Silent Guy Fawkes for the National Literacy Trust

Councillor Keith Swift keeps mum

Guy Fawkes Day passed in silence this year for Rochdale Borough Council’s skills champion Councillor Keith Swift.

He was keeping his vow to spend the ‘day without words’ to raise money for the National Literacy Trust’s campaign to support more reading and improve literacy skills in disadvantaged communities.

By keeping tight-lipped Councillor Swift managed to raise £50 for the trust. The money will be used to help fund a number of innovative literacy skills projects from inspirational book gifting events for disadvantaged children to workshops to help teenagers develop communication skills for the workplace.

Councillor Swift said: “We work closely with the National Literacy Trust at the council and value the work they do supporting the literacy of people in the borough.

“So I was delighted to join Jonathan in a sponsored silence to raise funds for the trust. I was expecting the day to be a challenge but it was even tougher than I thought. My hand hurt from writing down what I wanted to say and I came within a whisper of breaking the silence when someone asked me if I supported Rochdale AFC!”

Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas also took a vow of silence for the day. Afterwards he said: “It was great that Keith was able to join me in a ‘day without words’ because although speaking is one of the key components that make up the four key literacy skills – reading, writing, speaking and listening - it is often taken for granted.

“In fact, speech and language difficulties are the most common form of needs for young children and without help, a third of children with speech, language and communication difficulties could go on to have mental health problems. In one study, two thirds of young offenders had language problems. These figures are concerning and I hope our vow of silence will help to raise awareness of these issues.”

If you feel inspired by Councillor Swift and Jonathan’s vow of silence, you canorganise a similar event, visit www.literacytrust.org.uk  for ideas and tips on how you can fund raise for them.