Registered charity number: 1117357
The Book Bus spreads the essential life skill of literacy in developing countries such as Zambia and Malawi.
Literacy and education are widely regarded as vital tools for lifting people out of poverty. Reading transforms lives and creates opportunities for children, including access to employment, improved health and the ability to play a more meaningful role in community life. However, according to UNESCO, 250 million children in the world remain illiterate despite attending school, and this global literacy crisis costs developing countries $129billion per year.
The Book Bus Foundation was founded in 2006 by publisher Tom Maschler, who acquired a Leyland Tiger bus and converted it into a mobile children’s library to help improve literacy in communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The charity now has a fleet of six book buses that travel through Zambia and Malawi to provide children with a happy, stimulating and safe environment where they can discover the joy of reading, often for the first time.
The Book Bus also distribute books, create reading corners, build libraries and work with teachers and local education authorities to measure and improve child literacy. The Book Bus team ensures that children not only have access to books but feel inspired to read, enjoy and learn from them. The charity’s work is helping to tackle the global literacy crisis, enabling children to gain life-changing skills so they can enjoy a brighter future and escape the cycle of poverty. Through the “I am a Reader” programme, Book Bus is aiming to equip 10,000 children in Zambia and Malawi with functional literacy skills by the end of 2020.
Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the charity now has a fleet of six Book Buses called George, Charlie, Sophie, Matilda, Alfie and Tiger. Donating your old car to the Book Bus will help keep that fleet on the road and racking up the miles to deliver books to the children who need them most.
Get started with donating the value of your unwanted car to The Book Bus Foundation!
