We're supporting the National Year of Reading

Keep an eye out for the creative story prompts we've added to our buses across the region! The prompts can be found on the back of seats on some of the region’s busiest bus routes and aim to encourage families and children to chat about reading and stories. 

The prompts are part of the National Year of Reading, a major campaign led by the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust to encourage more people to make reading part of their everyday lives.

Boosting children’s literacy levels is particularly important in the North East, where 1 in 5 children aged 5 to 8 don't have a book of their own at home.

Over the summer holidays, we also collaborated with Seven Stories and the National Literacy Trust to host three free storytelling sessions on an open top bus outside Seven Stories in Ouseburn. 

Lucy Reeves, Project Officer at the National Literacy Trust, said: “It has been wonderful working with Go North East to spread the joy of reading across the North East. The storytelling stickers have opened up more opportunities for children and families to engage with reading and storytelling in the small moments of daily life. Go North East have embraced the Go All In message to bring reading opportunities into new spaces, for example on our local buses!”

The Toon Tour, our open top bus sightseeing service, stops right outside Seven Stories and runs until 27 September.