FAQ’s
FAQ's
Here you will find answers to the questions we are asked most about the Great Big Read initiative.
If you have any queries that aren’t covered here please get in touch.
Yes! Our challenge is fully inclusive for every child, no matter their age or ability. If your little one can’t read then simply help them with the tasks! Great Big Read is all about encouraging a love of books and reading for pleasure, sparking curiosity, and sharing stories together.
No. Great Big Read is a reading for pleasure initiative founded by our community partner, Pop-Up Bookshop, an independent mobile children's bookshop owned by Vanessa Marsh. We work as a supplier directly with schools and nurseries to facilitate each Great Big Read event and we fundraise on behalf of participating educational settings. Our goal for 2022 is to develop Great Big Read into a Community Interest Company and separate entity.
Due to applicable PayPal fees we kindly ask that donations exceed £1. There is no maximum donation limit… the higher the total fundraising, the more books to benefit your school or nursery!
Pop-Up Bookshop donates £1 in extra free books per £5 donation received. All donations paid via our PayPal business account are subject to a 30p flat admin fee + 2.5% fee of the donation amount, which is deducted from the total to benefit the school or nursery. So, for a £10 donation, PayPal will collect 30p (flat admin fee) + 25p (2.5% fee) = 55p (total fee) as an administrative charge. Your school or nursery will receive £9.45 + £2 in extra free books = total £11.45 to spend on new books. It is possible to donate funds directly to Pop-Up Bookshop rather than through PayPal (which will eliminate fees) though many parents prefer the convenience of using PayPal as a payment system.
Our community partner, Pop-Up Bookshop, will boost the value of fundraising with an extra £1 FREE books, per £5 donation received. This equates to 20% extra free books on all donations. Pop-Up Bookshop also donates £1 from every book sold at school or nursery book fairs towards fundraising. In addition, £1 per book purchased from Pop-Up Bookshop all year around benefits local schools and nurseries via our Community Book Fund.
Businesses (and some kind individuals!) sponsor Great Big Read with donations. This money builds our Community Book Fund. In addition, Pop-Up Bookshop is our community partner and donates £1 (in books) to our Community Book Fund each time they sell a book, 365 days per year. At each termly event, our Community Book Fund running total is divided between participating settings, maximising the number of books to benefit schools and nurseries. It is possible for sponsors to specify which setting they would like funds to benefit, though with our community ethos we encourage donations to benefit ALL settings.
Nope! Pop-Up Bookshop absorbs the cost for all time spent facilitating the Great Big Read initiative. We also pay for other operational costs including (but not exclusive to): taxes, design / printing promotional materials, participation rewards / prizes, venue hire, videography, website design and hosting, delivery costs (unless otherwise stated.) If you are a business owner who may like to support these additional costs through sponsorship please check out our Community Book Fund page and get in touch.
Absolutely! Our challenge is open to all children and there is no obligation to collect sponsorship, make a donation, or purchase from the book fair. Families only give what they can afford and all children who participate will receive a recognition goodie pack including a certificate and bookmark.
Great Big Read collects donations of unwanted pre-loved children's books from across Dorset. We sort and process these books and then make them freely available to our school and nursery participants as a benefit of joining our initiative. We support our fundraising book fairs by taking a selection of pre-loved books that Pupil Premium children can swap for free, using a discretionary voucher system.
There is no fee to join our Great Big Read and the challenge is fully inclusive for all schools and nurseries, at every age level, to all abilities, and in all demographics. Inclusion is one of our Core Values and is at the very heart of our community work.
Currently, our Great Big Read work is focused with Dorset schools and nurseries as we are based in Bournemouth and the initiative was founded to help our local community. There is one exception, our major client, the Tops Day Nurseries consortium, who originated in Bournemouth (head office location) and settings span across the whole South West region. Please get in touch to discuss your individual school or nursery fundraising requirements.
Our team does all of the hard work by managing all of the administration and payments. This ensures Great Big Read is stress free for teachers and nursery staff. All your setting is required to do is promote the event to your teachers, children and parents! The more your setting helps to excite families to participate, the greater the impact we will have in improving literacy levels and fundraising for books!