THE first time I met Cris Lakeman, she asked me if I was a “reader”.
We swapped book recommendations within minutes. And days later, when we exchanged emails, I noticed something else: beneath her name, in her sign-off, she always lists the book she is currently reading – as if reading is as fundamental to her identity as her job title.
And in some ways, it is. Mrs Lakeman is the chief executive of Every Child Our Future, a local charity that aims to improve the educational opportunities for Jersey’s children.
For Mrs Lakeman, reading is not a hobby – it is a social justice issue. Which is why what she sees happening to children in Jersey troubles her so deeply.
“In Jersey at the moment, around 24% of children live in poverty – so there are children in the Island who don’t have access to books in their own homes,” she explained.
“If their parents are working more than one job, Saturday morning trips the library may just not be possible – plus you often have to pay to park in town. And those children may also go to a school that doesn’t have a library.
“On the other hand, there are children who have plenty of books at home, who go to schools that have wonderful libraries with librarians who are regularly promoting all manner of reading materials.
“That is a social justice problem. It’s not right that there are many children that just don’t have the opportunity and the access to become a lifelong reader.”
The phrase “lifelong reader” is deliberate. Mrs Lakeman firmly believes that reading impacts life chances.
“Reading impacts not just on academic outcomes, but your well-being and your mental health – and that’s currently in crisis for teenagers,” she said. “Reading is – not the not the cure for all – but one of the things that definitely helps.”
But Jersey is facing a persistent and widening literacy and attainment gap. A quarter of children do not own a single book. Children eligible for Jersey Premium are 15–20% less likely to meet age-related expectations. The gap appears early and widens over time.
“It’s academic outcomes, it’s wellbeing, it’s health, it’s earning potential,” explained Mrs Lakeman.
“All of those things are the outcomes of being a reader, and they have an impact on the whole of our society. They’re big things, so we want to get it right.”
Every Child Our Future has spent the past 10 years trying to “get it right”.
Over the past decade, the charity has funded three teachers to deliver a specialist Reading Recovery programme to five- and six-year-olds. Within a few years, the government expanded the model, training 13 teachers of its own.
A pilot exploring a new approach to speech and language therapy in schools has since been adopted and funded publicly.
This is proof, said Mrs Lakeman, that the problem is “solvable”.
But what does that look like?
“Solvable means that all children have access to books,” she said.
“Everywhere you go in Jersey could be book friendly. You could see books everywhere – in the doctor’s waiting room, at the hospital, at the airport. Access to free books is absolutely essential.”
But, for the self-proclaimed “reader”, access without joy is not enough.
“Learning to read can’t come at the expense of the joy of reading,” explained Mrs Lakeman.
“We’ve got to go back to reading as being a joyful – something that intrinsically you want to do, and you’re doing it for the good feeling that it gives you.
“It’s about re-establishing reading habits, and reading being something that we all do for pleasure.”
Because at its heart, she believes the issue comes down to something far simpler.
“It’s about if it’s right – is it right that there are kids without books? Schools with no libraries? That can’t be right,” said Mrs Lakeman.
And if it is not right, she argues, then the Island has a responsibility to change it.
One way to begin is through the Big Jersey Read – a campaign being launched by the JEP and Every Child Our Future to mark the charity’s tenth anniversary.
The year-long public engagement campaign is built around a simple call to action: pledge to read for pleasure for 10 minutes a day.
“This year is the UK’s national Year of Reading, and it’s our 10th anniversary, so it seems like the perfect time to launch a campaign,” explained Mrs Lakeman.
Other elements of the campaign include Every Child Our Future giving 10,000 books to families who need them most, and a £10 monthly donation campaign.
“You can pledge your time to read, pledge your time to volunteer, or pledge to donate,” the chief executive said.
“It’s about reading being a habit, even if that is only for a short period of time every day. The end goal is that we can all read for our enjoyment.”
But that enjoyment appears to be waning. Data from the National Literacy Trust last year showed that reading for pleasure is at its lowest level in more than two decades.
Whether Jersey mirrors that decline is not yet clear. But this month, for the first time, Island-specific data is due to be published following a survey on pupils in Years 3 to 9 about their attitudes to reading.
The results are likely to confirm what many parents and teachers already sense: that the lure of instant gratification – of scrolling, swiping and streaming – has eroded the patience that books demand.
“Phones and technology and social media provide a big distraction for everybody,” said Mrs Lakeman.
“But I think we’ve lost the art of reading for joy for a number of reasons – lives are complex and busy, people are living in poverty and relative poverty.
“But actually, once you’ve got a book in your hand, it is an easy thing to do.”
Somewhere along the way, Mrs Lakeman believes, society outsourced reading.
“We’ve started to believe that learning to read is something that schools do,” she explained.
“Schools teach children to read and then they can read. It’s viewed as something that is complete, but it’s really only a means to an end.”
Reading, she insists, is not a completed task but a lifelong habit – one that must be modelled, nurtured and normalised at home and in the community.
“Reading should be seen alongside play,” said Mrs Lakeman. “Books belong not just on a bookshelf, but in a toy box so that it becomes something that you naturally gravitate towards.”
And she is keen to dismantle narrow definitions of what counts as “proper” reading.
“Reading isn’t about just reading a novel. It’s not about sitting down, ploughing through a novel – that might be your thing, but I think it’s about taking a broader view of reading.
“If what you want to read is manga or comics, newspapers, or about a particular subject, then that’s good.
“We have to get that message out that it doesn’t matter what sort of reading you’re doing, as long as you’re reading.”
Mrs Lakeman pointed to a recent HarperCollins survey, which found 40% of parents said they did not find reading with their child fun.
“That’s quite sad, really. We need to get that fun back into reading,” she said.
But it’s not just down to parents and children to tackle this issue. Mrs Lakeman is clear that a collective approach is needed to see change in Jersey.
“It’s a complex issue, but a collective approach is what’s going to really make the difference,” she explained.
“Everybody needs to get involved – parents reading for 10 minutes a day, talking about books, reading the newspaper, reading a magazine, and talking about the enjoyment that reading gives is going to help.
“Also, making donations so that books can be bought and can be gifted – that’s also going to help, as well as giving up your time.
“It’s about a collective approach, because ultimately it affects all of us.”
The Big Jersey Read hopes to kick that off by starting to make books more visible.
Local cafés are donating 10p from every cup of coffee sold, encouraging customers to pause with a book in hand, and a children’s choice project will invite pupils to vote for their favourite picture books – culminating in a locally chosen “book of the decade”.
“The end goal is that we can all read for our enjoyment – for information-gathering, getting deep into things that interest us, and also developing empathetic skills and understanding of how other people live and how other people might be making choices,” said Mrs Lakeman.
Looking ahead to the next ten years, the charity chief executive’s ambition is clear.
“What I would hope to see is greater equity,” she said.
“I would hope that outcomes improve for all children, but particularly for those children who are less advantaged.
“Because currently there is a gap, particularly in reading, between those children who are living in low-income families and those who aren’t.”
Ultimately, her vision is simple.
“I’d like all children to have access to books and opportunities to read, so it can take them wherever they wish to go,” she said.
And perhaps that is why she asks the question so quickly, so instinctively: “Are you a reader?”
For Mrs Lakeman, it is not small talk – it is a measure of possibility. And she hopes by the end of this year, we’ll all be answering “yes”.
