UK's First Ever Virtual Festival of Numbers to Help a Nation at Home With Maths, From National Numeracy

- Celebrities, maths teachers, businesses and the Skills Minister join charity in boosting numeracy confidence on Wednesday 13 May 

BRIGHTON AND HOVE, England, May 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- National Numeracy Ambassadors Rachel Riley, Martin Lewis and Bobby Seagull, Maths Factor creator Carol Vorderman, author Lauren Child, comedian Luisa Omielan and the Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane are among those set to help the nation with its numeracy on 13 May. 

The UK's first ever online festival to help the nation with numbers is being led by the charity National Numeracy, with videos, interviews, book readings for kids, practical sessions for adults, free resources and puzzles on www.numeracyday.com 

The National Numeracy Virtual Festival covers three areas people want support with during this challenging time: helping children; personal development; and getting to grips with household finance. It aims to help everyone feel a bit better about their number skills. 

The Festival will include Lauren Child reading from her Charlie and Lola and Ruby Redfort maths-focussed books, Carol Vorderman answering questions about unlocking maths confidence, Maths for Mums and Dads author Rob Eastaway sharing tips on how to teach maths at home, the Bank of England's Andy Haldane helping with household finance and more. Even Amazon's Alexa will be joining in by answering questions about numeracy. 

With home schooling, for instance, the most effective way to help children is for parents to improve their own confidence and skills with numeracy. Parents' attitudes and beliefs are the main influence on the success of primary school aged children. 

But with just a fifth of the working-age population having the equivalent numeracy level of a GSCE pass (Grade 4)^[1] , it is no wonder people feel anxious. Struggling with numbers can make people more vulnerable to debt, unemployment, poor health and fraud and impacts mental health and opportunities - all exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis. 

So, with number confidence and skills more important than ever, the Day will encourage people to join the 285,000 others who have already started improving their numeracy with the free National Numeracy Challenge. Rachel Riley will be talking people through how to use the tool and opening the Festival.