Martina Cole to lead Six Book Challenge adult literacy drive

In a drive to tackle the UK's damaging literacy problems, The Reading Agency has enlisted the support of bestselling author Martina Cole who will formally champion the charity's 2014 Six Book Challenge. Latest Government figures show that 14.8 million people of working age in England alone would not gain an A*- C grade at GCSE and 5.1 million of these are still at or below the literacy level expected of an 11 year old.

Launched in 2008, the charity's annual, nationwide Six Book Challenge is being increasingly recognised as a key intervention using reading for pleasure to help tackle this continuing skills deficit. Ninety per cent of survey respondents say that they are more confident about reading after taking part in the Challenge which invites them to pick six reads and complete a reading diary. The scheme has grown five fold over the past six years with 35,000 people taking part in 2013 via public libraries (13,000), colleges (13,500), prisons (7,000) and workplaces (1,500).

With new materials for the 2014 Six Book Challenge available to order now, Martina is leading the Challenge into what looks set to be a seventh record-breaking year. She will be meeting Six Book Challenge participants at events around the UK in 2014 and all completers will receive a certificate signed by Martina in her role as Challenge ambassador.

Martina says: "I really wanted to become an ambassador for The Reading Agency because reading is such a big part of my life. The wonderful thing about the Six Book Challenge is that people who don't normally read, or who think that reading isn't their bag, are encouraged to pick up a book. When you read a book you have to picture it all in your own mind. No one tells you what you're seeing or what you should be feeling. That's the secret of reading – it's such a personal thing."

Linda Shaw, 61, from Huddersfield had spent a lifetime 'covering up' for a lack of confidence in her reading and writing, having left school with no qualifications. So when she signed up to do a computer course at Huddersfield Workers' Educational Association, and a tutor also signed her up for English classes where the Six Book Challenge was being run with support from Kirklees Libraries, she was pretty reluctant at first. But she has found that reading has given her a new focus in life. Linda says: "I feel like I have got through a barrier. Now when I read a book, I can concentrate. I owe a lot to my tutor. Reading has given me something to focus on, and I really enjoy it."

The Reading Agency is again offering a national prize draw for completers in 2014, this year won by Gillian Grindley, a grandmother from Shropshire, who gets a trip to London, with three runners-up who have been given Kobo eReaders. And so far 58 organisations have won one of the Six Book Challenge's new gold, silver and bronze awards for their number of completers during 2013 with Northampton College leading the field at 283 completers.

"We are pleased that so many students took part in the Challenge this year," says John Bexson, deputy principal of Northampton College. "As part of preparation for GCSE English we encouraged students to engage in the project and many did. We are now delighted to see a 12% increase in our A* - C grades in English results; surely proof that participation in the Six Book Challenge really can help to develop skills as well as enjoyment."

The Reading Agency is developing a new website for Six Book Challenge participants with mobile company Three, which will be ready from early November 2013 for anyone wanting to start the 2014 Six Book Challenge. This will allow them to enrich their experience of the Challenge by creating an online profile, logging, rating and reviewing what they read and searching for their next read in our unique Find a Read database for less confident readers.

Hugh Davies, corporate affairs director at Three, says: "We believe the internet can play a massive role in breaking down any number of social barriers and it is great to see it being used to encourage people to read more, share recommendations and hopefully unearth their new favourite book."

"Organisations are making the Six Book Challenge work for them," says Genevieve Clarke, who leads The Reading Agency's Six Book Challenge and adult literacy work. "We're really pleased to have Martina Cole on board plus fabulous support from partners such as Three as we take the scheme to even more people who will benefit from it."

Martina Cole is the acknowledged queen of crime drama. Her most recent novel, The Life, was a No. 1 bestseller in hardback and paperback and is one in a long line of similarly successful novels. Several of Martina's novels have been adapted for the screen, most recently The Take and The Runaway which were shown on Sky One to remarkable reviews. In addition, Two Women and The Graft have been adapted for the stage; both were highly acclaimed when performed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, which also staged Dangerous Lady in 2012, celebrating 20 years since Martina's debut novel was published. Martina continues to smash sales records with each of her books, which have sold in excess of 11 million copies in total. In 2011 Martina surpassed the £50 million sales mark since records began and was the first British female novelist for adult audiences to achieve this. October 2013 sees the publication of Revenge, her 20th novel.

Also continuing to give their valued support to the Six Book Challenge are best-selling authors and previous ambassadors Andy McNab and Adele Parks. Andy says: "This scheme is making a big difference. I'm proud to be associated with it and I will continue supporting the work of The Reading Agency in any way that I can."