All Dressed Up: Rubies, Parentkind, and World Book Day team up
World Book Day®, Rubies and Parentkind are teaming up to give even more children the chance to experience the joy and excitement of dressing up this World Book Day taking place on the 6th March 2025.
World Book Day is a charity that encourages reading enjoyment – because it seriously improves children’s lives. Dressing up as beloved characters from stories allows children to engage with reading in a dynamic and imaginative way, making it more sociable and fun and less like homework.
Rubies, a global leader in costumes and fancy dress, has pledged to donate 100,000 costumes, worth £1,000,000, to disadvantaged children who might otherwise miss out on the chance to dress up as part of the All Dressed Up donation scheme.
Parentkind, one of the largest federated charities in the UK representing parents and supporting more than 23,500 Parent Teacher Associations (PTA), is calling on PTAs and schools with over 25% of pupils receiving free school meals to register to receive a dressing up box. These boxes will arrive at eligible schools ready to use on World Book Day and remain at the schools to support children’s exploration of reading enjoyment.
PTAs are also encouraged to donate £1 per costume to the charity World Book Day, to support its mission to get more children involved in the fun of reading.
The power of reading for fun has been proven to boost children’s wellbeing and enhance their learning across the school curriculum. Almost 1 million children in the UK (1 in 12) don’t own a book of their own, rising to 1 in 8 for children receiving Free School Meals*.
Findings from Parentkind’s National Parent Survey reveal that 1 in 6 parents of primary school children don’t have enough age appropriate books at home. A further 1 in 7 primary school parents also admit that they read to their children for fun once a month, or less.
Dress-up, or imaginative play, has long been associated with reading enjoyment. Research from the charity, World Book Day, found that two thirds (72%) of children at early years foundation stage and primary school said that dressing up helps reading be more fun, making costumes a vital resource to help children discover the joy of books.
Commenting on the All Dressed Up donation scheme, Fran Hales, Head of Portfolio and Marketing at Rubies said: “We are thrilled to announce our new charity partnership with World Book Day, as we come together to support underprivileged children in experiencing the magic of reading through the transformative power of dress-up. At Rubies, we believe in the profound impact that storytelling and imagination can have on a child’s life, and we are proud to align our efforts with World Book Day’s mission of promoting reading for fun.”
Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day, adds: “Dressing up can be a great way for children to express what they love about reading. We’re proud to be working with Rubies and Parentkind to give more children the opportunity to get into a costume that helps them find the fun in reading, to seriously improve lives.”
Jason Elsom, Chief Executive, Parentkind says: “Children who read become adults who think, and World Book Day is a great charity that brings home the importance of reading for fun for millions of children every year. By working with our network of over 23,500 schools and parent teacher associations, we are thrilled to work with Rubies and World Book Day in bringing even more fun and excitement to the lives of 100,000 children this year.”
The All Dressed Up Donation scheme has been created to support World Book Day on its mission to improve the lives of millions of children across the country.
You can donate to the charity World Book Day here.
