Bringing about a Reading Revolution The Reader Organisation

SO good luck came, and on my roof did light, Like noiseless snow, or as the dew of night: Not all at once, but gently, as the trees Are, by the sunbeams, tickled by degrees. Robert Herrick

YMCA - millions

Get Into Reading  Weekly  Read aloud  Inclusive  Focus is on the book What is it, and why does it work?

1000+ weekly beneficiaries in areas such as mental health, looked after children, elderly care, criminal justice, education 330 weekly groups coordinated by The Reader Organisation in through UK, plus sister projects in Australia, Belgium and Denmark 500+ independent shared reading practitioners trained by The Reader Organisation, inspired by Get Into Reading project, method and ethos : Get Into Reading in Numbers

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 “I’d just be sitting at home if I wasn’t here in the reading group. It gets me out and gets me thinking and afterwards I go out of the room still thinking about the poems we’ve read!” Lucy, group member at Bootle

Glasgow Women’s Library ‘Unwind with a Book’

CRILS Evaluation Report A literature-based intervention for Older People living with Dementia Major conclusions Quantifiable data and qualitative evidence indicate engagement in reading- group activity produced significant reduction in dementia symptom severity Indicative because of small sample size and no control

Recommendations A literature-based intervention for Older People living with dementia Extended to older care settings Project Worker Reports Future Research Future Training

Ask Me Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life. Others have come in their slow way into my thought, and some have tried to help or to hurt – ask me what difference their strongest love or hate has made. I will listen to what you say. You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say. William Stafford

Casi Dylan Literary Learning Manager