What I like about the NLA is that it's not concerned solely with the rude mechanics of teaching literacy; it actively promotes the sheer enjoyment of words and books to enhance the quality of life. Books for fun, and words for all, say I!

The work of the NLA is of national importance - promoting the liberating role of literacy in the lives of all children, especially some of the most disadvantaged. I am proud to become a Patron.

Reading is power. May the NLA live long to encourage more and more people to seize this power.

We need to greatly increase the standard of literacy and the National Literacy Association is doing wonderful work to help people of all ages which is critical if we are to achieve a civil society.

I know the power of the work and I know that the work of the NLA had the power to change lives. Keep it up!

Mackenzie Thorpe (b.1956, Middlesborough) is an internationally renowned artist; his work needs no words as they speak a universal language, which communicates to people of all ages, across continents, irrespective of class or colour. Mackenzie was born with a talent to draw and paint, just as he was born with a learning difficulty, which meant he struggled with reading and writing. As an adult his dyslexia was eventually diagnosed, however by then he had achieved success in the art world utilising his skills to communicate the isolation and frustration he experienced as a child.

Mackenzie is keen to recognise and support the work of the National Literacy Association commenting 'I know first hand the pain and embarrassment that comes from being unable to do something that everyone else seems to find so easy and take for granted. As a child I thought I was stupid, that's what I believed. In this day and age it is so sad that there are still children and adults who suffer on their own and try and cover up their struggles. I hope my story and my work not only highlights the need to offer support and understanding to those who struggle with literacy but also shouts loud and clearly that there is a brighter future'.

In 2000 Mackenzie was awarded an Honorary Master of Arts Degree from the University of Teesside. In 2003 he was delighted to become a Patron of the National Literacy Association. He has enjoyed the success of major exhibitions in England, Australia and the United States and is due to complete a second tour of the Far East in Summer 2005.

Being a Patron of the NLA has made my decade. Now I can really put the fear of The Whale into the people who make the important decisions.

Keep up the good work.

I was a trustee in your youth; now, as a patron in your maturity, I know you will continue to take the wonderful world of words to children. It will make a positive difference to their lives.

Verna Wilkins is founder and Managing Director of Tamarind a publishing company, which she has run successfully since 1987. She is also the author of 30 picture books and seven biographies for young people.

Verna is a Patron on the National Literacy Association and a Trustee of Ealing Parent Partnership.

Verna was born in Grenada where her father was instrumental in introducing Caribbean History to a curriculum dominated by Britain's past. Verna worked as a Lecturer in English and Business for ten years before founding Tamarind and is the recipient of many awards for her contributions to children's literature. Verna believes that the early years of childhood are important in their own right, as well as being the foundation for later life.

Her main aims, as a publisher, are:-

• To put black children 'in the picture' in their early years' books
• To represent disability unselfconsciously
• To represent black and disabled children positively in classroom resources
• To publish books which provide them with role models for success.

She is an internationally acclaimed speaker whose mission is to empower children and carers of children for success.

Tamarind produces a range of high quality, stunningly illustrated children's books with a focus on diversity and inclusion. In this successful range of books for all children, black children have a high, positive profile and disability is unselfconsciously depicted. Tamarind's award winning books are beautifully illustrated with stories about computer-literate tooth fairies, professional female giants and Caribbean mermaids.

Tamarind books are popular with parents and teachers and have won many awards. They feature regularly on BBC, TV Children's Programmes (Words and Pictures, Balamory, Cbeebies) and are included on the National Curriculum SATs list consistently.

Verna is the author of 30 picture books and biographies for younger people including Dave and the Tooth Fairy, awarded Book of the Year status, The Life of Stephen Lawrence and the biographies of Benjamin Zephaniah (Poet & Author) and Chinwe Roy (Artist who painted the Jubilee 2002 portrait of the Queen). The Biography of Benjamin Zephaniah won the Book of the Month with Junior Education.

A moment which will remain forever in Verna's mind, is when a young black girl said to her, "I always wanted to be an author but I didn't think I could be one until I met you today."

There is also a choice of board books and picture books for babies and toddlers. Tamarind biographies feature successful black people living and working in the UK today.

Tamarind Books' mission is based on the following: "We believe all children should be valued for who they are. They should live in an environment which respects their own identity, culture and heritage and they should meet people like themselves in the books they read."

Literacy is the greatest tool a human being can have; it can allow you to travel the world from the comfort of your armchair, It can make you smile when you least expect to, it can connect you to people you may never meet, and it can liberate you if you are oppressed. I became involved with the National Literacy Association because I believe that a literate nation is an imaginative nation, a nation of people who feel free to express themselves, and an intelligent nation. I want to be part of that nation, so I want to play my part in building that nation.