LITERACY experts will congregate in Bradford on Thursday for a conference focusing on closing the literacy gap.

Bradford based charity Reading Matters is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and experts in literature will be giving talks and taking part in workshops at the annual conference, which is being held at Bradford City Football Grounds.

In its 20 years, the charity has helped improve the reading skills of tens of thousands of children from Bradford and the surrounding area improve their reading skills.

Among the various speakers at the conference are local children’s author, Tom Palmer, who will be delivering a workshop on “Removing barriers to reading” in partnership with Barrington Stoke, a dyslexia-friendly book publisher and Madeline Lindley bookshop.

Additional talks and workshops on the day will cover topics including supporting multi-lingual learners, using peer mentors and the power of author inspiration.

Marj Newbury, of Jolly Learning, discusses phonics while Oksana Afitska from the University of Sheffield will talk about supporting bilingual and multilingual learners.

Education specialist Matt Bromley will be delivering the key note speech Closing the Literacy Gap.

Tim Perkins, from Curriculum Comics will talk about how comics can be used to help boost children’s reading skills.

And representatives from Reading Matters, Dixons Kings Academy and Bowling Park Primary School will tell those in attendance how the “Peer Mentors” scheme can raise aspirations and attainment in young readers.

Rachel Kelly, chief executive at Reading Matters, said: “This conference has been designed to be relevant for all literacy educators across primary and secondary education; the expert speakers and workshop hosts will be delivering practical skills and strategies which can be applied to children across all key stages.

“We’re confident teachers, literacy advisors, librarians and anyone involved in children’s literacy development will leave the conference feeling inspired and armed with new skills.”

Established in 1997 and now based in Western House in Buttershaw, Reading Matters trains both adults and young people to become “reading mentors” for children to help boost their literacy levels.

This scheme has seen some older school pupils helping younger pupils in one on one reading sessions.

As well as school staff and pupils, Reading Matters also recently teamed with Boots and Bradford Bulls to train staff and players to become reading mentors.

Last year the number of children to benefit from the charity’s work was 6,805, the highest in its two decade history.

The most recent report by the charity into the impact of its work found that children helped by the scheme have improved their reading age by 13 months, with some raising their reading age by up to four years.

The charity has already had a successful 20th year - a fundraising ball in March raised £20,000.

To book a last minute place on Thursday’s conference, visit readingmatters.org.uk/closing-literacy-gap-conference/