Multicultural School Book Fund

We are excited to announce our new non-profit Community Interest Company: Changing Narratives CIC

We believe all children deserve to see themselves reflected within stories, for a sense of belonging and to also understand and accept the wonderful diversity of families across our city. 

Aim of our fund

Our aim is champion equality, diversity and inclusion within all schools across Brighton & Hove by ensuring every school classroom and library has a rich, diverse range of books representing Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic characters, illustrators and authors.

Why now

With the recent powerful Black Lives Matter protests held across the globe and right here in Brighton & Hove, the momentum and need for equality and inclusion is more important than ever. 

Within schools the huge majority of books available are representative of white characters and families. This can be detrimental to children from multicultural backgrounds, impacting on their wellbeing and create stereotyping and unconscious bias within schools and the wider community. 

In 2018 the Centre for Literacy in primary education CLPE   published results for their survey 'Reflecting Realities', which found just 4% of published children's books in the UK had black, asian or ethnic minority main protagonists. 

We believe now is the time for our council, schools and communities to join one another—supporting change within our schools and at home.


 How - Changing Narratives

In Brighton & Hove there are 54 Infant, Primary and Junior schools and 10 secondary schools. We aim to provide every school with a Multicultural Book Box including over 80 diverse and inclusive books.  Including books chosen specifically for curriculum within classrooms.

Partnerships

We are also collaborating with Brighton & Hove council and will be part of a PHSE Education  anti-racist strategy alongside charity group The Open Minds Project  who are campaigning for changing to Black History curriculum and including teacher training in cultural diversity and inclusion within classrooms. 

To make this a reality we need your support!

Our fundraising target is £64,000

By working together we can:

· Positively encourage and support conversations about race and anti-racism at home and school from an early age
· Tackle racism and unconscious bias within schools
· Make sure all children see themselves reflected within stories and be inspired

Our plan for community support

We believe passionately in community and joining forces as a collective to make change.  We encourage local businesses and community groups to help support this important fund that will benefit so many children and families. By partnering with local business Book Nook and also Black Star Books , your donations will support independent businesses that are also passionate about bringing diverse literature to schools and campaigning for change.

We are also happy to announce Brighton & Hove council and have donated £1000. They are fully supporting this fund and working closely with us to raise awareness and help achieve our target. Please see more information from the council here: Brighton and Hove council supports Multicultural School Book Fund 

How you can help
You can support us by donating, any amount will be so appreciated!

£50 will fund a classroom with a diverse bookshelf

£150 will provide a classroom with fully diverse and inclusive range of books

£500 provides a Multicultural Book Box to one school across Brighton & Hove

£1,000 provides a school with 2 Multicultural book boxes for all their classrooms and library 

Share:
We would be really grateful if you could help us share our campaign so we can reach wider communities. This could be through social media, friends, family, community centres and schools.

Social Media
Please follow us for updates:
instagram @multiculturalbookfund
twitter @schoolbookfund

This fund is supported by: