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John Lewis partnered with children’s charity to host series of book readings by well-known TV personalities at John Lewis shops

LONDON, 2014-6-3 — /EPR Retail News/ — TV and film star, Peter Capaldi burrowed into a good book today to launch ‘Story Time’ with Barnardo’s and John Lewis, a fun and engaging storytelling campaign which aims to highlight the importance of interaction and communication to a child’s early development whilst raising money to support the UK’s most vulnerable children.

John Lewis has partnered with the children’s charity to host a series of book readings by well-known TV personalities at John Lewis shops across the country starting Saturday 21 June and running throughout the summer. Events are free to attend but you can join Peter Capaldi in supporting the Story Time by texting ‘JL’ to 70500 to donate £5 to Barnardo’s.

Commenting on the ‘Story Time’ initiative, dedicated Barnardo’s supporter, Peter Capaldi said; ‘Being read to as a child is something most of us take for granted but for many of the children Barnardo’s supports, storytelling and communicating are skills that their parents don’t have.

‘I would encourage people across the country to embrace storytelling, bury your head in a good book and donate as much as you can through ‘Story Time’ in aid of Barnardo’s. You’ll be helping the charity reach out to parents of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and ensuring they build the confidence and knowledge to help their little one thrive.’

To celebrate John Lewis’s 150th anniversary and Barnardo’s reaching the same anniversary in 2016, the ‘Story Time’ sessions will be reading from the most loved books of the last 150 years, today revealed as:

1.    Winnie The Pooh  –  A.A. Milne  (1926)
2.    Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll  (1865)
3.    The Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle (1969)
4.    The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
5.    The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson (1999)
6.    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl (1964)
7.    Black Beauty – Anna Sewell (1877)
8.    Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
9.    BFG – Roald Dahl (1982)
10.  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis  (1950)

Launching ‘Story Time’ Peter Capaldi read from The Gruffalo and there are a host of further TV personalities taking part in the ‘Story Time’ events including:

  • Actress Emilia Fox at John Lewis Oxford Street, 28 June
  • Julie Wilson Nimmo (Balamory’s Miss Hoolie) at John Lewis Glasgow, 21 June
  • Illustrator Nick Sharratt at John Lewis, Edinburgh, 21 June
  • TV Presenter Alex Winters at John Lewis Cheadle, 21 June.

Emma Marchant, John Lewis community investment manager said:

‘Charity support at John Lewis goes right back to 1919 when the Partnership’s founder John Spedan Lewis established the Donations Committee. Since then charity support by our Partners (employees) and customers has gone from strength to strength and now nearly 100 years after our Donations Committee was established we’re delighted to be partnering with Barnardo’s in our 150th year.

‘We have a summer of Story Time sessions in our shops reading from classics over 100 years old like Alice In Wonderland to modern favourites like The Gruffalo all raising money for Barnardo’s.’

Also commenting on the partnership, Barnardo’s deputy director of fundraising, Allan McLaren said:

‘We are delighted to be partnering with John Lewis to celebrate its 150th anniversary and raise as much as possible to support the vulnerable children who desperately need our help.

‘Through initiatives such as Story Time, John Lewis will help us support the children who need it most by teaching their parents how to successfully engage with their children from birth, helping them develop to the full and flourish in childhood.’

John Lewis’s work with Barnardo’s this year builds on a donation last year of £125,000 raised with suppliers to support Barnardo’s work in Birmingham.

To join Peter Capaldi in supporting the Story Time with Barnardo’s and John Lewis text ‘JL’ to 70500. This will donate £5 to support Barnardo’s and their work supporting the UK’s most vulnerable children.  Plus, you can find out what Story Time sessions are going on near you at johnlewis.com.

Notes to editors
John Lewis and Barnardo’s commissioned YouGov to poll 2652 adults to discover the nation’s favourite books of the last 150 years. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,652 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8 – 9 April 2014. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

John Lewis’s commitment to community investment is at the very heart of our organisation and one of our seven guiding principles within our Partnership Constitution, which pledges that ‘The Partnership aims … to contribute to the well-being of the communities where we operate.’  This last year our Partnership-wide charity and community contributions totalled £14.3 million.

Our Community Matters green token scheme reached its fifth anniversary this year donating more than £4m of our profit to supporting good causes in our communities.

John Lewis operates 41 John Lewis shops across the UK (31 department stores and ten John Lewis at home) as well as johnlewis.com. It is part of the John Lewis Partnership, the UK’s largest example of worker co-ownership where all 91,000 staff are Partners in the business.

John Lewis, ‘Multichannel Retailer of the Year 2014’¹, ‘The Nation’s Best Retailer’² and ‘Best Retailer 2013’³, typically stocks more than 350,000 separate lines in its department stores across fashion, home and technology. Johnlewis.com stocks over 250,000 products, and is consistently ranked one of the top online shopping destinations in the UK. (www.johnlewis.com). John Lewis Insurance offers a range of comprehensive insurance products – home, car, wedding and event, travel and pet insurance and life cover – delivering the values of expertise, trust and customer service expected from the John Lewis brand.

¹ Oracle Retail Week Awards 2014
² Verdict Consumer Satisfaction Awards 2013
³ Which? Awards 2013

You can follow John Lewis on the following social media channels:
www.johnlewis.com/twitter 
www.johnlewis.com/facebook 
www.johnlewis.com/youtube.

Barnardo’s works with more than 200,000 children, young people and their families each year. Barnardo’s runs more than 900 services across the UK. We believe in children and we believe every young person has a right to thrive. Our vision is to realise Thomas Barnardo’s dream of a world where no child is turned away from the help that they need. We work to transform the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and every year we help thousands of families to build a better future. But we cannot do it without you. Visit www.barnardos.org.uk to find out how you can get involved and show you believe in children. Follow Barnardo’s media team on Twitter @BarnardosNews.

Enquiries

For further information please contact:

Laura Tattam
Senior Press Officer
Telephone: 020 7592 5715
Email: laura_tattam@johnlewis.co.uk

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