The Reader launches Christmas appeal to raise £10,000 to expand its work with local people affected by dementia

As the festive season approaches, the Liverpool-based, national Shared Reading charity is launching an appeal campaign calling for help to make a difference to the lives of people living with dementia in the North West. 

This Christmas, The Reader is calling for donations to help reach a £10,000 festive fundraising target to support and grow its valuable work reading with people living with dementia across the Liverpool City Region. 

The charity, based in Calderstones Park, South Liverpool, runs special Shared Reading groups for people with dementia, their families and carers where participants talk about how a piece of literature makes them feel in a space where everyone’s voice is valued and respected.   

Lisa Brown, Development Manager at The Reader, who is leading the fundraising campaign, said: “We are calling for people across the region to support our Christmas appeal to raise £10,000 to expand and develop Shared Reading groups for people and families affected by dementia. 

“One in three people will develop dementia in their lifetime - with your help, we're building a network of Shared Reading groups to support people at all stages of their journey. 

 “A £10 donation could support our recruitment costs for new volunteers; while £40 could pay for four volunteers to travel to their groups for a month.” 

The Reader is working to reach people affected by dementia at all stages of progression through a growing network of partnerships with support services and care homes, from early intervention in the community to more advanced onset in acute care wards. 

Over the last year the charity has been running 55 groups across the North West, London and South West reaching 350 people in settings including care homes, libraries, health services and other charity settings. 

In Britain there are currently 982,000 people diagnosed with dementia, according to the latest statistics from The Alzheimer's Society – and this figure is set to increase to 1.4 million by 2040. Symptoms range from memory loss to confusion, problems with language and understanding and changes in behaviour. 

In the Liverpool region work includes a Shared Reading group at Sedgemoor Care Home and dementia Day Service in Norris Green; a new group set up in partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society in Knowsley; and an open to all weekly dementia friendly Shared Reading group at Liverpool Central Library, launched in September 2023. 

All donations raised through The Reader’s Christmas Appeal 2024 will be used to recruit, train and support volunteers, work in partnership with other services to expand the project’s reach, provide resources, and create more opportunities for helping people living with dementia and their families benefit from the joy of reading.  

Katie Clark, Director of Literature at The Reader, who has been involved in the charity’s pioneering work reading with people affected by dementia over the last 16 years, said: “As a record number of people are being diagnosed with dementia across England this year it’s vital there are easily accessible support services in place within communities so people living with the condition can live well and enjoy a high quality of life. 

“It is wonderful to see so much enthusiasm for Shared Reading within care homes, Liverpool Central Library and other settings. We are working hard to spread and develop more opportunities for this to grow across the region.” 

Sharing books, poems and stories can contribute to improved quality of life, both for people living with dementia and their carers, reducing stress and strengthening bonds, according to a 2016 research study commissioned by NHS North West and carried out by the University of Liverpool (Read to Care: An Investigation into Quality of Life Benefits of Shared Reading Groups for People Living with Dementia). 

The study, conducted with dementia care homes in Wirral, found that Shared Reading in care homes ‘was found to significantly improve the quality of life for those living with dementia as well as providing valuable benefit to care workers and relatives’. 

In particular this looked at the ways in which Sharing Reading can support family relationships, with relatives commenting on how they found a loved one more talkative and ‘engaged’ after a session, how reading gave them something new to do with their loved one, and how in some cases taking part helped a relative reconnect with a loved one.  

Benefits to individuals with dementia include the social aspects of being in a group and the stimulation of cognitive ability by bringing back memories, emotion and sparking imagination. Poetry has been found to be particularly effective.   

Last year The Reader’s first Christmas appeal raised more than £7,000 in support of First Page, its family-focused project across the North West helping children to build confident, positive and rewarding relationships with books and reading for pleasure. 

Find out more about how to support The Reader’s Christmas Appeal 2024 here.