Footballing heroes including Liverpool center-back Virgil van Dijk and Aston Villa’s top goal scorer of the year, Ollie Watkins, staged a series of Fun Football and Happy Readers events across the UK during the Easter holidays. At every event, children from the local community participated in specialized coaching sessions of Fun Football and afterwards enjoyed a read-along of a Little People BIG DREAMS book from the Happy Readers library.

The football legends donated an additional 5,000 books to their selected local charity, which included Skylarks in Birmingham, Displaced People in Action in Cardiff, and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, in addition to helping hand out thousands of books and footballs to visiting families throughout the day at each location.

The purpose of the exclusive events was to raise awareness of the benefits that reading and physical activity have on children’s development as well as McDonald’s continuous efforts to support families and communities in the UK and Ireland, which include distributing over 10 million books through the Happy Readers program and offering over 2 million hours of free Fun Football sessions annually.

“Liverpool is a special place, and I love being able to give back to the community that supports us so passionately,” Virgil van Dijk remarked. Like McDonald’s, I firmly think that every child should have the opportunity to play and learn. My family and I are passionate about this issue, which is why I’m here today.

“McDonald’s is assisting families by providing them with additional chances to get free books and complimentary Fun Football coaching. We distributed almost 3,000 books to kids today alone, and based on what I witnessed in the reading area and on the field, we might have some future authors and football players on our hands.

McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer for UK and Ireland, Michelle Graham-Clare, stated: “Our goal is to make sure every child, regardless of background or situation, can enjoy reading and football.” Two of our top initiatives, Happy Readers and Fun Football, will debut together in 2023. Our goal is to bring kids together who have different hobbies and demonstrate that kids can enjoy sports and reading together. We’re dedicated to giving families free access to both, which is more important than ever. Throughout the year, we hope to bring more thrilling Happy Readers and Fun Football events to communities all over the UK.

The Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas CBE, stated: “We’re thrilled to see McDonald’s combining football and books for this amazing series of events.” The National Literacy Trust is aware of the potent influence a child’s love of sports may have on inspiring and motivating them to advance their literacy. Reading and staying active don’t have to be mutually exclusive for a child’s development and happiness, as this new study demonstrates. Seeing motivational athletes emphasize the value of reading while exercising is also heartening.