This year, the Hemming Robeson team have each been asked to personally choose a charity to share a portion of the Hemming Robeson Foundation funds. It is my privilege to have chosen Readathon as this month’s charity and the reason I have is a fairly personal one.

I arrived in England on a cloudy December afternoon at the age of 8. Having just come from Portugal, I had little more than ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as my means of English communication. Add a chronic case of shyness to that and I can tell you life felt lonely, isolated and pretty quiet when I started school. But here I am. A happy, successful and confident adult with a great sense of adventure. How, you may ask? Well, books of course! My mum got me a library card and suddenly my ‘yes’ and ‘no’ grew into a much more expansive vocabulary, I took off on some fantastic fictional adventures and lived many lifetimes, all before I became a teenager! It helped shape who I am today, and I will be forever grateful.

Readathon gives children the opportunity to do a sponsored read in their schools and the money raised provides children in hospital with storytellers and jam-packed mobile bookcases. Not only do the kids raising money get to read for fun and partake in a wonderful charitable experience but ultimately, the kids in hospital get to benefit with fun-filled adventures contained in the many books provided! It’s a truly inspiring concept that I’m sure has many benefits beyond the gifting of books and telling of stories.

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends. They are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.”

– Charles W. Eliot

Raquel Fernandes,

Marketing and Systems Manager,

Hemming Robeson