Accio Charity Auction

Accio will be holding a charity auction at the conference to benefit the National Literacy Trust and One Parent Families. In addition, Accio will donate any excess of income over expenditure to the National Literacy Trust. Organizations and individuals who donate items to be auctioned will be acknowledged in the Accio programme as well as at the conference. Should you be interested in donating an item for the auction, please contact the Accio auction coordinator, Phyllis Morris, at info@accio.org.uk.

The National Literacy Trust

The National Literacy Trust, founded in 1993, is an independent charity dedicated to building a literate nation. The NLT's purpose is to make an independent, strategic and practical contribution to the creation of a society in which everyone can enjoy the skills, confidence and pleasures of literacy. While literacy levels in the UK are rising, around five million adults still have difficulties with basic literacy and over half a million eleven-year-olds do not achieve the level of literacy expected for their age. Poor literacy skills can have a profound effect on people's educational life chances, employability and self-esteem.

Two key areas of the National Literacy Trust's work are:

providing a web-based literacy support network; and
running practical literacy initiatives, such as Reading Is Fundamental, UK, which sets up targeted literacy projects to promote the fun of reading, the importance of book choice and the benefits to families of having books in the home.

One Parent Families

One Parent Families works hard to promote the welfare of lone parents and their children, and to help them overcome the poverty, isolation and social exclusion faced by so many. Because there are currently 1.8 million households in the country headed by one parent alone, one quarter of all dependent children are now being cared for by a lone parent. The work of One Parent Families is organised under three goals:

To empower lone parents to help themselves and their children - by offering support, advice and information on a huge range of issues, via the Lone Parent helpline and publications, all of which are free to lone parents. One Parent Families also runs a number of successful projects helping lone parents back to work.
To act as an independent voice for one-parent families - One Parent Families advocates for lone parents and work in partnership with key policy and decision-makers, service providers and employers to ensure that the needs, concerns and experiences of lone parents are appropriately represented and clearly understood.
To operate as a centre of expertise on issues affecting lone parents and their children - One Parent Families engages actively in the debate on lone parent issues with ministers and their representatives through: sharing research, responding to consultations, providing ministerial briefings and giving evidence to select committees. One Parent Families also trains voluntary, private and statutory sector staff in lone parent issues.