Story Time with Barnardo’s and John Lewis

Local children’s authors are supporting Story Time with Barnardo’s and John Lewis Exeter, a fun and engaging storytelling campaign which aims to highlight the importance of interaction and communication to a child’s early development whilst raising money to support the UK’s most vulnerable children.

John Lewis has partnered with the children’s charity to host a series of book readings by children’s authors at John Lewis shops across the country running throughout the summer.

Upcoming dates for Story Time at John Lewis Exeter:

Saturday 9 August - Babette Cole

Saturday 16 August - David Lawrence Jones

Saturday 23 August - Jon Lycett-Smith

Events are free to attend but you can join these authors in supporting the Story Time by texting "JL Exeter" to 70100 to donate £10, 70500 to donate £5 or 70300 to donate £3 to Barnardo’s.

To celebrate John Lewis’s 150th anniversary and Barnardo’s reaching the same anniversary in 2016, John Lewis conducted a YouGov survey to find the  most loved children's books of the last 150 years, revealed as:

1. Winnie The Pooh - A.A. Milne (1926)
2. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (1865)
3. The Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle (1969)
4. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (1937)
5. The Gruffalo - Julia Donaldson (1999)
6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (1964)
7. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (1877)
8. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
9. BFG - Roald Dahl (1982)
10. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (1950)

Emma Marchant, John Lewis community investment manager said: “Charity support at John Lewis goes right back to 1919 when the Partnership’s founder John Spedan Lewis established the Donations Committee. Since then charity support by our Partners (employees) and customers has gone from strength to strength and now nearly 100 years after our Donations Committee was established we’re delighted to be partnering with Barnardo’s in our 150th year. “

Also commenting on the partnership, Barnardo’s deputy director of fundraising, Allan McLaren said: “We are delighted to be partnering with John Lewis to celebrate its 150th anniversary and raise as much as possible to support the vulnerable children who desperately need our help.

“Through initiatives such as Story Time, John Lewis will help us support the children who need it most by teaching their parents how to successfully engage with their children from birth, helping them develop to the full and flourish in childhood.”

John Lewis’s work with Barnardo’s this year builds on a donation last year of £125,000 raised with suppliers to support Barnardo’s work in Birmingham.