Summer Tour 2025 | Ben, Brennan and Will share in the joy of reading with Hong Kong youngsters from local football club
Wed 30 July 2025, 11:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson and Will Lankshear today joined a session to inspire local children in Hong Kong to discover the joy of reading.
The workshop was run by Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a family literacy charity that aims to encourage reading for pleasure amongst families to promote bonding and connection. It has been found that only 16% of parents read with their children in Hong Kong, compared to 74% globally.
Both sport and reading bring mutual benefits to children’s cognitive development by improving concentration, memory and critical thinking.
Ben, Brennan and Will share in the joy of reading with Hong Kong youngsters from local football club
• Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson and Will Lankshear joined a literacy workshop during the Club’s pre-season tour visit to Hong Kong
• The workshop was organised for members of a local community football club by Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a family literacy charity that aims to encourage children to read more, starting with shared reading sessions
• The activities fostered meaningful connections with the two groups through the mutual benefits to children’s cognitive development that sport and reading can bring
• The Club has always placed emphasis on education as being a vehicle to help young people to fulfil their potential, with our Foundation working in schools in & around Tottenham to drive educational attainment
The participating children, from a local community football club, have been working with Bring Me a Book Hong Kong to share personal stories from their own football experiences. Inspired by our own motto “To Dare is To Do”, the children came up with their own quotes and created picture books sharing their experiences. The children presented the book to Ben, Brennan and Will, who shared their own football related stories and quotes with the children in return based around the themes of resilience and teamwork.
The activities fostered meaningful connections between the students and the players, with Ben discussing the importance of engaging in literature at a young age.
Ben Davies said: “I’ve always enjoyed reading, I read a lot in my spare time as it helps me stay calm and to learn about new areas of interest. Seeing the young people so passionate about reading was inspiring, and something I aim to replicate with my own children.”
Jeannie Leung, Executive Director of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong added: “Today marked a momentous occasion - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for local youth players to connect with professional footballers through an exchange of personal stories. Children witnessed the transformative power of words and how they can inspire and empower. Reading goes beyond academics, it’s a way to learn about the world, to develop empathy and to discover who we are.”
As part of our support of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has gifted books to the charity to develop a lasting connection.
One of the participants on the day Ly, 12, spoke on this: “Today has inspired me to take up reading thanks to the amazing gift of books from the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. It was such an exciting day overall, getting to meet the players, and also to play games that I haven’t played before and learn about the importance of reading.”
The Club has always placed huge emphasis on education as being the vehicle for young people to fulfil their potential. Our Foundation works in schools in & around Tottenham using the power of football to drive educational attainment.
The Club works in partnership with the National Literacy Trust - of which Ben Davies is an ambassador - to encourage reading amongst school children, last year releasing a Bedtime Story on Christmas Eve, driving donations to the charity’s festive book drive.
