About the charity​

 

​The Literacy Initiative is a UK-based international literacy charity.  We were registered with the Charity Commission for England & Wales in October 2023. 

 

We transform the lives of people in some of the most marginalised communities in the world by teaching them to read and write. ​​

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Teaching people to read and write may sound simple.  After all, it is a key part of mainstream schooling. But did you know that over 50% of the world's 7000+ languages do not have any written form?  ​​

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Children who grow up in communities learning only these 'minority' languages either struggle at schools which use a language of wider communication, or drop out of school completely. ​

 

We  want to support all projects which promote good literacy.  We also want to maximise our impact, helping those in greatest need and ensuring no-one is 'left behind'.  This is why we are focused on supporting those communities which do not have, or have only recently developed, a written script of their language.  ​​

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​How do we work?​

 

Working with local partners, we:

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​  -   develop written forms (orthographies) of minority languages

  -   teach those languages to local language communities 

  -   enable those communities to produce materials (like books) in their languages

  -   help those communities 'bridge' so they can also read and write in languages of wider communication

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​​​​Our current areas of work are local language communities, especially in remote regions of Nepal and Pakistan.   ​

We only work with local partners trained in running sociolinguistic surveys, project management, orthography development and teaching literacy.

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At this relatively early stage of the charity's development, we are focused on assessing partners' proposals about suitable projects.   Information about delivery of our projects, including video and photos, will be frequently updated on our 'Latest Updates' page (currently in development).

 

We aim to expand our work, exploring opportunities to promote literacy wherever it is most needed. ​​​​​

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We have a strong focus on due diligence and monitoring requirements, ensuring that all of our expenditure is spent for the purposes intended - and maximises impact.  In doing so, we carefully consider the requirements of the Charity Commission (including its 'Compliance Toolkit') , as well as the legal and best practice requirements of all other relevant regulators.  

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Overseeing the projects, we have a small executive team based in Caerphilly, South Wales.  ​​​​​​​​​