Burberry partners with Marcus Rashford on developing young people’s literacy skills

Burberry has partnered with footballer Marcus Rashford MBE to help young people develop their literacy skills.

Burberry will also partner with the National Literacy Trust, in order to provide primary school libraries with the supplies they need to provide young people with further resources. The brand will also continue to donate to literacy programs across the world.

Through this initiative, Burberry has announced its intention to fund the transformation of 10 school libraries, across Manchester, Yorkshire and London. Positively impacting over 3,500 children, this initiative is a continuation of Burberry’s partnership with Rashford in 2020 that aimed to provide funding to youth centres across the UK.

The 10 schools will also participate in the Marcus Rashford Book Club and receive a donation of 8,000 books curated by the National Literacy Trust. The books are provided by MacMillan’s Children’s Books, with PanMacmillan having partnered with Rashford to create the book club.

Training will also be provided to over 200 teachers across the UK by the National Literacy Trust, with access to its resources also provided.

In the US, Burberry will continue its partnership with Wide Rainbow, a free after-school program that looks to provide young people from low income neighbourhoods with access to the arts.

“It is impossible to overstate the powers of the arts, education and literacy for our under-resourced communities, and it is with great appreciation to Burberry for this continued collaboration alongside its mission of providing extraordinary libraries and thousands of books for our youth here in New York City and beyond,” said Ashley Gail Harris, founder and executive director of Wide Rainbow.

Through their collaboration, Burberry and Wide Rainbow are aiming to create 15 libraries across New York City, and a further three larger libraries in Los Angeles, Detroit and New York City. Each will receive 100 children’s books.

In Asia, Burberry will provide donations to Bring Me A Book Hong Kong and the Japan Library Association. The funding for Bring Me A Book Hong Kong will see 500 books sent to youth centers, and storytelling workshops provided for volunteers at the organisation. The Japan Library Association will receive support to help increase book donations to school libraries across the country.

Burberry continues to honour its founder Thomas Burberry, who was also deeply committed to opening up creative spaces for everyone. Burberry has also continued to fund students through creative arts scholarships, and its program Burberry Inspire is aimed at providing an arts and culture education for young people.

“We’ve identified a real need here,” said Rashford. “Far too many children do not currently have access to books, typically because of financial restraints, and there was a need to inspire them and allow them to see beyond the challenges they face daily. These children need the escapism of reading more than most, and access to books should not be restricted by the place you grow up in.”