Young people are growing up in a society with a major empathy deficit; hate crimes are at their highest level since records began and there are increasing concerns about the negative effects of social media.
EmpathyLab is the first organisation to build children's empathy, literacy and social activism through a systematic use of high-quality literature. Their strategy builds on new scientific evidence showing the power of reading to build real-life empathy skills. Theybelieve that empathy is a beacon of hope in a divided world.
What do they do?
Their strategy builds on the latest scientific evidence showing the power of reading to build real-life empathy skills through 4 key programmes:
- Empathy Day, was on 10 June last year and is now established as a national day with mass support from children's authors, publishers, library services and schools. Empathy Day 2022 is 9th June.
- The Schools' Programme with our Pioneer Schools across the country continues to yield very promising results, as shown in their evaluation reports.
- Their annual Read for Empathy Guides, with associated book collections chosen by an expert panel.
- They are working with an ever growing army of authors and illustrators who are helping us spread the empathy message.
