Beyond the festival
Our work in the community
We believe that a love of books is something everyone should have access to.
We have been a charity since 2013, promoting literature, language and the arts to the public.
Every year we offer free tickets and provide platforms to schools, community groups and charity partners. 10% of all tickets are provided as concessions and complimentary tickets to individuals who might otherwise not be able to attend.
Our community partners
We provide a platform at every festival for our community partners so that they can reach out to our audience and demonstrate the excellent work they are doing.
Sustainable Tech 4 Good | Join the Sustainable Digital Inclusion Revolution
2024 sees the start of a new community partnership with Sustainable Tech 4 Good, a Cambridge-based company that works with organisations, repurposing their surplus tech through sustainable refurbishment and deploying it through charities and local authorities. Like us they believe that everyone should be given the chance to learn – access to technology enables learning and communication and increases digital inclusion.
Something To Look Forward To
In 2022 we were delighted to start a new relationship with this fantastic charity. STLFT supports people from across the UK affected by cancer by providing ‘gifts’ in the form of tickets, free breaks, restaurant meals, beauty treatments and much much more. We have been bowled over by the feedback from the charity’s beneficiaries and are very proud to support this family-founded charity based in Cambridge.
Schoolreaders
We want all children to enjoy a life-long love of books and reading. We welcome children’s literacy charity School Readers to our festivals so that they can promote their work and recruit volunteers. School Readers place volunteers into local primary schools to provide free, weekly, one-to-one reading support for children, prioritising those most disadvantaged.
Other community connections
In 2023, we provided complimentary tickets to groups including Cambridge Community Arts and Pathways4Us.
If you run a community group for people facing disadvantage, and there is an event that you think would be of interest to your users, please get in touch with us.
Our work with schools
We have been collaborating with other organisations and partners in Cambridge to provide free events to schools since 2015. Spring 2023 heralded the first in a new series of school events with Trinity College.
Over the Border, with Trinity College
In 2023 we welcomed 340 secondary state school students to a free event with Ali Smith, Bernardine Evaristo, David Herd and Pious from Refugee Tales at the Cambridge Union as part of the Litmus School Writing Project.
The Litmus Project is run by Trinity College and provides an opportunity for year 9-11 students to submit 500 words based around a theme chosen by Ali Smith, for publication.
A free schools event will now take place annually at our Spring Festival, following different themes.
The ‘Big Read & Write’ Cambridgeshire intiative
Pre-covid, children across Cambridgeshire were brought together to hear from award-winning children’s authors. From 2015-2018 the Big Read & Write scheme culminated with a story writing competition, designed to encourage children’s love of the written word.
It was a collaborative project between the Kite Teaching Schools Alliance (TSA) Cambridge, Cambridge Literary Festival and Cambridgeshire County Council.
We very much hope to reintroduce a similar collaborative schools event soon.
