Hay Festival is launching a series of new initiatives in response to the growing UK literacy crisis, adding to the charity’s growing list of learning and engagement projects aimed at widening participation in the arts.

This month, a pilot Hay Festival residency in Hereford's St Thomas Cantilupe Church of England Primary School will see five artists – poet and Children’s Laureate Wales Alex Wharton, theatre maker Toni Cook, composer Aaron Diaz, choreographer Sonia Sabri, and artist Sarah Morton – work with the pupils to create a community performance based on their stories.

And towards the end of the year, two new days of free activities for schools will be added to Hay Festival Winter Weekend on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 November with artists engaging pupils in creative workshops to spark a love of reading for pleasure.

Supported by Arts Council England and the Hodge Foundation respectively, these projects add to the charity’s wider work with schools, including the Scribblers Tour and Scribblers Cymraeg each spring and autumn, plus the free schools programme at the flagship spring event.

The news comes on the back of a recent report from the National Literacy Trust around the UK’s growing literacy crisis with around 25% of 11-year-olds reaching the end of primary school without the ability to read fluently and confidently.

Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said: “Hay Festival is for everyone. Our mission is to provide accessible platforms for audiences to engage with culture and exchange new ideas.

“Our learning and engagement projects are a critical part of this and we are grateful for the support from the Hodge Foundation, Arts Council England, and our Patrons, Benefactors and Chair’s Circle, to enable this to continue and flourish. As an international charity, we reach millions of people every year through our one-of-a-kind Festivals, Forums, programmes, and digital platforms and we couldn’t do this without support from funders.”

One of the world’s leading cultural charities, Hay Festival was founded in Hay-on-Wye, Wales in 1987, providing audiences with dynamic platforms to come together to share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world.

As part of its mission, Hay Festival works year-round in the UK and around the world to offer free access to events for audiences in need, including successful engagement programmes for young people, reaching more than 15,000 pupils annually.