Jane, TRO's director, and Niall, one of our apprentices, working hard on the TRO allotment

This is a cause close to our hearts as we currently have two care-leavers working full-time in their local communities and they are an invaluable asset to the TRO team. We aim to raise £14,000 to employ one more young person aged 16-22 to work with us in Liverpool as a Reader Apprentice, starting work in April 2013. We do a great deal of work with Looked After Children in Merseyside and feel passionately about providing young care leavers with the means to build an independent and fulfilled life.

The apprenticeship will be a life changing experience, consisting of practical, community-based, creative work experience in a flexible programme that will accommodate complex needs and develop several core competencies:

• Social: Social awareness and social skills
• Emotional Resilience: The ability to cope with rebuffs which may be short term, or shocks which consume long periods of time
• Enterprise and Creativity: The ability to shape situations, imagine alternatives, remain open to new ideas, problem-solve, and work in teams.
• Discipline: Inner discipline to pursue goals and the ability to cope with external discipline

No formal qualificiations will be required to enter the programme; we want to support individuals with a spark, a desire to make something of their lives, or with a passion to learn and to change.

The apprenticeship will also provide financial support, with an hourly starting wage of £6.32, well above the apprentice national minimum wage of £2.60 (£4,732 per year). There are currently 985 Looked After Children in Merseyside, vulnerable young people who will face huge emotional, educational and financial pressures when they turn 16 and we are determined to support them in a life changing way. Paying a care-leaver £4,732 will not give them the financial support to live independently or improve their quality of life. This is why we want to raise the money ourselves, so we can pay these young people a living wage that will give them the opportunity to overcome some of the many challenges they face.

To find out how you can support our campaign, and to hear from our current apprentices, please visit our website.

To raise money for the Apprenticeship Programme, 15 TRO staff members are taking on the Three Peaks Challenge on 30th June. To find out more and to register your support, please click here.

http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/trothreepeaks

The British Library Conference Centre, Euston Road, London

With the current highlight on the value of reading for everyone, The Reader Organisation is offering a valuable opportunity to become part of a rapidly growing wellbeing movement: reading aloud together for pleasure.

“I never knew this is what books were.” Ted, a literate non-reader, on reading
with others.

Speakers include:

• Dr Iona Heath, President of the Royal College of GPs
• Jonathan Rose, Professor of History at Drew University (New Jersey, USA), internationally acclaimed specialist on the history of the book and reading
• Lemn Sissay, award-winning poet and the first to write for the Olympics 2012

Day One: Reading to Live Well
Thursday 17th May, 9am-5pm

£199 day delegate rate

Day One is aimed at professionals working to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities – those commissioning, delivering, researching, referring or funding services – who want to learn how our pioneering project ‘Get Into Reading’ can help support service users in their recovery, improve the morale and motivation of staff involved, and promote the importance of reading aloud together for pleasure.

“Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken
place in mental health practice in the last ten years” Dr David Fearnley, Medical
Director, Mersey Care NHS Trust (RCPsych ‘Psychiatrist of the Year’ 2009)

Click here for more information about the programme and how to book your place on Day One.

Day Two: Living to Read Well
Friday 18th May 9.30am-5pm

£99 day delegate rate

*Exclusively for those who have completed our Read to Lead training*

Day Two is a special half-price day of practical sessions, problem solving, and literary masterclasses designed exclusively for those who have been trained by us to run shared reading groups. There will be plenty of time to meet and catch up with trained faciliators working across geographic regions and professional sectors.

Click here for more information about the programme and how to book your place on Day Two.

My Get Into Reading group at ARK homeless hostel has been quite exciting in recent weeks. I feel I am becoming a recognised and increasingly accepted face at the hostel, with residents telling me that they look forward to me coming, and saying cheerfully when I arrive ‘the reading lady is here!’

Because of the chaotic nature of the lives of many of the residents, the reading group is, compared to my other GIR groups, much more filled with movement. It can be quite changeable; people pace around, go out for cigarettes, leave half way through or join in half way through, and can become very loud or very quiet alternatingly. The group at the beginning of the session is often very different to the group at the end, in terms of the people present and the atmosphere in the room. I have found that the structures applied to my other Get Into Reading groups, like having a break together at a particular time, are unrealistic at ARK, where people seem to be in vastly different mental places from each other at any given moment, and need more freedom to engage with the group as dynamically as they are feeling.

By fully embracing this, whilst retaining important Get Into Reading values – like ensuring that everyone is being kind and respectful to each other and that everyone is able to have a voice – the group has grown and grown. Residents have told me how relaxing and stimulating they find the group, and I leave feeling slightly exhausted, but also rather thrilled by the engagement that the reading has achieved.

“It’s great to be seen as a radical; it’s so easy to take books and reading for granted.”

The Reader Organisation, founded by Jane Davis, has been announced as one of Britain’s New Radicals.

In December 2011, NESTA and The Observer, launched an open call to find Britain’s New Radicals: people creating radical new solutions to the challenges our society faces, whose vision is improving the lives of people and communities across the country.

Jane’s vision, to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to develop a love of reading and to share their experiences, has seen her build up this charity and social enterprise, which now employs 60 staff members across the UK and offers a lifeline for hundreds of people, simply by reading aloud together.

Our team of interns made a short film to support the entry for the award, which you can see over on our blog by clicking here.

‘I don’t normally read out like that in class. I can hear it in my head you know, it’s just hard to say it when people are looking’.

In our usual group settings which have ranged between three and seven children B has often remained quiet, allowing others to read, before offering his opinion in the discussions. However, there was one week, when six people were present that B began reading aloud without any prompting. The person next to him had just read a passage and before I could ask if anybody else wanted to have a go B began reading out loud. He only read four lines but it was such a big leap for B and he celebrated at the end of his turn as if he’d scored a goal in the F.A. Cup final. Whilst he was hesitant with some of the words there was a determination in his voice that all the others picked up on and everyone was really supportive. This gave the others confidence to have a go and by the end we were all cheering for each other, be it one line or a whole page, after each child had had their go reading. B’s development so far from somebody who outwardly hated books to someone who is prepared to read in front of others and embrace stories is remarkable and really encouraging for the rest of the group.

Patrick Fisher, Get Into Reading project worker

Walsall Central Library houses adult and children’s sections with comfortable places to sit and unwind as you explore its exciting and diverse collection of books. It also has a dedicated learning centre and a reference library that offer computer classes, adult discussion groups and information sections allowing you to keep up to date with what is going on in the local area. With an open feedback policy and friendly, specialist staff always on hand, the library works hard to ensure they can meet all your needs, whatever they may be.

Reading groups are also valued highly with over 15 reading groups running every month. These range from new born baby groups in Cradle Clubs to weekly shared reading sessions for adults in ‘Feel Better with a Book’ each Friday. The success of the latter has seen a second shared reading group start in the neighbouring Brownhills Library that meets every Tuesday. For the children and teenagers of Walsall there are also plenty of ‘Chatterbooks’ groups held both during the school week and at the weekend across the library service and the opening hours mean that there are even groups after working hours. It’s great to see how active the library staff are and how our training has enabled others to share their love of reading with their local communities.

The new Health and Wellbeing Group in Brownhills Library

Services for young people are excellent with dedicated events in the school holidays as well as those throughout the year. The ‘Circus Stars’ Summer Reading Challenge saw volunteers aged 16-25 encourage and support children aged 4-11 to read six books in six weeks throughout the holidays. The success of this event shows how much the community values its library.

Yvonne Archer at Walsall Central Library 17th August

Live events are frequent and varied at the library. To celebrate National Poetry Day, renowned comic poet Matt Harvey spent the afternoon at the library reading his work and answering questions to a packed out room of visitors. The event was organised by the entire staff at the library and is one of four author visits in October alone.

Matt Harvey in Walsall Central Library

Not just about private reading and solitary study, Walsall Central Library is committed to showing libraries can be the focal point of vibrant community events with books at its centre. Their work and events stretch out into to community and beyond. It’s an excellent example of how lives can be enriched through shared reading and that’s why we love it.

In March 2010 the library gathered together eager volunteers from different walks of life – from retired teachers, to mental health professionals and service users, to mentors for young people, to a Health Coach at Stoke City football club! They were all trained by us to become shared reading facilitators, and after that the volunteers have established groups throughout the city – in Longton Library, Stoke Library in two mental health settings, a day care centre, and the stroke unit of Haywood Hospital – all coordinated by the library service.

The group in Longton Library is going strong, and comments from the readers include:

‘It’s the only thing I do for me and I really love it.’

‘I’d never have thought I’d have had the confidence to read aloud’.

‘Coming here has changed my life.’

Principal Librarian Anne Mackey describes Stoke Reads as ‘small but perfect’ and has just secured NHS funding to expand the project by training more volunteers to run more groups.

‘Stoke-on-Trent Libraries has successfully extended its reader development services through
this project. It’s been a real investment in library staff and volunteers, and we’re continuing to build a
culture of shared reading throughout the city.’

Here’s C’s story:

C had suffered a lot of neglect in his early life and was falling badly behind at school. His carers were also very concerned about his possible autism and behavioural problems, they read with him but felt more help was desperately needed. C was losing much of the enjoyment of reading.

C obviously found it very difficult to concentrate and was quite unstable within the sessions at first. Although he immediately responded to being given a book to hold and flick through, once he opened it his confidence seemed to dwindle and he would give up because he could not find his way around the book or recognise the words. As we were reading it was clear when C was beginning to drift, and his carer would pop in to tell him to concentrate.

During the next few sessions we made our way through a Goosebumps book and C wanted to predict what was going to happen, he asked questions about what certain phrases meant. C read aloud to me but found it difficult, getting words mixed up and not recognising the names of the characters.

A couple of funny poems about food really got C laughing. Reading mixed with being allowed to talk, chat and laugh, seemed to allow C to relax into a routine of reading and talking, and going back to reading.

C read each poem aloud and then asked me to read it again, listening carefully and laughing at the rhymes. After reading poems C was also very keen to carry on with the story book and we were able to stop and chat about what might happen without losing the flow of the book. C talked about the characters in a personal and sensitive way, saying:

“Those sisters don’t hug each other very much, I always give my sister a hug before bed.”

C has connected particularly well with poetry as he can read a whole poem aloud with help and gets immediate pleasure from this achievement and the satisfying humour and silliness of children’s poetry. C now enjoys looking through the poetry book and choosing bits to read in a confident way and C has settled into a routine of reading a story book and concentrates much more easily. C has also mentioned reading and laughing with his carer about the poems in the Spike Milligan book that I gave to him. C’s social worker told me how much he enjoys the reading sessions and is planning to get him a bookshelf and some books so that his enjoyment of literature can be properly fostered.

The library has a brand new youth space, The Crib, where teenagers can jam on electric guitars, enjoy gaming, music, consoles, surf the web on netbooks, and enjoy workshops. They also recently staged a ’Teenage Gig’ featuring a local live band, which attracted over 100 people, and it’s this open-mindedness about what a library can provide that impresses us.

It’s not just young people that the library is keen to reach out to, however – they also hold various regular activities for adults such as work clubs, computer classes, local history surgeries and welfare rights, and they are involved in a lot of partnership work with organisations in the community, including Burnley Football Club and even the local cinema!

They provide weekly shared reading sessions both inside and outside the library, including a group at a mental health project and one in nearby Nelson Library for people with learning difficulties - it’s great to see how our training has enabled others to share their love of reading with their local communities.

The Children’s Library has weekly story time and baby bounce and rhyme sessions, holiday activities, monthly reading groups for primary aged and teenage children, and staff also do a lot of reader development work with children with special needs, including multi-sensory storytimes for families and classes of children from local special schools.

It’s brilliant to find a library with such a strong presence in its community and a willingness to meet the changing needs of its users, and which takes a flexible and innovative approach to doing so. That’s why we love this library!

A different angle on Libraries We Love this time: a library project.  This wonderful project starts off in the USA at grassroots level, getting together a team of volunteers who spend their time creating book drives and forming partnerships between African libraries and American schools/organisations.  By shipping books over to partner libraries in Africa, the project aims to increase literacy levels and in turn, provide a way out of poverty (according to a new study, sixty-five million West African adults – 40% of the adult population – cannot read or write). These libraries then receive support and training from the African Library Project, who to date have given 748,000 books to 701 African libraries (no mean feat). This is a Library We Love because, in their giving, training and support, this project provides so many people, who may not otherwise have access to them, the things that we’re so lucky to benefit from everyday – books.