LRF Appreciates Volunteers Who Made A Difference in 2025

Every literacy movement has its books, programmes, and public milestones. But behind the scenes, it is people who carry the work forward. For the Literary Renaissance Foundation’s 2025 Volunteer Appreciation Day, that truth took centre stage.

Held as a reflective virtual gathering, the session brought together volunteers, programme leads, and coordinators from across Nigeria and the diaspora. It was part celebration, part stocktaking, and part strategy meeting, anchored by a shared belief that reading, when nurtured deliberately, can reshape young lives.

Opening the session from Prescot, England, Babs Oladele, founder and lead coordinator, framed the day as more than an annual courtesy. Volunteer appreciation, he noted, is embedded in the organisation’s culture. It is a way of recognising labour, strengthening community, and ensuring that people remain at the heart of literacy work.

A Literacy Movement Powered by People

From virtual book readings to policy-facing conversations, the foundation’s programmes rely on volunteers who give time, expertise, and creative energy, often across continents and time zones. Their work sustains initiatives that connect Nigerian youth with books, writers, and conversations that reflect their realities.

The appreciation day offered space not only to say thank you, but to pause and reflect on what has been built together and what lies ahead.

Programme Highlights: What Has Been Built

Monthly Virtual Book Readings
LRF’s monthly sessions continue to connect young readers with Nigerian authors, breaking geographic barriers and reinforcing reading as both accessible and relevant.

Quarterly Literacy and Education Dialogues
These forums convene educators, advocates, and stakeholders to interrogate literacy challenges and education quality in Nigeria. The team’s growing capacity to produce technical and policy-oriented outputs was formally acknowledged during the session.

Undergraduate Writing Competition
In collaboration with the National Association of Students of English and Literary Studies, the foundation hosted a national writing competition that surfaced emerging voices, offered publication pathways, and affirmed the value of early literary exposure.

Internship Programme for Emerging Writers
LRF’s internship pipeline continues to develop writing discipline, editorial skills, and professional confidence among young writers, many of whom later transition into volunteer or leadership roles.

A Room (and Screen) Full of Voices

Despite the inevitable challenges of virtual meetings, introductions created a warm, collaborative atmosphere. Participants joined from multiple locations, including:

• Hajiya Olabisi Olasupo, Director for Schools Outreach, joining from Ibadan
• Samson Dawodu, Director of Publicity, joining from Lagos
• Ifeanyi Francis, volunteer from Port Harcourt

A lighter moment emerged when Tejumade Oke, delayed by connectivity issues, finally joined the call only for everyone to discover it was her birthday. The meeting briefly transformed into a celebration, reinforcing the sense of community that defines the organisation’s work.

Honouring Service: Volunteer Recognition in 2025

A total of 38 volunteers were formally recognised for their contributions in 2025. With improved tracking of volunteer hours, the foundation awarded certificates and tokens based on levels of engagement.

More significantly, enhanced financial recognition was introduced for volunteers who exceed 40 hours of service. The move reflects a practical commitment to valuing consistency, labour, and time, an often-overlooked dimension of nonprofit sustainability.

Field Insights: The Realities of Outreach

Volunteers were encouraged to share candid reflections from the field. Olasupo Olabisi spoke about challenges in Ibadan, including declining participation as student volunteers graduate and the occasional materialistic expectations encountered in partner schools.

Still, his confidence in the long-term impact of sustained literacy engagement remained firm. The discussion reinforced a shared understanding: literacy work is relational, complex, and often slow, but deeply worthwhile.

Digital Access and the Limits of Virtual Work

Connectivity challenges featured prominently in discussions. Samson Dawodu highlighted the data costs and network instability that make platforms like Zoom difficult for some participants in Nigeria.

While acknowledging these realities, Babs Oladele outlined the platform’s advantages, particularly live streaming and recording, and confirmed that alternatives such as Microsoft Teams would be evaluated to improve accessibility.

Growing the Next Generation of Leaders

The conversation also turned to sustainability. Ideas were floated around involving secondary school students alongside undergraduates to build leadership capacity earlier. Although scheduling constraints currently limit SS2 participation, the discussion signalled a broader vision of continuity beyond university cohorts.

Individuals Who Made a Difference

Special acknowledgements were given to:

• Funmilayo Makinde, for leading research and quarterly dialogues
• Amos Akande, for sustained engagement with federal agencies in Abuja
• Hajiya Olabisi Olasupo, for consistent leadership across programmes and school outreach

Volunteers themselves echoed the spirit of the day. Reflections touched on service as its own reward and the fulfilment that comes from giving back to communities through literacy.

Looking Ahead

As the session closed, Babs Oladele reaffirmed the foundation’s commitment to refining volunteer engagement systems, supporting its people, and expanding outreach initiatives that place reading at the centre of youth development.

The gathering ended not with formality, but with gratitude, a reminder that when volunteers are seen, supported, and celebrated, literacy work travels farther and lasts longer.

About the Literary Renaissance Foundation

The Literary Renaissance Foundation is dedicated to reviving reading culture and strengthening literacy in Nigeria through school outreach, community programmes, youth writing initiatives, and sector-wide dialogue.

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