The Reader Online

The snow didn’t hold us back this time and the new beginning for ‘New Beginnings’, our Conference, Supper and Readers’ Day, was deemed a triumphant success from all involved and attending. Delegates joined us from as far a field as London, Dundee, Cornwall, Durham, Monmouth and Denmark, to join in the discussion about the future of Get Into Reading and enjoy lots of reading together.

At the GIR Conference, Jane Davis talked through the story of Get Into Reading, which was followed by Blake Morrison talking about his first visit to Merseyside to write ‘that’ article and the impact that had not just on us but on him also. This was followed by a showcase of GIR facilitators from over the country, explaining how they’ve taken GIR back to where they live. The morning and afternoon workshops, which covered such diverse topics as: Reading with Young People, What is Reading?, MerseyBEAT Research Project and Get Into Reading in Libraries; were felt by delegates to be really informative and engaging – as was the whole conference. One lady said to me, “thank you for this, it’s been an invaluable experience for me.”

A particular highlight from Friday were the testimoinies spoken by some of our courageous Get Into Reading members, which were deeply moving and inspiring.

The Friday Night Supper saw Blackburne House transformed from day conference venue to an inviting, atmospheric dinner venue. Jane and Phil Davis were joined by David Constantine and Clare Allan to discuss ‘The Value of Reading in a Life’, which led to some amusing and heartfelt stories of the impact of reading. The audience joined in the conversation in great spirit and everyone left very full of food for the body and soul.

The Readers’ Day was great fun! Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips was our host and we had the presence of Clare Allan, Tim Pears and David and Helen Constantine, as well as TRO staff Angela Macmillan, Kate McDonnell and Jane Davis recommending their favourite reads for the first part of the day. Brian’s Paradise Lost workshop was particularly popular and I think everyone’s agreed that he needs to do one for each book of Milton’s epic…

Some comments from attendees:

“I found all the sessions so helpful and informative and the whole atmosphere so friendly and welcoming.”

“It’s been an invaluable experience for me.”

“A phenomenal inspiration: buzzy atmosphere, inspiring content, great lunch, excellent venue, fantastic organisers and punters, really good.”

“Please do this again next year!”

The Reading Revolution, it’s happening!

From Penny Markell, Project Manager for Get Into Reading London

At The Reading Cure event in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London yesterday more than 70 people from health and mental health services, libraries,homelessness organisations and publishing companies, as well as interested writers, journalists, counsellors and an architect joined us to hear about the power of reading groups, and eat cup cakes.

Andrew McCulloch and Jane Davis

Jane Davis (Director, TRO) read ‘Crossing The Bar’ by Tennyson, showed photos demonstrating the huge range of people coming to reading groups, and shared some experiences of the impact of reading on children, vulnerable adults and firefighters; Lindsey Dyer (Director, Service Users and Carers, Mersey Care NHS Trust) talked about the learning and understanding she’s gained from books (particularly Laurie Lee) and why she commissioned Get Into Reading at Mersey Care; Dr David Fearnley (Medical Director, Mersey Care NHS Trust) told us about his group in a secure psychiatric unit at Mersey Care and their enjoyment of stories by Anton Chekov, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie.  Andrew McCulloch (Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation) worked hard to keep the speakers to time, allowing the audience to get involved and ask questions, and at the end lots of people stayed around to ask more questions, share their enthusiasm and desire to get reading groups happening in their organisation.  Get Into Reading London has truly arrived!

On Tuesday 2nd March, we officially launch Get Into Reading London at ‘The Reading Cure’, a special event at RIBA for health professionals, writers and publishers, commissioners and  community organisations interested in Get Into Reading.

Speaking at the event will be:

• Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation
• Jane Davis, Director, The Reader Organisation
• Dr David Fearnley, Medical Director, Mersey Care NHS Trust (RCPsych Psychiatrist of the Year 200)
• Lindsey Dyer, Director of Service Users and Carers, Mersey Care NHS Trust

The event has sold out and we’re hoping that this will mean big things for Get Into Reading London, so watch this space… the Reading Revolution is growing!

The Reader Organisation is seeking an exceptional individual to work on a new project in Hydebank Prison, Belfast.
We have secured funding to run a Get Into Reading pilot in two women’s prisons, one of which will be Hydebank Women’s Prison, Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is challenging and ground-breaking work and we need to find an individual who is a tremendously committed reader, who understands the comforting and possibly redemptive power of books, and who is able to share that passionate understanding with others. The successful candidate will be committed to the ethos of The Reader Organisation. We will offer specific and relevant training.

The role requires you to set up a range of Get Into Reading experiences for women in the prison – some will be one-to-one, others group sessions and to introduce a culture of shared reading into the prison. Other work may involve children/families of the women. We expect to start the project in April 2010.  We would look to develop more work in or near Belfast if the successful candidate wishes to work more hours.

You will need to undergo full vetting procedures including an enhanced CRB check.

How to apply:

Please send a full CV and a letter of application – no more than 3 sides A4 – which will show what reading means to you and how you can pass it on to others to   Jane Davis, Director of The Reader Organisation: janedavis@thereader.org.uk.

Please talk about specific reading experiences/books/poems that mean a lot to you. Tell us about your reading experience – breadth and depth. Tell us about your life experience and how that might fit you for the job. We expect most candidates will have a degree in literature, but this is not a formal requirement for the post.

Deadline for applications: 5.00pm Friday 26^th March. Please note: applications arriving after this deadline will not be considered. Please make sure your contact details include a phone number by which we can contact you if you are called for interview.

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 13^th April, Belfast (venue t.b.c.)

Today marks the official re-launching of Toxteth Library – following a £1.3m Big Lottery refurbishment.

To celebrate, Toxteth Library will host a  mini-festival called Through The Eye of The Tiger .There will be lots of community based activities taking place both inside Toxteth Library and in the natural square formed between the library and Windsor House Health Centre just across Windsor Street.

Eleanor Stanton, our Get Into Reading Project Worker based at Toxteth Library, will be there to tell people about the project and hopefully, recruit a few members for her reading groups at the library.

All of the activities – including tai chi, dance classes, food stalls and learning advice – will commence from 1pm and be available through to 8pm at night – we hope that you can make it down there to show your support.

There can’t be many films which would appeal to poetry lovers and rugby fans but that is what Clint Eastwood has set out to do with Invictus, his new release about Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby World Cup. To see a poem take a starring role alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon is quite something. And like Freeman and Damon,  ’Invictus’ does its job brilliantly.

People who are involved in Get Into Reading may know the poem because it’s been read in quite a lot of groups. It’s always a lovely surprise to see this Victorian gem, which might be considered a bit obvious, a bit corny, come to life in human hands. The poem has a  kind of magic about it, in that the more difficult the lives of its readers the more moving it becomes.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

I hadn’t realised that it was a key poem for Mandela during his years of incarceration (and wish I had, as some politically correct persons have occasionally  told me that they are  troubled by the undercurrent of colonial racism hinted at in Henley’s use of the word ‘black’).

The film is an old-fashioned move-you-to-tears and to-punching-the-air triumph-over-adversity story, which had me in tears within minutes, perhaps seconds. Mandela’s calm determination and belief is worth learning from, there’s a terrific performance from an actor whose name I don’t know but who used to be nurse in Casualty, Damon has found his niche as a lumpen inarticulate but courageous sportsman, and Freeman was born to play Mandela: the two are now one in my mind, as if they always were one and the same. Go with a rugby fan, take hankies for two, and be prepared to be inspired.

We can now confirm that the New Beginnings Conference and Friday Night Supper (Friday 5th March at Blackburne House, Liverpool) have sold out.

Places are still available, however, on the New Beginnings Readers’ Day (Saturday 6th March, same venue).

To book your place, or if you have any queries, please contact Claire Speer: clairespeer@thereader.org.uk

If you missed Why Reading Matters, which was broadcast on BBC Four last year, and feaures The Reader Organisation’s pioneering outreach project Get Into Reading, you can watch our part (from about five minutes in) here on YouTube:

The documentary, about the incredible power that reading unlocks in the brain,  also features Philip Davis, editor of The Reader magazine, investigating the ‘Shakespeared Brain’ – how the shapes of Shakespeare’s lines and sentences effect our minds:

• Job based in Liverpool/Wirral
• Full-time – but would consider part-time
• 1 year fixed term contract (£15,000 -£18,000 p.a. pro rata)

This is a dynamic and varied job requiring you to promote, set-up, establish and facilitate weekly Get Into Reading groups in order to promote well-being and good mental health for a range of community members in both Liverpool and Wirral.  Client groups include  Carers, people living in Care Homes, people with a range of physical or mental health problems, and members of the general population who might enjoy  shared reading.

Read more about the job role and how to apply on our website.

Just a quick note to say that this week (30th Jan – 6th Feb) is National Storytelling Week. Follow in the steps of Get Into Reading and share a poem, short story, or even a page or two of a favourite novel with someone by reading it aloud with them: it is easy to think of storytelling as something solely targeted at children but the truth is that we can all get great enjoyment from listening to a really good story. Be a part of the Reading Revolution!