Books for Babies benefits Southland families
15 November, 2020
Invercargill Licensing Trust board member Suzanne Prentice (left), Southland Literacy Society president Gina White and Community Trust South chairwoman Trish Boyle, registered midwife Ashleigh Williams (back left) and charge midwife leader Sheila McIlWrick with a book for newborn Elsie Pemberton. Photo: Supplied
About the community group/organisation/individual
Southland Literacy Association is part of the New Zealand Literacy Association, a nationwide organisation dedicated to encouraging and promoting literacy throughout the country.
The association runs Books for Babies, an initiative where children’s books are donated to birthing units throughout New Zealand to be distributed to parents of newborns.
Books for Babies key objective is to grow and support the development of literacy skills in early childhood. Each baby is presented with a literacy pack including a quality picture book and information to support their whanau/family in their important role as first teachers of literacy skills.
What the grant went towards
Southland Literacy Association received $6,000 in November 2019 towards “Books for Babies” programme – literacy pack for every baby born in Invercargill during 2020. The ILT Foundation has been supporting this programme since 2017.
What the grant means to the community group/organisation
“ILT Foundation’s generous funding and support enables the Southland Literacy Association to deliver its Books for Babies Initiative to all babies born in the Invercargill area,” Books for Babies convenor Daphne Lindsay said.