23.5% vs 36.3%) and daily reading (13.5% vs 19.7%), as significantly more boys than girls read comics in print (32% vs 25%) and on screen (14.4% vs 10.4%).
Tapping into the power of comics to engage Scotland’s children and young people with reading and bringing the spirit of the National Year of Reading to life, today’s event saw Beano immerse 150 local school children in the magic of reading, writing and illustrating comics.
Using a bespoke three panel Beano comic strip featuring The Queen and Dennis the Menace as a story starter – a special print of which was later presented to Her Majesty by pupils – Beano’s Directors of Mischief (Mike Stirling) and Mayhem (Craig Graham) worked with local pupils from Granton Primary School and The Queen herself to create a mischievous National Year of Reading comic strip.
Her Majesty proceeded to join a group of pupils from Granton Primary School and Clovenstone Primary School to try their hand at illustrating Dennis the Menace’s pet dog, Gnasher, with comics artist and cartoonist Nigel Auchterlounie. Comics artist Laura Howell also helped children draw their own Minnie the Minx characters.
Her Majesty then attended a special reception with National Year of Reading partners, ambassadors and supporters before listening to speeches from David Hayman, Director of the National Year of Reading, Amina Shah, Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland and National Year of Reading ambassador Val McDermid to celebrate the launch of the initiative in Scotland.
All 150 school children gathered to bid Her Majesty farewell, displaying their favourite things to read, from children’s books to comics and magazines, and waving National Year of Reading flags.
To continue their reading journeys at home, generous donations from DC Thomson, HarperCollins and Penguin Random House meant all 150 children were gifted a mix of brand new Beano comics, Beano books and extra children’s books to keep.
Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust, said:“The National Year of Reading provides us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate the UK’s relationship with reading and change people’s life stories.
“With incredible ambassadors, events and partnerships at the fore, in addition to the invaluable support of the National Literacy Trust’s Patron, Her Majesty The Queen, the National Year of Reading can inspire every child, young person and adult to go all in on their passions, feed their curiosities and connect with others through reading – in 2026 and beyond.”
David Hayman, Director of the National Year of Reading, said:“Reading is one of the most powerful tools we have to learn, create and grow. But right now, too many people are switching off from it.
“The National Year of Reading’s ‘Go All In’ campaign will transform how the nation sees reading, reaching people where they are and getting them excited about rediscovering the power, joy and relevance it can bring to their lives.
“Today’s event captured the energy and optimism we need to put reading back at the heart of our culture. Reading in all its forms can unlock the things we already love, so whatever your passion: if you’re into it, read into it.”
Val McDermid, award-winning author and National Year of Reading ambassador, said: “Reading is a window on the world beyond our own. It shows us possibilities and gives us the tools to make them realities. Reading is the greatest gift we can give our children. And ourselves.”
Working together with a network of national, local and community partners, the National Literacy Trust will lead the delivery of the National Year of Reading in Scotland. The charity is committed to supporting communities across the UK where low literacy and poverty are having the greatest impact on people’s lives.
In Scotland, the charity works intensively in Dundee, where despite overall improvements in literacy achievement seen since 2017, the gap between pupils from the most and least deprived areas has remained relatively steady.
More broadly across the country, in response to research indicating that 1 in 4 (25%) primary schools in Scotland does not have a library, the charity and Penguin Books’ Libraries for Primaries campaign has transformed library spaces in 100 Scottish primary schools – including Granton Primary School and Clovenstone Primary School, whose pupils attended today’s event.
For more information about the National Year of Reading, visit: goallin.org.uk
