In its inaugural year 26 UK literacy organisations, publishers including Macmillan Children’s Books and Sort Of Books plus bookshops and individuals participated in Read Hour UK.

Over 1.7 million UK social media impressions and 16 million worldwide were generated.

The initiative that challenges everyone to set aside one hour on UN International Literacy Day to read is returning to the UK on 8th September with hundreds of schools, libraries, bookshops and individuals expected to take part. Building on the success of its inaugural year, Read Hour will be expanding its reach with events across the UK and a widening network of participating organisations, as well as support from household names and authors including Matt Lucas, Greg James, Esther Freud, Chris Smith, Rob Biddulph, Andrew Donkin and Sam Sedgman.

Read Hour was initiated by Finland’s Children and Youth Foundation with a mission to encourage people to spend just one hour of their day reading, whether that be a book, magazine, or comic book – everything is encouraged. Read Hour was brought to the UK in 2021 with the support of Finland’s most successful literary export, the Moomins.

The official Read Hour will take place between 2 pm and 3pm but anyone unable to take part at this time is encouraged to hold their own Read Hour at any time that suits them on 8th September or over the weekend. Reading alone and reading together with a family member, friend, classmates or colleagues are equally encouraged.

Anyone taking part is invited to share a photo of themselves or the book they are reading on social media using the hashtag #ReadHourUK.

Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director of Moomin Characters, said: “We were absolutely delighted to see Read Hour have such a successful launch in the UK last year and we’re thrilled to be building on the success of the initiative in 2022. Being able to express yourself is one of the most important things in the world: it allows you to communicate your hopes and dreams, relate to others, engage with the big issues of our times, and create change. To express yourself, you first need to learn to read and write. Developing a love of words at a young age is proven to bring other benefits, too, like increased empathy and a greater understanding of different cultures and ways of life. Essentially, reading and writing broaden a young person’s horizon. That’s why we at Moomin Characters Ltd are on a mission to spark a love of reading and writing and the reason we support Read Hour.”

Moomin Characters Ltd was inspired to help launch Read Hour internationally after seeing its success in Finland first-hand. In the four years since its launch, Read Hour has attracted huge amounts of support, growing year on year, with thousands of Finns sharing their participation in Read Hour on social media, including Finland’s President, Sauli Niinistö, who has been a patron of Read Hour since it began in 2019.

To celebrate The Invisible Child episode of hit animated series Moominvalley, produced by Gutsy Animations and distributed by Sky, will be available to watch for free via YouTube from September 8th to celebrate Read Hour UK.

Moominvalley, based on the work of Tove Jansson and featuring an all star cast, premiered in 2019 to great acclaim from critics and fans, becoming an international success and Finland’s most watched tv series.

The Invisible Child episode has been chosen as it highlights the messages of Read Hour UK and how reading can bring a greater level of empathy and understanding about the people and world around us. It also compliments the materials for schools that have been created based on the original Tove Jansson story. 

The episode will be available for free on the Sky Kids YouTube channel from 00:01 on 8th September to 23:59 on 11th September.

A range of Read Hour resources are available for bookshops, schools, and libraries who would like to take part in the initiative. Please contact emily@riotcommunications.com for further information.