the reader organisations annual report 2013/14

7/27/2019 The Reader Organisations Annual Report 2013/14

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The Reader Organisation

AnnualReport201314


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ContentsAbout UsMISSIONOur mission is to build a reading revolution.

VISIONWe envisage a world in which everyone has

access to great literature, and in which

personal responses to books are f reely

shared in reading communities in every area

of life.

USPGreat Literature Connecting People

The Reader Organisation is an award-

winning charitable social enterprise working

to connect people with great literature, and

each other.

Great literature provides us with vital

information about being human and

opens up our imaginative lives. It gives us

a language for meaningful communication,

revealing what is both common and unique

about our thoughts.

We read great literature aloud together: it

enables us to connect, coming to new levels

of understanding and awareness about our

own lives, and those of other people.

We believe this experience is vital for

everyone. We work to create stimulating,

friendly and non-pressured environments,

where shared meanings are established

across social, educational and cultural

boundaries.

2 Introduction

4 Health & Wellbeing

5 Ds Story

6 Dementia7 A Volunteers Story

8 Workplace

9 Alans Story

10 Criminal Justice

12 A Prisoners Story

13 Grants & Investment

15 Children & Young People

16 My Volunteering Journey

18 Reader Places

20 Awards and Nominations; Publications

21 Events

22 Staff

23 Funders & Commisioners

24 Trustees; Patrons25 Finances


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As the calendar year 2013 began, The Reader won preferred bidder statusfor Liverpools Calderstones Mansion with our proposal for a Centre forReading and Wellbeing. Many good things ensued, perhaps most notably

the enthusiastic take-up of the shared reading groups we put on offer andthe wonderful reception the local community gave to a touring productionof King Lear from Shakespeares Globe, which opened up the CalderstonesGarden Theatre for the rst time in more than 40 years.

A lot has happened at Calderstones but it has been a year of growth anddevelopment across our entire organisation. We were delighted to beidentied for support by Big Venture Challenge (BVC) and Social Business Trust(SBT). We are grateful to the teams at BVC and SBT for their encouragement,

the challenges they posed and the investment they secured for us. Along withthe Ashoka network, which supports me (as Founder) in particular, they havegiven us a sense of a wider network of support for our development as asocial enterprise; its good to know there are people to whom we can turn forextremely professional and experience-based practical advice.

In London, our community projects received a huge boost when wewere awarded a grant from Guys and St Thomas Charity to develop a3-year project to build more than 100 shared reading groups in a varietyof community settings. In the rst 6 months of the this innovative projectour South London team set up 40 plus community groups, bringing theexperience of shared reading to hundreds of Londoners, for many of whom

this was a new experience. A member of one of our Southwark groupswrites:

Its been cathartic and touched things in me that I didnt expect to betouched, in a very organic way. We are all from somewhere else, verydifferent backgrounds and weve found something in common.

Far from Southwark, we are reaching some of the less-densely populatedparts of the UK. We continue our work in Devon and Cornwall and our

North Wales team is developing shared reading in the remoter reaches ofClywd as part of our North Wales Big Lottery funded project. Volunteergroup leader Alison Jones writes:

New friendships have been formed, new horizons opened up andcondence has been boosted. The reading revolution has started inBuckley Library!

Increasingly our work is not simply about geographical spread but aboutworking to join things up. In May, our national conference (page 21) saw theRight Honourable Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health,receive a heart-felt response from our audience for his moving reading ofTony Harrisons poem Book Ends, as well as an inspiring conversation about

the relation of reading to the whole-person health agenda.

IntroductionThe Reader has long worked across a wide range of what might otherwise be siloed areas education,wellbeing, physical health, mental health, ageing, dementia, brain injury, children with profound emotional needs,people involved in the criminal justice system and many others. Guys and St Thomas Charity grant gives us avaluable opportunity to show what a wide and deep provision of shared reading can do in a particular area,cutting across these silos of provision, and meeting the whole person.

A new development in this period was a Reader-in-Residence project with Plus Dane Group. I found it excitingto hear each week about literary reading taking place in a wide range of work place environments, including therepair van depot. On page (page 9) Alan Denman, a plumber in the Plus Dane team at Ellesmere Port, writes:

I have been introduced to books and authors which have changed my reading interest. I am thankfulPlus Dane supported Read to Lead.

Elsewhere, we have been working with our long term partner Mersey Care, as well as other NHS Trusts, todeliver innovative work as part of the new recovery college movement, and in September 2013, we helda Mental Health Think Day at Calderstones Mansion House, meeting mental health service users to plancollaboratively for the future of shared reading provision.

We have continued to work with our research partner CRILS (Centre for Research into Reading at Universityof Liverpool) building on existing research into the effects of shared reading. It is our intention to commissionfurther research into this much-needed and exciting area of work. CRILS published An Evaluation of a PilotStudy of a Literature-Based Intervention with Women in Prison in 2013.

Less visible than our community, health or workplace projects, shared reading is happening in many secureenvironments around the country: groups in HMPs Hindley, Liverpool, Wormwood Scrubs and Durham, as wellas a number of approved premises, provide the beginnings of a pathway of shared reading provision which mighthelp offenders make the tr ansition to become members of the wider social community. A prisoner writers:

I... have learnt more of what it is to be a human being, the role of emotions in myself and others, in factthe whole range of human experience... than I have in half a dozen psychological treatments .

This was the third year of ongoing work with Liverpool Hope University. This year we signicantly changed theshape of our delivery, training student volunteers as Reading Ambassadors who take our shared reading model

to Hope Partner schools. This works for everyone: the students gain an understanding of the power of readingfor pleasure through their delivery of sessions with children, partner schools get additional help with reading,and the future of reading for pleasure is secured by engaging the commitment of young teachers in the earliestyears of their professional lives.

Building on our school-based work, I was delighted to be asked to lead Liverpool, City of Readers, a LiverpoolLearning Partner ship initiative, in January 2014. The Readers involvement in this project will be reported on in

the next Annual Report.

A book that we have used widely in the Hope and other young peoples projects is The Unforgottten Coat,

which Frank Cottrell Boyce wrote for and donated to The Reader. Franks book won Germanys DeutscherJugendliteraurpreis 2013, the worlds leading childrens literature prize. The book was also nominated for theInternational Board on Books for Young People Honour List in the writing category in November 2013.

I want to thank our commissioners and supporters, our Trustees and all my colleagues, both staff and volunteers,for the effort you have put into building the reading revolution, and our shared reading group members, for

turning up week in and week out, and putting thousands of hours into the serious pleasure of serious reading.

Jane Davis, MBE, Ashoka Fellow

Founder and Director


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I believe everybody can benefit and grow from reading booksirrelevant of their circumstances.So said D when he started to attend a shared reading group,but as usual, his shyness and fear of speaking in front of peoplelimited him. Confidence was at an all-time low:Secretly, I had always wondered, what was the pleasure peoplegot from reading books? Ten I found out.During the followingweeks as the group read and discussed stories and poetry. I wasencouraged to have a more active role. Reluctantly, I gave it ago. Te effect on me has been very profound. Ive experiencedso many emotions; failure, success, fear, laughter, tension andescapism. Most of all, how enjoyable and magical reading can be.aking part has been one of the most rewarding things Ive doneand also allowed me to meet some very special people.Te reading sessions have helped me to open up and challengemyself in so many ways. I am more confident speaking to people orin groups. Im willing to try or attempt new things and my writinghas somewhat improved too. I can even say reading was a majorfactor in me securing my current employment.When D started attending the group he was unemployedand lacking in confidence. He got a job interview througha back to work scheme and did his prep, learning about thecompany, rehearsing what he might say. But it was not just

Ds new-found confidence and hard work that got him the jobbut that at interview he kept talking about his shared readingexperience and it was that excitement and passion that helpedpersuade the interview panel that D was the right person forthem.D still attends a shared reading group every week having askedhis employer to structure his week around it.Looking to the future, I hope to use this experience to developfurther and help introduce reading to more people of all ages.

Ds StoryHealth &Wellbeing

ur mission to improve health and wellbeing through shared reading has developed

in exciting ways this year. We work within clinical, care and community settings and

have seen our number of beneciaries increase dramatically through a series of new

projects as well as in ongoing work.

A successful bid to the Guys and St Thomas Charity saw the launch of a 3-year

shared reading project to improve the wellbeing of over 1000 beneciaries across

South London. As part of this project, our Readers in Residence have set up over 40

shared reading groups in a range of settings in libraries, mental health wards (including

eating disorder units), mental health community centres and homeless hostels. Weve

trained staff from a variety of organisations to be able to deliver shared reading after

the project closes, ensuring we leave a lasting legacy across Lambeth, Southwark,

Lewisham and Croydon. The project also includes a large-scale research investigation

into the health and wellbeing benets of our activities, so as to demonstrate the

impact of the intervention to as broad an audience as possible.

A report (An evaluation of the social value of Get Into Reading initiative in Wirral,

Merseyside, May 2013) conducted by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John

Moores University examined the social impact of shared reading groups in Wirral,

showing how the lives of group members are improved in real, measurable terms.The report found that for every 1 spent on the delivery of shared reading groups in

Wirral, an average of 6.47 is brought back in social return, meaning that members get

the equivalent of this amount as an improvement to their overall health and wellbeing.

Readers across our work this year reported:

84% said it has helped me to think about things in a different way

78% said it has helped me to understand people better

82% said reading has improved my mood

85% said Im more able to relax

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The Reader Organisation is a great example of how to improve peoplesmental wellbeing, in an accessible, acceptable, positive and effective way. Itwonderfully demonstrates the profound impact that participating in the arts,and learning, with other people, has on peoples wellbeing. I would commend

this approach to any commissioner or practitioner wanting to improve mentalwellbeing. Its exactly the sort of non-medical, non-stigmatising, non-labelling,

cost-effective community activity we need to see more of.

Jude Stanseld,

Consultant in Public Health, Public Health England


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Dementia

We established projects for people living with early onset and advanced stages of

dementia and their carers, in community and care settings across the UK. Key projects

have started and grown in the North West, South West and London, and in the form

of a unique volunteer project in North Wales funded by Big Lottery.

The Reader Organisation has three projects for people living with Dementia in Barnet

and Brent. These projects are Altogether Better (leading reading groups in Community

settings for people with dementia and their carers). Reading For The Brain (leading

groups and reading One to One both in care and community Settings) and Jewish

Care (leading groups in care and day settings with people from early onset to

advanced dementia).

We currently have 17 weekly shared read aloud reading groups in North London,

spread across both Barnet and Brent. Our groups range from dementia friendly

community groups to groups with members in advanced stage dementia, where

people still recognise words and lines from poems both old and new.

In Merseyside, the Big Lottery funded Volunteer Reader Scheme is engaging

with older people in various care settings, including specialist work with people

with dementia. This year we entered year 3 of the project, and have around 100

volunteers reading regularly with over 500 older people in varied settings including

day centres, care homes and sheltered housing.

Results from our Knowsley work showed that we reached 210 individuals with 933

reading experiences across 8 settings with evaluation showing:

75% of residents had improved mood

58% of residents had increased concentration

69% of residents had improved ability to recall or remember things.

Staff in care homes have noted both the dedication of our volunteers, and the impact

of the reading sessions.

It takes me off other things when I am there. I feel like a different person. I readthe poems again afterwards and it would all come back. She could express thepoem really well. It enabled me to understand better. She made it stand outand enjoyable, not everybody could do that.

Resident in from the Knowsley Care Home project

My background is in English teaching, secondary trained, and I do love books. In particular,working with people with memory loss with reading is what I wanted to do because I believe inthat pure, simple pleasure of reading. I also think that its something thats taken away with a lot ofother support groups that can happen for people with memory loss literature can be forgotten,and so for me that was really important to see, that we celebrated it again.

Te reading is of paramount importance, and what I enjoy is seeing the reaction of people. Ithought it would be beneficial and I thought I would see it; what I wasnt prepared for was theextent to which it happens; it is unbelievably moving and it is a real joy. We all seem to know thatthis is a safe place as well; that everybody can share things and emotions and memories.

Being in the group has taught me to put the analytical and critical side of myself aside sometimesand simply look at the text for enjoyment and a nudge for memory and nostalgia, which is a lotmore important. Its very interesting to have memories that people speak about but we root it all inthe text. I also enjoy the calmness that comes from reading the text at a slower pace, its lovely.

I would encourage anybody whos the slightest bit interested to get involved because its incrediblymanageable; Im here for an hour and a half, theres a variety of libraries to choose from that peoplecan take part in, and to see the effect it has on other people and on oneself is worth it.

A Volunteers Story

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I would recommend shared reading groups to anyone as the effect on mywellbeing and ability to work condently has been immense.

I have found a new love of reading and relating the extracts to real life. I haveimproved on my reading aloud as well as my writing skills. My stress levelshave reduced and I feel more condent in my job and in my personal life. TheReader experience works!

Siobhan Kent, Floating Support and Service User Involvement Ofcer,

Plus Dane and Shap Working as One

he principal aim of the Reader-in-Residence project with Plus Dane Group was

to embed a culture of reading for pleasure and wellbeing within the Plus Dane

workplace as well as within Plus Dane neighbourhoods and local communities. We

delivered a wide range of shared reading activities across the organisation, which

included regular shared reading groups for staff and customers across the different

regional Plus Dane sites as well as bespoke team reader sessions to address specic

organisational needs. The project plan also involved the delivery of a Read to Lead

course which successfully trained 12 members of staff plus 1 Plus Dane customer and

community champion. The project achieved a high level of combined engagement for

both Plus Dane staff and customers, reaching a total of 453 individuals through shared

reading activity, delivering a total of 288 shared reading activities, and producing an

outcome of 1, 660 unique shared reading experiences.

Staff who engaged with the shared reading activities reported a wide range of

personal and professional benets, most notably including:

Help with stress management

Development of wellbeing

Improved internal communications with colleagues

Improved external communications with customersPersonal development of a positive interest

The overriding impact of the shared reading activities directly related to stress and

wellbeing, with 84% of staff reporting that they had been feeling more relaxed since

attending a shared reading group. Engagement with the project was also shown to

have a huge impact on staff condence within the workplace, with 81% reporting that

they felt more condent in taking part in group discussions and sharing their opinions

with others and 78% more condent in reading aloud. Furthermore, participation in

the project also resulted in improved staff relations. 75% said that they felt more able

to understand and take on board other peoples opinions, for example, and 75% also

said that the shared reading group provided the opportunity to connect with their

colleagues in a new way.

Workplace

T

Below is a reading testimonial from Alan Denman, who works as a Plumber for Plus Dane Groupand is based at Rossfield Road depot, Ellesmere Port. During the 12 month project, Alan attendedthe weekly staff session in Ellesmere Port and also helped with internal staff recruitment. Hesuccessfully completed Read to Lead in 2014.

Building Blocks

My Name is Alan Denman, my Council Service has spanned over 37 yrs as a plumber, with other trade

maintenance skills.

Te idea of the Reader project was initially met with scepticism. Group Reading Not My Ting thatwas my initial thought when asked whether I would be willing to try it by my manager Karen Lewis.After a short chat with her, explaining that reading a book simply wasnt possible due to the busy familylife I had, I agreed to give the Reader project a go!

Tat first staff reading group session was a surprise I wasnt expecting!! Te reading sessions provokediscussion. Very much like building a wall. Each thought and idea expressed is like l aying bricks. Tesketch below perhaps gives another expression of what I am trying to say my idea of the reading group.Te short stories chosen by Clare for the group were very enjoyable. Reading part of a story, pausingto discuss and hear other views and ideas, made the sessions very interesting and at times a differentconclusion was reached. I found this very thought provoking and it introduced me to authors I had noknowledge of. Discussion with colleagues was also enjoyable.

Te Reader project encourages and promotes discussion without feeling judged or embarrassed, also it helpsto express and to speak more clearly, this should help with work communication. Having taken part I havebeen introduced to books and authors, which has changed my reading interest. I am thankful Plus Danesupported Read to Lead and hope more interest will be shown from other colleagues.

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Alans Story


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pearheading our work in criminal justice settings this year are the projects funded by

the National Personality Disorder Team NHSE/NOMS. Readers in Residence are now

an integrated part of daily life in the Psychologically Informed Planned Environment

(PIPEs) at HMP Gartree, HMP Send, HMP Frankland, HMP Low Newton, HMP Hull,

Kirk Lodge Approved Premises, Leicester and Stafford House Approved Premise,

Liverpool. The full-time Reader in Residency which spans HMP Frankland and HMP

Low Newton has demonstrated the broader impact of shared reading across the

prison community.

Now when Im reading outside of the group, like reading reports that havebeen done on me, I slow down and dont jump to conclusions usually I jump

to conclusions when I see something a bit negative, but the reading group hastaught me to slow things down Im using that principle when reading on myown, stopping, thinking, talking to others. So its not just feeling relaxed in thegroup, its outside it too its had a massive impact. Its simple skills to help memanage its stopped me from getting irate a few times.

Shared reading group member, HMP Frankland

Staff have remarked on the contribution of shared reading to an enabling

environment.

For the rst time, the prisoners have made a regular commitment to doingsomething. There are at least two regular members of the group who have notengaged with any of the other groups on offer

Prison Ofcer, HMP Gartree

With the support of the clinical leads, it has been possible for two prison ofcers

from each PIPE to receive Read to Lead training. The Readers in Residence have

been able to provide ongoing mentoring, support and reading materials as these

edgling shared reading practitioners embark on their journey. Charlie Darby-Villis,

Reader in Residence at HMP Low Newton offers this perspective:Sessions are relaxed but focused a disciplined relaxation where, through thebook, we share something special. I often get the sense that group membersare trying out thoughts and behaviours that have been suggested elsewhereon the PIPE, working things out in the safe space of a discussion about a storyor a poem. In October, funding from the Greater Manchester West NHSMental Health Foundation Trust enabled us to extend our Reading in SecureEnvironments (RISE) programme. Group members responded very well to thevisits of poet Gillian Allnutt and novelist Gavin Extence, whose work we hadalready looked at in the group. Guardianjournalist and former prisoner, Erwin

James, was also able to visit the group. He joined in with a very moving sharedreading session before an open and honest discussion with the women about

the importance of books and reading in his life.

Criminal Justice

S

Elsewhere, shared reading is happening at HMP Hindley, funded by the Greater Manchester West NHS

Mental Heal th Trust; HMP Liverpool, funded by the Offender Health Team, NHS England; HMP Wormwood

Scrubs, funded by the Psychological Therapies Specialist Services Division, Central London CommunityHealthcare NHS Trust; HMP Durham commissioned by the Activities Unit Manager, HMP Durham; Greater

Manchester Approved Premises, funded by The Greater Manchester Probation Trust; Adelaide House

Approved Premises, Liverpool funded by the Pilgrim Trust and the Hope Programme, Manchester, funded by

Achieve North West.

RISE, funded by Arts Council England, culminated in events linked with the London Literature Festival,

including a visit to Wormwood Scrubs by Lionel Shriver.


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Life in a high security prison can be rather grim at times and a persons perceptions can become twistedwhen all the normal points of reference are on the other side of a high wall. Tis can manifest itself inmany destructive ways most notably through the insidious process of institutionalisation, a moral inversionwhere good seems bad and bad seems good. Some simply call this nick culture, and the only way to free amind of this is to reconnect it with a more healthy framework. One way of accomplishing this is the simpleact of reading.I have always been a reader but after years of doing so without anybody to talk to about the things I was

reading it became stale, more a habit than a joy. Ten, thankfully, along came Lynn and Te ReaderOrganisation which was like a cool drink of water on a hot day seemingly without end. I was struggling, Ireally was. I hope that doesnt sound too dramatic but the depth of my feelings are so, the b enefits to myselfjust as important. If reading by oneself in isolation is inherently edifying, and I believe it to be so, thenhow much more so when you read with others of a like mind? Te connections and insights of a sharedreading group are endless and some of those most in need of new connections and insights are prisoners. Imyself have actually become more tolerant of people and value their opinions far more than I used to as Iam constantly amazed by the depth of those insights which frequently resonate with me deeply.Te emphasis of Te Reader Organisation is great literature and our group, so far, has read everythingfrom Silas Marner to our current book Frankenstein with lots of great poetry (which always complimentsthe current book) and short stories as well. I have benefited greatly from this emphasis and have learntmore of what it is to be a human being, the role of emotions in myself and others, in fact the whole rangeof human experience in these finely crafted works than I have in half a dozen psychological treatments.

Another benefit for myself, and I dont think it a coincidence, that since first attending the reading group Ihave been writing far more. I am unsure if my writing is any better (creatively, not handwriting, that hasalways been atrocious) but it is certainly better informed and I again find the process enjoyable.Yet another important benefit is the confidence a cquired from reading aloud in a safe, supportive andnon-judgemental environment. I have suffered with anxiety and a lack of confidence for most of my lifeand reading aloud has helped me to realise I am perhaps better with people and social situations than I

thought. It gives me a sense of worth again.

I know all of the men in the group well and it is a fact that they have all benefited in some way. I haveseen my friends reading and then writing poetry in their own time who before attending the group had notthe faintest idea about it nor the inclination to find out.

Tis I think is the most important benefit of the reading group. It connects us, prisoners, lifers in a highsecurity prison, with the beauty that we always suspected was beneath the c oncrete and razor wire or dimlyremembered in another life. No less important than all of these direct benefits is the example set by Lynnand others. Teir selfless dedication and nobility of spirit is a great inspiration to men who have lackedpositive role models all their lives and makes me feel a part of something immeasurably positive.

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A Prisoners StoryGrants &Investment

Social Business Trust

n June 2013, The Reader Organisation received 280,000 investment from Social

Business Trust 100k cash grant and 180k professional support from their

corporate partners British Gas and EY. This investment has helped The ReaderOrganisation invest into our core capacity through the creation of a Senior

Management Team, renement of business processes and development of a new

Strategic Plan. With these solid foundations in place, we are well positioned to achieve

our objective of delivering 1,920 weekly reading groups within ve years and engage

over 17,000 individuals, bringing closer our vision of providing access to shared

reading groups to everybody in the UK.

The encouragement and belief we have received from staff at Social Business Trust,

British Gas and EY has signicantly increased our condence in our ability to achieve

our ambition.

Big Venture Challenge

n April 2013 The Reader Organisation was selected as one of the 30 winners of

the Big Venture Challenge, a programme run by UnLtd to provide support raising

investment and delivering social impact at scale. Being identied as one of most

ambitious and scalable social enterprises in the UK was a really achievement and along

with the business support has had a measurable impact on our business performance.

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Children &Young People

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Before Christmas I heard three children walking past my ofce on their wayback from their group still talking about the poem they had just read. In myfteen years of teaching at the school this was the rst time I had heard anychildren, let alone three 8 year olds, all still contributing to a serious discussion

about a text outside of the classroom.

Mrs Gonzalez, Head Teacher,

Sacred Heart Primary School

e have a range of projects working with children and young people in the education

sector; the community and with Looked After Children. Along with projects in these

settings we are now able to run open childrens groups at Calderstones Mansion.

Jane Davis was appointed as the Director of Liverpool City of Readers, a Liverpool

Learning Partnership initiative, in January with a brief to develop a culture of reading

across the city with particular emphasis on working with young people who need

more help.

This was the third year of the project with Hope University and the one in which

we signicantly changed the shape of our delivery to build upon our experience

in the previous years. We now train Reading Ambassadors: students volunteer in

Hope Partner schools after attending a training programme run by The Reader. At

the time of writing, there are 10 Reading Ambassadors reading with a total of 39

pupils in 9 of Hopes partner schools each week. This equates to 20 hours of reading

for pleasure being delivered every single week via Hope student volunteers. Many

of the children these students read with come from disadvantaged or vulnerable

backgrounds, where reading for pleasure does not get encouraged or provided in the

home environment. In addition to this, a further ve students have completed training

and are awaiting placement with a school, and a further nine are trained and awaiting

DBS clearances to enable them to begin their volunteering.

Teachers at the host schools are also commenting that they can see the impact their

Reading Ambassador is having upon pupils.

K was chosen because he is reading below his expected age His mumcannot read so he has never had any input from home- this really upsets mumand she is delighted that he is getting this extra support. He doesnt have anybooks at home and has never really wanted them but now he asks if he can

take home a class library book to read to his mum. When he gets told he cantake one, he wants to take three!

Literacy Co-ordinator at St Annes (Stanley) Primary School in Old Swan


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Alison Jones

My husband David introduced me to Te Reader Organisation. He met Jane Davis and heard that TeReader ran shared reading groups and had big plans for a reading revolution in North Wales. He knewI would be interested because of my fondness for a good story! Im forever pleading with him to readnewspaper articles out loud to me or saying, go on, read me the next chapter of your book. So when Ilearned more about Te Reader I was thinking how lovely it would be to have an hour and a half everyweek where I could lose myself in a story. I didnt start out thinking that I would be a facilitator of ashared reading group. However, I heard myself volunteering over a cup of coffee with Jeanette and Leah

last summer and Im so glad I did!

Ive been so impressed with Te Reader Organisation: the way it looks after its volunteers, the quality of thetraining (including delightful trainers and gorgeous venues), the serious intent of the organisation to openup literature to all comers, and the knowledge of literature, stories and poetry that is a characteristic of theemployees and volunteers generally. In fact one of the joys of having joined up is meeting such a great crowd what is the collective noun for a group of Te Reader volunteers? It would be great to be able to capture allthat they know about the power of literature to heal, motivate and delight readers and which poems and storieswould do the trick. But most of all its great to be in the company of such a warm and lively bunch of people.

Of course there is also the literature. I had loved English Lit and poetry in particular at school. Howwonderful to be choosing and reading a short story and poem every week and opening up that windowinto books and writers again for myself as well as others. I have never read a novel by Dickens (shameon me!) I always thought it was a bit too dense and complex and now, having shared the reading ofexcerpts from a couple of his novels, I am really keen to read them in their entirety. And thats been helpedby the enthusiasm of readers in my shared reading group who love Dickens. Tey are working on my lackof Dickens whilst Im eager to extol the virtues of the poetry we read each week some members are slowlywarming to the idea.

And yes, the main thing is our shared reading group which has been meeting every Monday lunchtimeat Buckley Library since October 2013. After a slow start (when it was just Jeanette, me and my long

suffering parentsyes, I brought my mum and dad!) we now get a regular 79 people every week. So far,we have been reading short story and poem combinations the group is reluctant to progress to a novel asthey are still enjoying the surprise of a new story and its characters every week. Im so thrilled that they keepcoming back and they assure me that its not just the custard creams that they turn up for! We have lots oflaughs, discuss all sorts of things from the everyday shared experiences, to the frankly weird, wonderful andsometimes unbelievable! Weve touched on: earliest memories, the importance of recognising that simplethings bring the most pleasure, the curse of money and extreme wealth, qualities in our different friendships,problems with sleeping and even Scottish independence! I have a game with myself every week; how longit will take for something that has come up in our reading group to have some resonance in my socialconversations, business dealings or whatever that week? I rarely get to beyond Wednesday.

New friendships have been formed, new horizons opened up and confidence has been boosted. Te readingrevolution has started in Buckley Library!

My Volunteering Journey

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he Reader Organisations development of its International Centre for

Reading gained signicant momentum this year. Located within the beautiful

surroundings of Calderstones Park, securing Calderstones Mansion House

and its surrounding buildings have presented The Reader Organisation with a

unique opportunity to set up an innovative and sustainable home for shared

reading that delivers measureable social value to the city and the widerregion. With great literature at its heart, the centre aims to connect people

and signicantly improve the quality of their lives, providing a new type of well-

being provision that serves as an international model. At Calderstones, we aim

to offer a unique programme of shared reading groups, courses, activities and

volunteering opportunities that work harmoniously together to support

recovery and improve wellbeing in a safe and stimulating environment.

We had hoped to engage 640 people in 201213, but reached over four times

as many individuals:

1500 visitors came to The Reader Summer Fair, including many families from

across the city

1000 visitors came to the theatre garden for the Globes production of King

Lear in July

Over 150 weekly group members attend the 12 weekly reading groups,

ranging from people aged 5 months to 86 years old.

Shared reading groups include 3 childrens groups, 7 open community groups

and 2 groups commissioned by Mersey Care NHS Trust as part of their

Recovery College. The feedback from beneciar ies has been consistently

positive and group numbers are extremely high, ensuring that the Mansion

House is being utilised and enjoyed by a very broad cross-section of the

community.

Leasowe Reading and Wellbeing Library pilot model

in Wirral

The Reader also piloted a new library model in partnership with Wirral Library Service this year,

developing the Leasowe Reading and Wellbeing Librar y in response to a recognised need for a

new model of librar y provision in Wirral. Working alongside Wirral MBC and local partner s, this

project sought to pilot a new library model that would bring together the holistic benets of

reading, in a new model of service that promoted literacy and health wellbeing.

The rst reading and wellbeing library of its kind, based in a community setting (the Millennium

Centre) in the heart of the Leasowe area, the library model aimed to adapt the current library

space to offer sessions and activities that promoted public engagement, while aiming to reduce

health and educational inequalities in the area. The overall main aim of the new library model was

to investigate if it was possible to deliver reading and health and wellbeing activities via Wirral

Library Services, and as a result improve library users mental health and wellbeing, while reducing

social isolation. Data shows that over the period of the pilot launch (April 2012 to August 2013)

library visitor numbers increased greatly, up 68% on the previous year. Evaluation par ticipants

stated that overall, the pilot model had been a success and that they had gained many things from

engagement with Leasowe Reading and Wellbeing Library. There was much social value gained

by engagement with the library model, which is reected in the SROI ratio of 13.18 for the rst

year of the pilot launch.

Reader Places

T

19


12/15

20 21

Awards &

NominationsThe Reader Organisation won the Third Sector Social Impact

Category at the Social Impact Awards, as well as being

nominated for Large Charity of the Year.

Winner of the Growth Award at the Social Enterprise

Network awards in Liverpool, as well as receiving Runner Up

accreditation in the Creativity and Healthy Environment

Categories.

The Unforgotten Coat, written for The Reader Organisation by

Frank Cottrell Boyce, won Germanys Deutscher

Jugendliteraurpreis 2013, the prize for Childrens Literature.

Jane reached the nal stages of the Ogunte Social Leadership

Awards and was shortlisted in the Social Business Leader of

the Year category.

Shortlisted in the Smarta100 Awards, celebrating the most

innovative small businesses in the UK in the Biggest Social

Impact category.

Spark Award Runner up in 2013 community group.

Social Enterprise Nor th West nalist.

Events201314 was The Readers busiest ever year for hosting and being invited to events.

Three of the most notable highlights include:

Shared Reading for Healthy Communities, The Reader Organisations National Conference 2013

The conference was held at the British Library for the second time and was considered a huge

success by both staff and attendees. Speakers this year included Andy Burnham MP, Shadow

Secretary of State for Health, Professor Louis Appleby, National Clinical Director for Offender

Health, along with representatives from mental and public health, library services, and academia.

King Lear at Calderstones Mansion House

The stage at Calderstones was brought back to life for the rst time in forty years by the very best

in British theatre, Shakespeares Globe with King Lear. Starring Joseph Marcell, the tickets sold out in

days and the production (and venue) received 5 star reviews.

RISE

Liverpools In Other Words and Writing on the Wall Literary Festivals

Poets Rita Ann Higgins and John Burnside visited in-patient units at Mersey Care and 5 Boroughs

NHS Trusts, and HMP Liverpool respectively, before appearing at a joint public event at LEAF on

9th May.

London Literature Festival

There were three separate author visits to secure environments as part of this festival, including Jon

McGregor, Lionel Shriver at Wormwood Scrubs, and a special visit by Womens Prize judge

Natasha Walter to the Orchard Unit at West London Mental Health Trust to discuss the prize

shortlist with group members the day before the winner was announced. All public events were

held at the Southbank Centre throughout the end of May and early June.

Reading Poetry Festival

John Hegley read with prisoners from the Young Offenders Institute at HMP Reading before his

public appearance at the poetry festival on 7th June.

Accounts of all RISE events can be found at: www.risereader.org.uk

Other notable events include:

Reading for Wellbeing, Southbank Centre

Reading for Pleasure Conference Hope University

In Other Words Liverpool Literary Festival

Calderstones Summer Fair

Frank Cottrell Boyce at Leasowe Library

Guys & St Thomas Launch

Penny and Hapenny Readings

Forum Housing: Keep Calm and Read On

Connect at Calderstones Lunch

PublicationsThis year marked a special occasion forThe Reader Magazine

as it reached (and surpassed) its 50th issue.

Our much beloved anthologiesA Little Aloud,A Little Aloud for

Children,Mintedand Poems to Take Homecontinue to the be

widely used in groups and sold around the world via our

website. Work on several other anthologies to be published in

the coming years has begun and we trust that they will

continue to reach thousands of people and spread reading

aloud to ever wider audiences.


13/15

22 23

Our revolutionary Get Into

Reading projects across Great Britain

as detailed i n the Trustees report are

funded and/or commissioned by the

following:

Tesco Charity Trust

Big Lottery England

Big Lottery Wales

Liverpool Hope University

Halton Borough Council

Knowsley CCG

Liverpool City Council

Liverpool CCG

Broadgreen International School

Connexions

Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen

University

Hospitals NH S Trust

Limbourne Trust

Merseyside Probation Trust

Verbal Arts Centre

5 Boroughs Partnership NHS

Foundation Trust

Greater Manchester Probation

Greater Manchester West Mental

Health NHS Foundation Trust

Lloyds TSB Foundation for England

and Wales

Liverpool Charity and Voluntary

Service

JP Getty Junior Charitable Trust

Alzheimers Society

Mersey Care NHS Trust

The Trusthouse Charitable Trust

Egremont Primary School, Wirral

St. Annes Primary School, Wirral

Woodchurch High School, Wirral

Wirral Alternative Schools

Programme

Wirral MBC

Forum Housing

Birkenhead Foundation Years Trust

Wirral NHS Third Sector

Development Fund

Southwark Council

Merchant Taylor Trust

Inner North West London Primary

Care TrustMaudsley Charity

The Guys and St. Thomas Charity

Jewish Care

Barnet Council

Central London Community

Healthcare NHS Trust

West London Mental Health NHS

Trust

Tri-Borough Library Service

The Tudor Trust

Devon Library Service

Plymouth Library Service

Plymouth City Council

Cornwall Rural Community Council

Wiltshire County Council

Wokingham Libraries

Berkshire Healthcare NHS

Foundation Trust

NHS England

The Tudor Trust

A B Charitable Trust

The Pilgrims Trust

HMP Kennet

HMP Hindley

HMP Durham

HMP Manchester

HMP Wormwood Scrubs

National Personality Disorder Team

at the

Department of Health/Home Ofce

Arts Council England

Ashoka

The Architectural Heritage Fund

Gareld Weston Foundation

Grosvenor Estate

The Headley Trust

Henry Smith Foundation

The John Ellerman Foundation

Liverpool City Council

Apprenticeship Fund

Liverpool Learning Partnership

The SIB Group

Siobhan Dowd Trust

Social Business Trust

Caroline Adams

Chantel Baldry

Michelle Barrett

Nicola Bennison

Eamee Boden

Amanda Boston

Amanda Brown

Lizzie Cain

Stef Camm

Chris Catterall

Katie ClarkVictoria Clarke

Sue Colbourn

Rachel Coleman

Sarah Coley

Dave Cookson

Josephine Corcoran

Charles Darby-Villis

Ben Davis

Jane Davis

Brian Denton

Frances Dryden

Casi Dylan

Leah Edge

Clare Ellis

Lynn Elsdon

Grace Farrington

Patrick Fisher

Penny Fosten

Emma Gibbons

Zoe Gilling

Karen GrahamVal Hannan

Chrissie Harland

George Hawkins

Megg Hewlett

Paul Higgins

Vanessa Hogbin

Sarah Hopkins

Cheryl Hunter

Roisin Hyland

Jennifer Jarman

Zoe Jermy

Core &Charitable FundersStaff

Christine Johnson

Alex Joynes

Lee Keating Jenny Kelly

Beverley Laroc

Abigail Leader

Laura Lewis

Emily Lezzeri

Alyssa Lloyd

Angela MacMillan

Siobhan Mealey

Emma MellingAnthony McCall

Maggie McCarney

Anna McCracken

Jennifer McDerra

Kate McDonnell

Michael McGrath

Alexis McNay

Selina McNay

Paddy Morrison

Marian Murray

Val Nobbs

Luke Pilkington Jones

Beth Pochin

Sophie Povey

Laura Saksena

Brachel Salmon

Lisa Spurgin

Madeline Stanford

Danny Start

Katherine Stevenson

Sally SweeneyDamian Taylor

Rosie Ernst-Trustram

Ian Walker

Emma Walsh

Lois Walters

Charlotte Webber

Mary Weston

Helen Wilson

Jeanette Wooden

Edward Woollard

Claire Yates

Commissioners


14/15

24 25

Finances

TrusteesSimon Barber,Chief Executive, 5 Boroughs (joined

board November 2013)

Professor Philip Davis, Director CRILS (rejoined

board July 2013)

Brian Denton, Management Accountant (stepped

down November 2013)

Lindsay Dyer(rejoined board April 2014)

John Flamson, Director of Strategic Partnerships and

Innovation, University of Liverpool

Steven Hawkins, Chief Executive, Local Solutions

Rosemary Hawley, MBE

Lawrence Holden

Dr Shyamal Mukherjee, MBE, Medical Director, NHS

Wirral

Roger Philips, Broadcaster, BBC Radio Merseyside

Kathy Doran(Vice Chair)

Susan Rutherford (Chair)

PatronsErwin James

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Blake Morrison

David Almond

A S Byatt

David Constantine

Howard Jacobson

Brian Keenan

Anna Lawrence Pietroni

Sir Andrew Motion

Lemn Sissay MBE

Jeanette Winterson

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS STATEMENTTO THE TRUSTEES OF THE READERORGANISATION

We have examined the summarised nancialstatements for the year ended 31 March2014 set out on page 25.

Respective responsibilities of thetrustees and the auditorThe trustees are responsible for preparing

the summarised nancial statements inaccordance with applicable United Kingdomlaw and the recommendations of theCharities SORP.

Our responsibility is to report to you ouropinion on the consistency of thesummarised nancial statements with the fullannual nancial statements and the TrusteesAnnual Report.

We also read other information contained inthe summarised annual report andconsider the implications for our report if webecome aware of any apparentmisstatements or material inconsistencieswith the summarised nancial statements.

We conducted our work in accordancewith Bulletin 2008/3 issued by the AuditingPractices Board.

OpinionIn our opinion the summarised nancialstatements are consistent with the full annualnancial statements and the Trustees AnnualReport of The Reader Organisation for theyear ended 31 March 2014.

Peter Taaffe FCA CTA DChA (Senior

Statutory Auditor)For and on behalf of BWMacfarlane

Chartered AccountantsStatutory AuditorCastle Chambers43 Castle StreetLiverpoolL2 9SH

98,1555,688

103,8431,521,054

1,624,897

1,208,543116,61072,039

146,163

1,543,355

4,5001,547,855

77,042

321,865

398,907

162,8048,048

170,8521,896,390

2,067,242

1,511,630239,77776,674

164,785

1,992,866

5,8261,998,692

68,550

398,907

467,457

INCOMINGRESOURCES:incoming resourcesfrom generated fundsDonations and legaciesInvestment income

Incoming resourcesfrom charitable activities

Total incoming resources

RESOURCESEXPENDED

Charitable activites:

Get Into ReadingLiterary LearningEvents and PublicationsCommunication and Development

Total charitable expenditure

Governance costsTotal resources expended

Net income for the year /Net movement in funds

Fund balances at 1 April 2013

Fund balances at 31 March 2014

119,113

119,1131,537,602

1,656,715

1,497,44116,41310,000

132,861

1,656,715

1,656,715

43,6918,048

51,739358,788

410,527

14,189223,36466,67431,924

336,151

5,826341,977

68,550

398,907

467,457

unres

tricted

funds 2

014

totalres

tricte

d

funds 2

013

total

12,649

386,258

398,907

398,907

398,907

220,1741,018,269

1,238,443

(852,185)

5,182

462,275

467,457

467,457

467,457

318,983890,424

1,209,407

(747,132)

Fixed assetsTangible assets

Current assetsDebtorsCash at bank and in hand

Creditors: amounts falling due withinone year

Net current assets

Total assets less current liabilities

Income funds

Unrestricted funds

2014 2013

The statement of nancial activities also complies with the requirements for an income

and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating

to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the Financial

Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008).

The accounts were approved by the Boardon 29 October 2014

S RutherfordTrustee

Company Registration No. 06607389


15/15

26

The

Reader

Organisationwrite to us at:

Calderstones Mansion

Calderstones Park

Liverpool

L18 3JB

call us on:

0151 729 2200

email us at:

[email protected] us online:

www.thereader.org.uk

follow us on Twitter:

@thereaderorg

Company Registration Number:

06607389

charity number:

1126806 (Scotland 043054)

the reader organisations annual report 2013/14

Documents