iHV attends BookTrust’s centenary reception hosted by The Queen

15th October 2025

Yesterday evening, Alison Morton, iHV CEO, attended BookTrust’s reception hosted by Her Majesty The Queen at Clarence House. The reception marked BookTrust’s centenary and also featured the launch of an exclusive Peter Rabbit book which will be given to babies as part of the charity’s Bookstart Baby programme which introduces every baby to the joy of books and reading.

Each year, health visitors introduce over half a million families to story sharing, using the programme to bring families together and create, for every child, a sense of stability, well-being and connection through reading. BookTrust research shows that reading from the earliest years has a powerful impact at a critical stage of children’s development, helping them build strong bonds with caregivers and develop important life skills, beyond literacy, as they grow.

Bookstart Baby has supported families with newborn babies for over 30 years. Health visitors, registrars, and many other early years partners take part in the programme, which reaches 90% of all newborn babies. The programme provides books to families along with help and advice on early reading, often given at one of the health checks in the first nine months of a baby’s life.

This year’s Bookstart Baby book is a new Peter Rabbit story, Four Happy Bunnies, created exclusively for BookTrust’s Bookstart Baby programme. It has been written for babies under one-year-old and will be appearing in the Bookstart Baby packs soon.

The author Sir Michael Morpurgo, BookTrust’s President, gave a short address at the reception, highlighting the importance of reading to your baby. He also delighted the audience by reading the new Peter Rabbit book.