The Reader Organisation Bringing about a Reading Revolution

Get Into Reading 2002

Professor Louis Appleby NHS Director for Mental Health

Get Into Reading Why does Get Into Reading work? Weekly Read aloud Inclusive Focus on the book

“It really brought me out of my shell and brought me back to the person I once was and I’m that person again, and I really appreciate that.”

“It’s been great this – a real boost. I haven’t looked at a book in fifteen years... I’d forgotten what it felt like when you read something like this, the power of words I mean.”

“It moves you, I mean it hits you where it meets you and means something.”

5,000 beneficiaries 303 weekly groups 500 trained facilitators : Stats

“Get Into Reading is one of the most significant developments to have taken place in Mersey Care NHS Trust and Mental Health practice in the last 10 years.” Dr. David Fearnley, Medical Director, Mersey Care NHS Trust RCPsych ‘Psychiatrist of the Year 2009’ Mental Health

“.....groups cost £6 per person per session; by comparison, an in-patient stay costs £9,000 on average.” Alan Yates, Chief Executive, Mersey Care NHS Trust Mental Health

MerseyBEAT Research Study, July 2009 – July 2010 An investigation into the therapeutic effects of reading in relation to depression and well-being. Funded by Liverpool PCT and the University of Liverpool Outcomes:  Improved mental well-being  Increased levels of confidence  More willing to talk and listen to others  Increased concentration  Increased levels of motivation  Aided relaxation & reduced anxiety

Connect with Others “The last years spent with the reading group have been some of the most memorable of and happiest hours of my life.”

Be Active “I look forward to it every week ‘cause I don’t go out, except coming here. This is making me come out, making me get up and get all showered and get out the door.” “I am a lonely pensioner and this reading group is usually the only time in the week when I get out of the house and talk to people. It has expanded my social skills and social life as I now go to events with other members.”

Take Notice “It makes you listen to other people’s opinions because everybody has got a different view, and it’s good to hear.”

What If This Road Sheenagh Pugh What if this road, that has held no surprises these many years, decided not to go home after all; what if it could turn left or right with no more ado than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin were like a long, supple bolt of cloth, that is shaken and rolled out, and takes a new shape from the contours beneath? And if it chose to lay itself down in a new way; around a blind corner, across hills you must climb without knowing what’s on the other side; who would not hanker to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know a story’s end, or where a road will go? A Poem….

A literature based intervention for Women Prisoners: Pilot Study National Personality Disorder Team, Department of Health/Ministry of Justice HMP Low Newton, Durham High rates of self-harm Early Results: Significant Improvements: Wellbeing and Empathy

Get Into Reading Northern Ireland Hydebank Prison, Get Into Reading group 15 members - Benefits noted: - Empathy – Personalisation and dignity – Better communication – Solidarity; a sense of community – Better understanding and greater appreciation of their ‘lifestory’

Extract from The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin (1894) There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

What If This Road Sheenagh Pugh What if this road, that has held no surprises these many years, decided not to go home after all; what if it could turn left or right with no more ado than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin were like a long, supple bolt of cloth, that is shaken and rolled out, and takes a new shape from the contours beneath? And if it chose to lay itself down in a new way; around a blind corner, across hills you must climb without knowing what’s on the other side; who would not hanker to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know a story’s end, or where a road will go? A Poem….

“ A lifesaver.” - Service user, alcohol outpatient service

Patricia Canning Get Into Reading NI Contact Details....