TRO Annual Report 2009-10 Download

8/8/2019 TRO Annual Report 2009-10 Download

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THE READER

ORGANISATION

ANNUALREPORT200910

THE READINGREVOLUTION


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THE READER ORGANISATION

ANNUAL REPORT200910


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now reached as far as Australia, where the Reader way of doing things was enthusiastically received. TRO also held its

rst national conference New Beginnings taking stock of achievements and looking to the future.

The work of the organisation has received a lot of mediaattention this year and was even mentioned in the Houseof Lords as an example of the way that culture can impactpositively (and cost-effectively) on health. If the bene ts of reading aloud have begun to be recognised, then TRO islargely responsible for getting that message across. Thanks

to its groups, many people who have struggled to cope withlife are nding suppor t and direction through books. And for those who still struggle, because of ill-health or dementia,reading or being read to can be a great comfort.

Ours is a dif cult economic climate for brave new initia - tives. But the Reading Revolution deserves all the suppor tit can get. Long may the revolution ourish.

Blake Morrison was Chair of Trustees 20092010, and is

now Patron of TRO

FOREWORDBLAKE MORRISON

The Reader Organisation is committed to changing lives through literature and it does so in many different places hospitals, care homes, refugee centres, prisons, schools,homeless hostels, libraries and childrens homes. Its guidingprinciple is that through sharing a book in a group peo -ple are allowed a break from their everyday lives while at

the same time being given a space to engage imaginatively with their dif culties. Its a way of reconnecting people whofeel that theyre not connected, that they dont matter, that

theyre not at the centre of their own lives.

Though the charity originated and still has its heart inMerseyside, its work has begun to spread across the UK and beyond. This has been an exciting year for TRO, with adoubling in the number of groups and volunteers, the settingup of research projects to evaluate the therapeutic ben-e ts of reading, and the preparation of the organisations

rst-ever anthology, A Little, Aloud.Training programmes have


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ABOUT THE READER ORGANISATION

The Reader Organisation (TRO) works to spread the many bene ts of reading far and wide, getting great literature off

the shelves and into the hands, heads, and hearts of every-one.

Our various projects aim to turn reading from an oc-casional solitary activity into a regular, shared experience.This not only brings books to life but makes reading for lifein every sense, encouraging people to engage with litera-

ture on a prolonged basis and in turn, encounter the ways inwhich it can greatly enrich and improve a life.

Join The Reading Revolution if you would like to ex -plore working in par tnership with us, offer us funding or sup -port, champion our cause or join a Get Into Reading (GIR)group, please get in touch using the contact details at the

back of this report.

This report details our activities from April 2009March2010.


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READER EVENTS45 Words and Images Readers Day 46 Penny Readings47 The Reading Cure48 New Beginnings

IN THE SPOTLIGHT51 Making News

52 Website and Blog53 The Reader Magazine

THE READER ORGANISATION54 Organisational Information55 Trustees58 Staff 60 Partners62 Our Aims63 Public Bene ts and Future Developments

SUMMARY ACCOUNTS64 Accounts66 Auditors Statement

3 Forew ord, Blake Morrison4 About The Reader Organisation6 Bringing About a Reading Revolution7 Introduction, Jane Davis

REACHING OUTGet Into Reading11 Merseyside

13 Mersey Reads16 Wirral Children and Young People21 The Annual Get Together 24 Beyond Merseyside, North West28 Beyond Merseyside, London

Liverpool Reads29 The Savage, David Almond and Dave McKean

Read to Lead Training

33 From Alt Valley to Australia!

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT39 Current Research Projects41 Focus: Grace Farrington43 Strategic Relationship with the University of Liverpool

CONTENTS


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Providing a range of services and interventions whichbrings books and reading into the lives of people for whom they might not be a natural resource;

Focusing attention on the social and personal value of books and reading through PR campaigns;

Working in partnership with other agencies to developnew projects which will promote books and reading;

Developing research which will support the value of reading in a variety of areas, e.g. mental health, educa-

tion, regeneration.

The focus of our work is engaging ordinary people in sharinga wealth of great writing; getting books off shelves and into

the hands of those who most need them. Behind the work there is this thought books can reach people in their deep -est or most hidden selves and provide encouragement anda source of hope. We call this the Reading Revolution.

In order to help bring about this Revolution we undertake the development of projects and partnerships withother organisations in order to make books and poetry more widely accessible and available to the general popula-

tion. The strategies we use to do this include:

A READING REVOLUTION

BRINGING ABOUT


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hundreds of copies of The Savage up the stairs into LiverpoolCentral Library, or read a report from one of our projectworkers reading with Looked After Children, or waved off

(metaphorically speaking) our intrepid training team as they left for Australia, the Reading Revolution did not seem sofar-fetched.

For me, one of the most moving experiences of the year came at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service HQ. Here, itfelt an enormous privilege to be reading literature with agroup of people whose serious day job faces life and death,and routinely requires courage, bravery, and discipline. Thatreading together should have a place in that world seemeda genuine achievement. As we read and talked about TheSavage the conversation ranged from parenthood to child-hood pain, to marriage and divorce, to fatherhood and re-

ghting. An ex-Army man talked about how helpless it madehim feel to be the father of a child who was being bullied.This man, perfectly literate, who usually enjoys reading mili-

tary history, said at the end of the day, I never realised all this

was in books. That remark is about more than reading; it isalso about what is in us, and about the language we have toexpress what is in us.

But as our organisation grows we have to manage the in -evitable and sometimes uncomfortable changes: at the GIR

INTRODUCTION JANE DAVISFounder and Director,The Reader Organisation

I never realised all this was in books, said a trainee at oneof our Read to Lead courses this year. That is the ReadingRevolution in action.

When one of my colleagues coined that reading revolu - tion phrase at an away day in 2009 I loved its hard-hittingambition but even I thought it was slightly overblown. Now,having read through this report on the years work, Im not

so sure. The vision of a truly literate nation and beyond feels both more necessary and more achievable than ever before.

As I read with service users in the boardroom of Mer -sey Care NHS Trust, or watched a team of re ghters carry


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I look forward with excitement, and a little trepidation, to the next years work, both in reading and in organisation-making, encouraged by the belief, dedication and humane

intelligence of our staff and trustees.

Get Together this year I looked around and realised that de -spite the many well-recognised faces (including two peoplefrom the rst ever GIR group), there were many people I

didnt know. That felt odd, and marked a step change. On theother hand, our rst Conference, achieved despite the winter freeze, proved an exciting way of meeting new people andbringing old friends together. I was moved, as many in the au-dience were, by the testimonies from GIR readers, NoeleneBanks, Margaret Stocker, Louise Jones and George Norman.

The day our team left for Australia I had a striking senseof the way an idea can travel literally around the globe. Casi,Amanda and Chris did a fabulous job of carrying the idea,and planting its seed in what we hope is going to be fertileAustralian soil. New work is now also developing in the US,and in Denmark. In April 2010, just as the years work cov -ered by this report came to an end, I had an email from amedical student working in the Childrens Hospital of San -

tiago. She wants to develop Get Into Reading in Chile. Thefuture possibilities seem endless.

But as the idea spreads, we must also build an organisa - tion that is strong enough to support its readers, staff, andvolunteers. Consolidation must have equal priority with de-velopment for the coming years. That, too, is the ReadingRevolution.


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At the end of April, TRO was running 190 weekly GIR groups in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, homeless hos-

tels, libraries, schools, childrens homes, care homes and day care facilities across the North West and in London.

Trained project workers read aloud and group mem -bers join in with the reading and the discussion as littleor as much as they want to. Its not academic and its notformal: interruptions are encouraged as people frequently remember their own experiences and wish to share them.The books and the social contact offer nourishment for

those people who feel isolated in their communities.

Through working with a number of local authorities andNHS Trusts, developing an Events programme and offering

training to a national and international audience, The Reader Organisation (TRO) tries to reach out as widely as possible

to bring about a society which is healthy and which valuesshared reading.

Get Into Reading (GIR) is our pioneering shared read-ing programme; we have developed Read to Lead Training

to enable people across the country to deliver GIR in their own area; and Liverpool Reads aims to get the whole city

reading and engaging with the same book.

REACHING OUT

THE READING REVOLUTION


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Get Into Reading is like sittingaround a fire and telling stories toeach other a way of binding us

together.GIR member

suffering from depression


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As well as retaining our existing commissions at Mer -sey Care, Halton, Wirral NHS and MBC, Weatherhead HighSchool and Liverpool PCT, a Liverpool Libraries Lottery

Fund bid has brought a full-time GIR project worker to theToxteth area of Liverpool. We ve run sessions at Resettle inSpeke (a rehabilitation project for ex-offenders with per -sonality disorders). We ve had a new Reader-In-Residence at4 Liverpool high schools through Extended Schools funding,have started 2 groups in HMP Liverpool, been commissioned

to run Reading For Pleasure projects for Looked After Chil -dren in Liverpool and Knowsley, as well as delivering a jointHome Of ce and Extended Schools-funded project in theSeacombe area of Wirral, creating 20 new reading groupsfor primary school children and their parents.

GET INTO READINGMERSEYSIDE

IT has been a year of huge and exciting growth for GIR onMerseyside, with provision almost doubling: by 2010 therewere 190 sessions taking place each week across the region,reaching approximately 1000 people. The range of peoplewe are working with grows ever wider asylum seekers andeconomic migrants, people with physical or mental healthproblems, looked after children, people with learning disabili -

ties, in drug rehab, suffering from dementia, homeless people,carers, young mums, lonely and isolated people, children inprimary and secondary schools, prisoners but around the

table we are all still simply readers (or listeners), weaving in-dividual and shared life experience through the text.

This reading group has beenmy salvation.

GIR memberBirkenhead

I forget about everything thats

putting pressure on me and

go right into the book .

10-year-old boySeacombe


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Examples of growing con dence and self-realisationabound: a lady in her seventies from Birkenheads Wood -church estate joining a trip to The Globe and enjoying a

Shakespeare play for the rst time in her life; a group of GIR members independently setting up a singing group whichvisits care homes; a young woman from a multiply-deprivedarea of Liverpool who d arrived at a GIR group havingnever read a book in her life and so nervous she couldntget her words out speaking with poise and clarity in frontof 140 people at our rst national conference.

And there is more growth ahead: a new commissionfrom Wirral MBC and Wirral NHS will enable us, during

the coming year, to create the largest concentration of GIR groups in the country a National Model Project, provid -ing a cradle to grave integrated service in some par ts of theborough. Work will focus on more deprived areas, as well aswith people suffering from dementia, and will include train-ing for library staff, health workers and those working in the

third sector. We aim to use GIR as an innovative tool, bring-

ing partners together to nd out more about each other swork, as well as to help signpost GIR bene ciaries to their wider services. We also hope to include comprehensiveevaluation and a volunteer project, working one-to-one withhousebound people and those with early onset dementia.

The groups help people get back totheir natural selves.

GIR membersuffering from depression


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GET INTO READINGMERSEY CARE READS

The year 200910 has been fast-paced for Mersey CareReads. Weve continued to expand, providing another 14groups across the Trust, training and involving 40 more staff members, and putting on 7 big events.

Mersey Care Reads pairs the GIR model with the clini -cal expertise of Occupational Therapists, Psychiatrists andMental Health nurses to put on weekly reading groups inhospitals and day settings from Speke to Southport. Sharinggreeat literature allows people to relate at a depth which isnot necessarily a personal depth: members can forge inti-mate relationships and approach psychological issues in anunthreatening way.

I have been a Mersey Care serviceuser for 7 years as I have a severe andenduring mental illness. When I rst

began to attend the readers group overa year ago, I was nding life dif cult.I rarely left the house and had mini-

mal contact with people other than myfamily. Through attending the weeklyreading group my self-con dence hasgrown far beyond anything I couldhave hoped for. The group has givenme the opportunity to practice some-thing Ive always loved, reading, and tomake new friends, share insights andstories and have lots of laughs.

Chris KirbyActivity Worker, Park Unit


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HIGHLIGHTS 200910

Two of the groups in high secure services were short listed

for the Penguin/Orange Broadband Reading Group Awardin May 2009 Ruskin and Eliot Wards. Neither group won

rst prize, but both groups received a full set of the bookson the Orange Prize shortlist.

Eisteach The Irish Journal of Psychotherapy commissioned the Readers in Residence to write an ar ticle about the work being carried out in Mersey Care NHS Trust: Moments of Electricity: The Power of Reading. The focus of the piece wasaround how the GIR model promotes personal change.

Mersey Care Reads teamed up with the Bluecoat for thisyears Chapter and Verse festival. The project had four super events, including a powerful session in which Brian Keenanread to patients at Ashworth Hospital. Mersey Care Readswas also part of Liverpool Reads, hosting a series of lunchtimereading events that featured David Almonds The Savage.

Work began on the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award: acollaborative research project between Mersey Care NHSTrust, The Reader Organisation, the School of Medicine and

the School of English at the University of Liverpool.

There is an inextricable link betweengood cultural services and the health andwell-being of a community. Let me quotefrom a letter that I received from AlanYates, the Chief Executive of the NHSmental health service provider in northMerseyside, Mersey Care NHS Trust:

It is my opinion that culture in allits forms is a more signi cant con -tributor to health and well-beingthan direct formal services alone.

He has given me the example of 25reading groups that have been set upthrough Mersey Care He can iden-tify people within these groups whowould have needed in-patient care hadit not been for the support and bene t

of the groups. Groups cost about 6 per person per session; by comparison, anin-patient stay costs 9,000 on average.

The Lord Bishop of LiverpoolHouse of Lords, March 2010


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I have seen many therapeutic bene tsfor people in the reading group, themood lifting with laughter and spon-taneity. The focus on a short story or a

poem improves concentration, promotesmore structured and logical thinking,and it can shift attention away fromworrying or disturbing thoughts.I have seen the group help channelagitated and restless behaviour into

more controlled purposeful actions.The poems and short stories have

given us a different look at life, differ-ent perspectives, given us experiencesof other cultures and periods in history.There is something special aboutsharing a story in this way as thoughwe help each other to explore it further

or experience it more deeply.

Guy ThomasOccupational Therapist, Windsor House

BRIAN KEENAN

16/10/09 ASHWORTH

HOSPITAL 9.30A.M.

date location time

READING FROM HIS NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

ILL TELL ME MAMersey Care NHS Trust, The Bluecoat & The Reader at:

CHAPTER & VERSE FESTIVALinvites you to a celebration of reading for wellbeing.We are delighted to welcome the author of An Evil Cradling,

the critically acclaimed account of his life as a hostage in Beirut.

Brian will be reading from Ill Tell Me Ma, a memoir of his childhoodin Belfast and the impression that troubled city left upon him.

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HIGHLIGHTS 20092010

The Woodchurch Reader-in-Residence project continues to

thrive, delivering reading-for-pleasure groups in primary andsecondary schools and at SNAP, a Woodchurch youth club.

Liverpool LACES Reading for Pleasure Sessions provideweekly one-to-one reading sessions with Children in Care,creating a fun and safe reading relationship that bene ts thechildren educationally and in wider terms of well-being.

During February half-term GIR ran a series of Story Time ses-sions at Moreton Family Centre for Children in Care (aged58), with funding from the Roald Dahl Foundation.

Theatre trips for young people and foster carers (funded by Wirral Borough Council). Groups went to see Frank CottrellBoyces Proper Clever and Roger McGoughs Slapstick Poems.Both performances were at The Playhouse in Liverpool.

Art in the Park. In the summer of 2009 we ran a creative artsproject in Birkenhead (funded by the J. P. Getty Jnr Charita -ble Trust). A group of ten (aged 1216) Children in Care in

Wirral met twice weekly throughout August to explore art,cinema, drama, photography, and reading, through a variety of interactive workshops, exhibitions, and theatre/ cinema trips.

WIRRAL CHILDRENAND YOUNG PEOPLE

e arly in 2009, we received additional funding from WirralChildren and Young Peoples Department that allowed us

to employ another part-time project worker. This meanswe can now reach more young people in the care of thelocal authority on a weekly basis, and also that we havemore scope to run reading and creative arts projects.

As the Reader-in-Residence project reaches its third year, the long-term effects of shared reading on a one-to-onebasis are becoming more and more impressive; we see thechildren we read with engaging with literature in a way that

they may never have had the opportunity to, and there arealso huge improvements in terms of increased self-esteem,con dence and reading ability.

I thought reading was boring but I likeit now. Would I come again? Yes! Yes!Yes!

Year 8 pupil

Story Time


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CASE STUDY 1: WOODCHURCH YOUTH CLUB

p. was a casual reading group member at SNAP (Saturday

Night Activity Programme), a Woodchurch youth club man-aged by local residents, where GIR ran a reading group with the aim of showing children that reading can be fun. Oftenat rst she came for just half an hour before moving on todancing or basketball with her friends. She told our projectworker that she mainly read joke books and didnt do a lotof reading at home. However, she really took to the funny poems we read and often asked Did you bring that Centrally Heated Knickers book for me today?

As the group went on, she started to stay for longer peri-ods and she would read aloud frequently in the group. Thenwe began reading the play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and this was the breakthrough. P. asked if she could takeher copy home to practise and seemed surprised when wesaid, Yes, of course. The following week, her mother toldus, Weve been reading the Charlie script in bed she loves

this, you know! In the following session, P. read the par t of

Grandpa Joe and was tremendous, entertaining the groupwith her croaky, old mans voice.Asked why she liked the reading group she said: Because

its really funny reading poems and plays and sometimes I just get sick of TV or playing out.

Whoever you visit next withGet Into Reading is in fora real treat, the young peopleadore you and the wonderful stories.You are always welcome at SNAP.

Maureen CainSNAP

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Over the following weeks, there were signs of improve -ment: he was unwilling to read aloud but I could tell he waspaying attention to the story because he would stop andcorrect me if I made a mistake, and he began to talk aboutwhat was happening in the book. He would sometimes sur -prise himself with his positivity, as on one occasion when hedescribed the book as cool! The real positive change in M.sattitude towards reading came in week 12, when we werereading a play. M. asked if he could read 2 of the 4 parts, anddid so with real enthusiasm and con dence. Even when hemade mistakes, he would correct himself and carry on. He

told me he had enjoyed it, and asked if I would bring another play the next week. He also asked to take part in our Art in

the Park project.

CASE STUDY 2: ONE-TO-ONE SESSIONS

W hen I rst met M. (14), he was talkative and energetic, but

distinctly disengaged from reading and books. M. has a lower than average reading age for his year group; he is rather aproud character and was resistant to taking part in the one-

to-one reading sessions, where perhaps he feared exposure.However, his carer had the idea of encouraging him to takepart on the grounds that he would be helping to selectbooks for children of his age, rather than working on hisreading because he needed it. At rst, M. was defensive, If I just read the back cover, I dont need to bother with thewhole thing, and in the early weeks he often told me that Ineed not come again. However, the subtle difference in how

the sessions were presented allowed him gradually to getmore involved without having to let his guard down.

A lot of the time it sounds like youare just having fun together

with books, but I have realisednow that it is like a dripping tap the message sinks in over a

period of time, and because it is donegradually in a non-intrusive way, it ismore likely to stay with her for life.

Carer

It has been a turning point for M. Hesmuch more willing to tackle thingsnow. Even with his computer games, if he gets stuck, he reads theinstructions. Hes reading!

Carer


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You hear what is happening at othergroups. You share a day out togetherand it gives everyone a sense of

belonging.

GIR group member


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Many said the most inspiring part of the day was when10 individuals, from a wide range of groups and backgrounds,came to the front of the stage and individually delivered

their own GIR Fest, giving a mixture of readings from their favourite poems, book recommendations and personal tes - timonials. It was inspiring to see our members reading aloudin front of their fellow GIR groups, many of whom wouldnot have dreamed of doing so before joining the project.

The event also provided the opportunity for members toproduce what has now become known as the GIANT GIR POEM, designed by Michael Hannah. Group members wereasked to think about their reading groups in terms of the vesenses smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight and out of their individual 131 comments ve separate poetry sheets havebeen produced to represent the wonderfully diverse andmoving collective voice that represents GIR on Merseyside.

We asked group members to take time out to think about what the Annual GIR Get Together means to them.

The general consensus appeared to be that it was about thevalue of fellowship, the fun of meeting people from other groups and also having an opportunity to share their expe-riences of the project. Some of their comments appear on

these pages.

The ANNUAL GIR geT TOGETHER 2009

W e held our fth Annual Get Into Reading Get Together atBirkenhead Town Hall one Tuesday in November 2009. TheGet Together is important in TROs event calendar theone day in the year when our reading group members fromacross Merseyside can come together and celebrate their involvement in the project. This year a whopping total of 131

GIR members attended the event (the largest gure yet toattend this annual event) and with their arrival the Town Hallwas quickly transformed into a hub of activity.

Guest readers included the Mayor of Wirral Councillor Andrew Hodson and the Lord Lieutenant of MerseysideDame Lorna Muirhead, who kindly joined us on the day toshow their support for the GIR project.

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It is inspiring to meet up with others.

GIR group member


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GIR made its impression on the people working at theTown Hall. As we were leaving at the end of the day, oneof the men working there came over to say goodbye: Youknow what? he said, It was great having you lot here today.Over the past 18 months weve held a lot of events herebut when I saw your lot queuing up for the buffet, and welooked in the hall and saw it was full of smiley faces, it was

just great!

The Annual GIR Get Together givesa sense of fellowship. You see

people from all walks of life, eachhaving something to offer.

GIR group member

Its important for everyone to knowthey are part of a bigger whole.

GIR group member


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When I think of my Get Into Reading group I smell

Get Into Reading Get Together 2009, Birkenhead Town Hall

Paper. Warmth. Paper, pencil. FRIENDSHIP. Ink and paper. T h e scen t of i d ea s,som etim es h ard to ex pr ess. New books and coffee. We smell refreshed when coming to and from GIR. THE TEA.The smell of new school books, at t he star t of a ne w ter m. R eading Jan e Eyre and pr actically smelling themustiness and gloom of big old houses. B O OK S AN D COF FE E AN D T HE R AP Y. The wood i n t he bu i l di ng, co f fee a nd b i scu i t s, b i scu i t s. The odour of friendship and happy times. And I smell the atmosphere of acceptance. I smell the perfume of friendships, the sweet aroma of lilies, irises, fuschias and rose hips. Other peoples thoughts and

Friendship. Cooking food. I s m e l l opinions. Hyacinths. Cafe. LAUGHTER. f re e s i a s; I s m e l l h a ppi n e s s. Flowers, breath of fresh air. ROAST DINNER. T he

cake, dont make a fuss. PA PER. Freshcof f ee that L ee buys and says You can t have tea & coffee brewing. OLD BOOKS. FLOWERS. T he smell is o f the ladies

The coffee. Biscuits. BOOKS. perfume and the air fr esheners in the room.Perfume. Coffee. Sweet f ragran ce of Printers ink! FRESH AIR. FLOWERS.

l ove. COFFEE. The lovely familiar smell of books . COFFEE. Coffee warmingwelcoming. Breath of fresh air. The sweet tobacco smell of an old book yellow withage. The fragrance of the Tree of Knowledge. Libraries. Coffee and sometimes the

of ne w books. Earthyleaves of a newly opened book. I like the smellnature smell. NATURE, EARTHY SMELL, COFFEE. Natural things paper and trees. Smell of the book. TANGERINES. Old B o ok s. The bacon in the pan burning. Fear. CINNAMON. Comfort. Coffee. COFFEE. T h e o d o u r o f t h e s c e n e s. The sweet smell of success theyve got me out of bed!! T oa s t e d t e ac ak e. Toast, new books, old musty books, a very old tar nished teapot, per fume or soap or shampoo as we all come through the door. Rain or the sea if its windy. Warm Bread.


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GOVERNMENT OFFICE FOR THE NORTH WEST

The fteenth oor of the City Tower in Manchester and themarbled grandeur of the Cunard Building in Liverpool haveprovided the settings for weekly sessions run as par t of the10-month Reader-in-Residence scheme. The lunch-timegroups have proved popular, with people nding them agood way to get to know colleagues in other divisions of theGovernment Of ce. The Book Chat zone on the fteenth

oor is complete with comfy chairs, bookshelves, a mock hearth and mantelpiece and a wall display of High Impactbooks, where people have shared their all-time great readswith anecdotes and extracts.

BEYOND MERSEYSIDENORTH WEST

SALFORD GIR

a fTer a two-year collaboration with Salford Library Services, the Salford project is in great shape. There are now eightcentres providing GIR groups for the elderly in day care cen-

tres, residential homes, a rehabilitation centre and shelteredaccommodation. Most groups are run by staff from the cen -

tres following intensive GIR training, and their reaction hasbeen overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate the greater exibility and love the experience. Sarah Coyne, the Reader

Development Of cer for Salford Libraries, will continue tomonitor these self-run groups and provide them with assis-

tance as required.

The other Salford focus provision for those with mentalhealth problems has evolved in four centres: START, a cen-

tre offering artistic activities for people with mental healthproblems; MIND in Salford, the Angel; Little Hulton Library and the Loaves and Fishes Drop-in Centre for HomelessPeople. Salford is now well placed to train more staff andextend the provision fur ther.


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ST JOSEPHS APPROVED PREMISES, PATRICOFT

W ITh approximately 32 residents, St Josephs is now the

only approved premises in the country for men coming outof prison with serious mental health problems. In the 14months of GIR group sessions, over 20 men have attendedwith a regular weekly attendance of 4 or 5. Positive out -comes include increased self-con dence and belief in their own abilities, as well as improvement to social interaction,mental stimulation, and a greater interest in reading. Thegroups also provide a distraction from concerns and anxi-eties.

reSeTTle (PROBATION SERVICE)

r eSeTTle is a scheme drawn up by the government, NHS,

prison service, police and probation to work constructively and intensively with men with personality disorder comingout of prison. The 10-week pilot GIR project was part of

the centres activities aimed at improving the mens mentalhealth, developing the ability to form relationships, enhanc-ing their social skills and improving their job prospects.

With numbers at Resettle ranging from 1 to 4, groupswere small. It was important to gain the mens trust as wellas their interest. The informality and the material used werekey. Kiplings If was quietly folded away into the breast pock -et of one outwardly uninterested man at the end of an early session. In another session Robert Frosts The Road notTaken held the attention of one angry and frustrated man.I feel lost, he said, when the notion of being at a crossroadswas raised. At the end of the session, having reminiscedabout walking the Wirral Way, he said hed be there the fol -

lowing week, if he was still at Resettle. Ill have to choose the right road, he said.

This place restricts us in ways thatcan sometimes seem petty. This groupoffers us the opportunity to have ourviews and opinions heard.

Resident at St Josephs


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GET INTO EADING: NO TH WEST 27

In order to make sure that these groups will become self-

sustaining and par t of the community, TRO has free trainingon offer to enable group members or staff members in ahost venue to become facilitators themselves. It is hoped

that by the end of the project there will be approximately 16 self-sustaining GIR groups set up in the Wigan borough.

Better than going to the pictures!

GIR member from a Homeless Hostelvisiting th e theatre for the rst time

Normally when Im reading, Imthinking about what Im going to have

for my tea! But reading aloud reallyhelps you to concentrate and take it in.

Participant at GIR taster session

International Womens Day, Norley Hall, Wigan


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GIR staff, volunteers and other trained facilitators in Lon-don meet up once a fortnight to ask questions, get advice,share experiences and materials and provide support for

each other. Groups have been reading books by GeorgeEliot, Charles Dickens, Rohinton Mistry, George Orwell, John Steinbeck and Russell Hoban, and in September 2009we took 30 group members to The Globe to watch LovesLabours Lost.

BEYOND MERSEYSIDELONDON

gIr London began with a commission from the East LondonMental Health Trust in April 2009. We initially focused our work in Tower Hamlets, working with Crisis, Mind and thelibrary service. In September 2009 we got enough funding

to hire a full-time Project Manager, and in March 2010 hired

a second project worker. Between them, and with somevolunteer time as well, they are running reading groups inlibraries in Haringey, Battersea and Westminster, the Salva -

tion Army, St Mungos, Mind, in a number of boroughs andwith various older peoples and mental health services.

We held an event in March 2010 with some high-pro lespeakers and raised interest with NHS bodies, social housingproviders, and with more library services and charities fromacross London. There are ongoing conversations about howwe can work together to reach more people.

I should have gone to the doctor thismorning, but I couldnt get out of bed.Then I remembered this group and Icould move and wanted to come.Psychologically this is much better forme.

GIR group member


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LIVERPOOL READS

THE SAVAGEBY DAVID ALMONDand ILLUSTRATOR DAVE MCKEAN

I magIne you wrote a story and that story came true This isexactly what happens to Blue Baker when he writes about asavage living alone in the woods near his home. After his dads

death, Blue nds comfort in dreaming of a wild kid who surviveson a diet of berries and the occasional hapless passer-by. But when the savage pays a night-time visit to the local bully, bound-aries become blurred and Blue begins to wonder where he endsand the savage begins.

W e gave away 20,000 copies of The Savage across Greater Merseyside for Liverpool Reads 2009. The books were dis -

tributed from all Greater Merseyside libraries, Merseytravelbus stations and M2Go rail station shops, local Waterstonesstores, the News from Nowhere and Amorous Cat book -shops, Starbucks and all Liverpool Football Club Stores, aswell as to schools, community centres and youth groups

through our GIR project.


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GET INTO EADING: LIVE POOL EADS 30

LAUNCH DAY

MerSeySIde Fire and Rescue Service and TRO joined forces

re of cers and author, re engines and books to attend avery different kind of emergency!

One day in September, author of The Savage, David Al-mond, illustrator Dave McKean, Deputy Chief Fire Of cer Mike Hagen and Director of TRO, Jane Davis, along with

trainee re ghters, helped to load up re engines with TheSavage, and began the six-month quest to get them to com-munities across Merseyside.

We didnt just want to give away the book; we wantedit to be read and explored, to be an experience for the in-dividual and to build community. By giving away a book for free, and doing wide-ranging outreach work around it, Liver -pool Reads got the city reading and sharing The Savage. Wealso created an online resource to guide parents, teachers,community workers and reading groups creatively through

the book to get more out of their reading experience. Theguide is still available at:

www.thereader.org.uk/liverpoolreads/onlineresource


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teacher from each group has been trained to lead the groupsubsequent to the depar ture of the group facilitator.

The groups were made up of pupils, parents and teach-ers; some took place within school time, others outside.Some groups had a lot of reluctant readers and the phrasereading is boring was heard many times at outset; other

And what better place to host the rst stage of the read -ing emergency than the home of the citys books CentralLibrary? David Almond and Dave McKean met with chil -dren from city centre schools to talk about The Savage andsign their free copies. They also visited pupils at PalmerstonSchool and St John Bosco School to get an insight into what

the book means to the children of Merseyside.

Director of TRO, Jane Davis said of Liverpool Reads:Reading for pleasure is more important in determining lifechances than the economic status of your family, but year on year, fewer young people are enjoying reading. Thats the

emergency. Books are for everyone but boys in particular need to be encouraged to enjoy great stories, so who better

to help with that than the Fire Of cer readers?

FIND YOUR TALENT

The Find Your Talent (FYT) scheme is a government initiative

to give young people access to ve hours worth of culturea week. TRO was involved in FYT through Liverpool Readsand ran GIR groups in four primary and two secondary schools in St Helens, Knowsley and Liverpool regions from

January until April 2010 using The Savage. Sustainability isan important part of the project so a volunteer parent or


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CASE STUDY 3: THE SAVAGE

J.is a twelve-year-old boy who before reading The Savage aspart of the GIR Extended Schools Project had not read abook since he was able to read independently at the age of

ve. He had begun to realise that reading could be pleasur -able when he drew his vision of the poems we read so as tofurther his understanding of them. It was at this point thathe revealed his ambition to be an ar tist and said that his twofavourite colours were green and black. When I showed hima copy of The Savage J. loved to hold it and he devoured thefront cover. He was keen to start reading it and we spent

lots of time on each page considering not only the wordsbut how the pictures in the book hinted at the emotions of

the characters and how they changed. He pored over every picture and often drew his own take on the scenes we werediscussing.The Savage showed J. how alive a book could beand has instilled a passion in him for other adventure stories.All the way through, he was intrigued, repulsed, in awe andwary of the savage.

groups were full of enthusiastic readers who scrambled tobe the next person to read aloud. They were all different toone another. But no matter where the groups began, thecommon thread through the eight weeks turned out to be

the par ticipants enjoyment of The Savage.

I never dreamed Id hear such off-the-wall, elaborate theories about the savages identity, said Niamh Donohoe,GIR facilitator, Or listen to a Year 6 boy, a reluctant read -er, recite his version of the story (The Barbarian) to thewhole group. Weve had fantastic discussions on the themesof loss and bullying that ran through The Savage.

The most scary, cool, shocking and best book Ive ever read

J. on The Savage

If I can create the savagethen I dont have to be one.

Young personLiverpool


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READ TO LEAD TRAINING

FROM THE ALT VALLEYTO AUSTRALIA!

ThIS past year has been a phenomenally exciting andbusy time for Read to Lead Training. Over 500 peoplehave now attended our courses, and as the interest and

scale of commissioning grows so too does the vari-ety of settings in which the ethos and practice of GIR nds a home through the training programme. Were

no strangers to breaking new ground at TRO: here area few of the things that the Read to Lead team did for

the rst time in 20092010:

READ TO LEAD NON-RESIDENTIAL TRAINING

We have answered the demand for a non-residential training equivalent to the fantastic residential course that we continue to run at Burton Manor. This ex-ible course has allowed us to meet and train people

33

Best training Ive done! So beautifullystructured and layered. Felt seamless,as though I learnt skills withoutrealising that was happening.

TraineeState Library of Victoria, Melbourne


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who would not otherwise have been able to come to uson Merseyside. To date we have been commissioned to runnon-residentials by the following: the University of Bolton;Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; Warrington Council;East Lancashire PCT; Stoke Libraries; Liverpool PCT. We arecon dent that this will be a huge area of growth over thecoming year and beyond.

READ TO LEAD GONE DOWN UNDER!

The most exciting commission for Read to Lead this year

was that offered by the State Library of Victoria (SLV) inMelbourne, Australia, which hosted three of our lucky train-ers to run an intensive but hugely rewarding week traininglibrarians and key community partners in the GIR model. Itwas very satisfying to see how well the model was under-stood, appreciated and put into practice on the other sideof the world; if any proof is necessary that the shared read-ing of literature is a force that transcends boundaries then

this training course was it.

A comprehensive project and evaluation is underway in Victoria which we hope will lead to further partnershipwork with the SLV as well as the commissioning of further

training courses.

A personal, challenging and rewardingexperience. I feel con dent toimplement a new set of skills that hasthe potential to make a real difference.

TraineeState Library of Victoria, Melbourne GET INTO EADING: EAD TO LEAD 34


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GET INTO EADING: EAD TO LEAD 36

with strangers. At the end of the session, his face was radiant.His engagement helped the trainees understand fully the im-pact of GIR. They, too, were radiant.

Katie Clark, Elderly Care and Dementia ManagerMy highlight of the year was the training held at RedholmeMemory Care Home for staff and carers. One attendee is inhis 60s, having recently changed his career from manual la-bour work to where he now works as a care assistant at thehome. He was initially nervous about attending due to very low con dence with reading. He is dyslexic and feared that

this would hold him back, but he told us: I came because Iveseen the reading group in action, and heard the responsesfrom some of the people I work with, and its amazing. Oneman picked up on a point in the poem that Id completely missed, and I thought this has brought something out of him, a spark, that is there.

THE YEAR IN NUMBERS

155 attended Read to Lead Workshops73 attended Read to Lead Residentials113 attended Read to Lead Non-Residentials46 attended our Masterclasses

OUR BEST BITS FROM THE YEAR

Casi Dylan, Training ManagerThe Read to Lead trip to Melbourne was my favourite train -

ing experience of the year, it was not just the wonderfulopportunity to travel but the way in which it forced me

to delve into the unknown. The majority of the books andreading material that we used on that course were unfamil-iar to me, by Australian authors of whom I had never heard.It highlighted in personal terms what Read to Lead coursesalways aim to show trainees that its not knowledge thatcounts in GIR but the practical experience of the writing.

Amanda Brown, Trainer and Project WorkerIn Melbourne on the day that trainees facilitated their owngroups for the rst time, one of the invited volunteer groupmembers was a gentleman who works as a cleaner in theState Library a large, shy man, slow of speech and ner vous

This course let me share a common passion with a bunch of nice people and I learned some ways to enrichother peoples lives.

Trainee,Stoke


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GET INTO EADING: EAD TO LEAD 37

Mark Till, Training Programme AssistantThe Non-Residential course we delivered in the Alt Valley area of Liverpool was a real highlight of this year for me.Most of the trainees came along with little reading experi -ence especially of reading poetry and no pretensions of any kind. Interaction with the writing happened on a purely instinctive human level. It completely reaf rmed what were

trying to do.

AIMS FOR THE FUTURE

a S The Reader Organisation develops nationally, so too does the Read to Lead Training programme. It is our aim to maintain the high standard of our work to date, to consolidate the local and national partnerships that have developed as aresult of the training, as well as:

To develop and deliver more training courses and a

wider variety of courses, in a wider range of locations.

To revise and formalise the accreditation of all training

courses, so that the quality and good name of GIR canbe maintained and protected as we develop nationally and internationally.

That spark led him to take on the training despite hisconcerns and his con dence grew so much that he is nowrunning one-to-one sessions reading with residents at thehome. Two other staff members and a carer have startedrunning weekly reading groups, including the activities coor -dinator who has been involved with the group for years butnever felt able to lead it herself: I felt dead proud of myself doing it all by myself last week. It was great, I loved it!


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But this is a human and social as well as a health inter -vention. One key ambition of TROs research, in partner -ship with the University of Liverpool (UoL), is to found aSchool of Bibliotherapy (or Reading Therapy, or Reading andHealth) which will embrace, as well as in uence, a range of disciplines anthropology, education, health sciences, medi-cal humanities, neuroscience, philosophy, psychoanalysis, psy-chology, psychotherapy (especially the latter) but whichwill have literature at its foundation and will lay the basis for Bibliotherapy as an in uential way of thinking as well as a dis -

tinctive discipline and profession.

o ne consequence of TROs success in reading serious litera - ture in health contexts is a growing pressure to evaluate theanecdotal evidence of its therapeutic ef cacy. It is a pressingconcern to nd or develop research tools and methodolo -gies which have currency with the scienti c/medical com -munity and yet which do not damage or misrepresent thenature of the intervention. A generic aim of all our currentand future projects is to demonstrate that literature offers ahumane, shared language for complex individual experienceboth to those in need of mental health care, and to healthcare professionals, as an alternative or complement to exist-

ing diagnostic discourses.

RESEARCH ANDDEVELOPMENT



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Therapeutic bene ts of reading in relation todepression

ThIS 2-year pilot project funded by MerseyBEAT (45,000),a collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Liv-erpool PCT is studying the bene ts to depression sufferersof GIR groups established in a GP surgery and a health drop-in centre in Liverpool. The project is a par tnership betweenTRO and the Schools of English, Medicine and Health Sci -ences at the University of Liverpool and has developed aninnovative multidisciplinary approach to mental health re-search, integrating ar ts and science methodologies.

RESEARCHCURRENT PROJECTS

A practice-informed study of the theoretical bases forBibliotherapy

ThIS 3-year Arts and Humanities Research Council Collab-orative Doctoral Award partners the University of Liverpooland Mersey Care NHS Trust. Exploring the foundations for

the practice of bibliotherapy, or reading as cure, in the Eng-lish literary tradition, the project will translate theory intopractice by using methods and materials suggested by theresearch base in GIR shared reading groups in Mersey Carecontexts. This PhD is the rst of its kind to seek to reclaimArts and Humanities as pivotal in relation to health and well-being, and to help lay the basis for a new health professionin reading therapy.

Grace Farrington was appointed to the studentship inOctober 2009. Supervisory team: Dr Josie Billington (Uni -versity of Liverpool), Dr Jane Davis (TRO), Professor PhilipDavis (University of Liverpool), Dr Dave Fearnley (Mersey Care NHS Trust).


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ESEA CH AND DEVELOPMENT 41

GIR warrants investigation as a form of therapy, whilst itsless formal and non-targeted approach distinguishes it from

traditional therapeutic practices. This has generated one of the fundamental questions of the study: if shared reading isa new therapy, or possibly a valuable primer for more ad-vanced therapy, where is its theoretical base to be located?

reSearChfoCuS: GRACE FARRINGTON

The discovery of GIR as a model that works therapeutically was made, as director Jane Davis will tell you, by accident, in

the course of her own teaching within adult education. GIR has spread into many different areas, including health ser-vices, community centres, libraries and schools. The extentof this growth re ects the multifaceted nature of the activity

and the bene ts that it provides to group members.David Fearnley, consultant forensic psychiatrist at Ash-

worth Hospital, has observed that the reading group on theward has been a positive cultural experience for patientsin a setting that historically has excluded culture in favour of an arti cially constructed health environment. The Ash -worth reading group has improved members con denceand self-expression. It has also fostered tolerance and peer

support, helped resolve disputes, and, making use of both acommunicative as well as a complex cognitive skill, has hadboth social and educative bene ts.


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Is it in psychotherapy; in social-occupational therapy or ineducation; in the disciplines of the humanities and literature;in an overlap between literary and psychodynamic traditionsand accounting of mental health and well-being? If the latter,what is the nature of that overlap and in what sense, or towhat degree, can it provide robust theoretical foundations?

Part of the dif culty in researching the subject is that in the groups we know so little about each others experiences.The book is the focus, not the patient. Some of the quieter members give very little away about what it is that they ap-preciate about the groups, and what it is that affects them.

Yet their attendance demonstrates their commitment, and alaugh after the reading of a certain paragraph or poem, or alook upwards towards the person who is reading, can serve

to illustrate moments in which a connection is made, whensomething that is read resonates with the personal.

None of this provides neat conclusions, rather showing that what bibliotherapy is and might be still remains to bede ned in full. Far from this being a uniquely contemporary discovery, this comprehension might be aided by the insightsof writers who over the centuries have sought to ar ticulate

the power of literatures engagement with the mind.

A gracious Spirit oer this earth presides,And oer the heart of man: invisiblyIt comes, directing those to works of love,Who, care not, know not, think not, what

they do

WordsworthOn the power of books and poetry


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Two current PhD registrations are directly TRO-related:AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award (A Practice-BasedStudy of the Foundations for Bibliotherapy in The EnglishLiterary Tradition); The relation of Victorian ideals of edu -cation, culture, reading in the context of the educational pro-

vision and ethos of a modern-day comprehensive school.

OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITYOF LIVERPOOL

IMPACT, KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER,KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE:

Tro S activity and research gured prominently in UoLs KEProspectus, and provided key case studies in both the De -partment of English/School of Arts pilot impact submission

for REF 2012/13, and their participation in the UniversitiesUK Creative Economy consultation exercise.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY

The part-time MA in Reading in Practice (Director, Profes -sor Philip Davis; tutors, Dr Jane Davis, Dr Josie Billington)continues to thrive and was commended in the rst Exter -nal Examiners report for its ambition for the literary, itspioneering development of a new and exciting subject andits brave thinking through the divide between literature andlived experience.


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Possibilities for future collaborations between TRO and theSchool of Arts include:

Bringing the outside in

Joint Module(s) Reading for Life (TRO/English/Medical andHealth Professions) in Medical Humanities, based in Schoolof Arts (SoA), structured around annual schedule of events/speakers etc), which trainee health professionals can optinto and involving TRO partnership with Mersey Care andLiverpool PCT so that SoA/TRO events become intrinsicpart of mental health provision as well as of student experi-ence and (possibly) degree.

and taking the inside out

Joint English/Occupational Therapy/Medical Student

volunteering programme with Mersey Care/LiverpoolPCT run out of TRO.

Volunteering programme Reading for Pleasure-cum-

Mentoring programme in partnership (TRO/Deptof English) with Liverpool Education Services and localschools.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDY/STUDENT EXPERIENCE

f olloWIng the success of the Reading in Practice project(English Subject Centre funding award, 20082009), whichplaced undergraduates in English in GIR community groups,a new Level 3 module was developed Reading in Practice:Dissertation and ran for the rst time in 20092010. Theproject and subsequent module attracted national attentionfrom:

Royal Literary Fund (RLF), which suppor ts professionalwriters as Fellows in Higher Education Institutions tohelp develop students writing skills. (15 Fellows havenow received GIR training with a view to developing

the latter in their communities and adopting the Read-ing in Practice model with students in their host uni-versities.)

The Booker Foundation . UoL is now a partner inBookers One Book Two Cultures programme, whereBooker annually provide a Booker short-listed title at

reduced price for distribution among freshers, together with the author (Oct 2010, Lloyd Jones with Mister Pip)for 2 days of events, as a means of breaking disciplinary as well as social ice.


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WORDS AND IMAGESREADERS DAY

June 13, 2009,Brindley Arts Centre, Runcorn

W ITh workshops on the relationship between painting andliterature, photographs and poetry, lm adaptations and theclassics, illustration and the printed word there was evenan afternoon creative writing session led by Rebecca Goss. Agood time was had by all.

o ur live literature events bring people together pro-fessionals, writers, members of the public, experiencedreaders and beginners to share books and ideas in stim -ulating settings. They offer an entr y point to the world of books and reading for those who might not otherwise

find a way to enjoy them. We want books to have a livequality, just as music, theatre and sculpture does.

We run public events such as Readers Days and thePenny Readings. In addition we stage events to help pub-licise the work of TRO to professionals from medicine, so -cial work, psychotherapy, education, and so on, who mightnot yet have realised the value of reading in their particular

eld.

events.thereader.org.uk/

READER EVENTS



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EADE EVENTS 46

wed never heard of it either but it was outstanding!), andGeorgina Aasgaard who brought us all together in an inter-active rhythm session with the help of a xylophone, a celloand some brave members of the audience.

Oh, and there was the creative raf e wheel (picturedbelow with Alexei Sayle).

PENNY READINGSDecember 6th, 2009,St. Georges Hall, Liverpool

e aCh year we host a Christmas extravaganza in the form of the Penny Readings, bringing together people from across the city to enjoy readings, music, dance and a few slightly more unusual things. As in Dickens day when he would

travel around the Potteries and Liverpool, reading to thou-sands of people for only one penny we charge one penny for this event, making it inclusive and available to all.

Stand-up comedian, author and actor Alexei Sayle andBBC Radio Merseysides Roger Phillips joined award-winningauthor and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce for the sixthannual Penny Readings in 2009.

Frank Cottrell Boyce read the nativity scene from hisbook Millions. Frank, who was slightly nervous that he had tofollow Alexei Sayle and be funny, announced on stage: Its

like going on after Led Zeppelin and being told to be loud,but of course, he didnt fail to make us all laugh.

Musical highlights included The University of LiverpoolChamber Choir, Mark Carney on the theremin (its okay,


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EADE EVENTS 47

learning and understanding shes gained from books (par - ticularly from Laurie Lee) and why she commissioned GIR atMersey Care; Dr David Fearnley (Medical Director, Mersey Care NHS Trust) told us about the group that he runs in asecure psychiatric unit at Mersey Care and their enjoymentof Anton Chekov, Emily Bront, Charles Dickens and AgathaChristie. Andrew McCulloch (Chief Executive, Mental HealthFoundation) 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 morequestions, share their enthusiasm and desire to get readinggroups happening in their organisation. By the end of the

event, Get Into Reading London had truly arrived!

THE READING CURE, LONDONMarch 2nd, RIBA

a T The Reading Cure event in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London more than70 people from health and mental health services, libraries,homelessness organisations and publishing companies, as wellas interested writers, journalists, counsellors and an archi-

tect joined us to hear about the power of reading groups,and eat cup cakes.

Jane Davis (Director, TRO) read Crossing The Bar by Tennyson, showed photos demonstrating the huge rangeof people coming to reading groups, and shared some ex-periences of the impact of reading on children, vulnerableadults and re ghters; Lindsey Dyer (Director, Service Us -ers and Carers, Mersey Care NHS Trust) talked about the

The reading group makes you see thatyoure not alone, that youre not anexcluded freak.

GIR membersuffering from depression


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EADE EVENTS 49

A phenomenal inspiration: buzzyatmosphere , inspiring content, greatlunch, excellent venue, fantastic

organisers and punters, really good.Delegate at New Beginnings event

The Friday Night Supper saw Blackburne House trans -formed from day conference venue to an inviting, atmos-pheric dinner venue. Jane and Phil Davis were joined by poet David Constantine and novelist Clare Allan to discussThe Value of Reading in a Life, which led to some amusingand hear tfelt stories of the impact of reading. The audience

joined in the conversation in great spirit and everyone leftvery full of food for the body and soul.

The New Beginnings Readers Day was great fun! RadioMerseysides Roger Phillips was our host and guests includ -ed Clare Allan and Tim Pears, David and Helen Constantine,

and TROs own Angela Macmillan, Kate McDonnell and JaneDavis recommending their favourite reads. Brians ParadiseLost workshop was par ticularly popular.


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50

SpreadIng the message about the work of TRO is an impor -

tant part of what we do, whether that is in our magazine,The Reader, on our website and blog, or in newspapers, radioor television. The idea that books and reading can in uencepeoples lives is radically simple and we want to encourage adebate about it, and if possible to draw in interested parties.Its a vibrant and interesting side of TROs work.

IN THESPOTLIGHT



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The Reader RecommendsBBC Radio Merseyside, AugustDecember 2009

Each week a different member of TRO staff went onto the

Drivetime show on BBC Radio Merseyside to recommendone of their favourite books or what they were currently reading to listeners.

Scenes from a British War on KnowledgeThe Independent , 9th October 2009

One of the most commented-upon articles weve publishedin The Reader magazine and on our blog was The Reader

Gets Angry: Scenes from a PGCE by Gabriella Gruder-Poni.It is a furious argument against the forms of stupidity that or-ganisations are capable of maintaining on principle. This greatand shocking article was widely read, and it stirred BoydTonkin, literary editor of The Independent . to write about it.

Healing power of books should be taken as readGuardian, 6th January 2010

Clare Allan, Guardian columnist and author of the fantasticPoppy Shakespeare came to talk at the New Beginnings con -ference. In this article, she praises the medical professionals

that have taken up the GIR approach as it signals a change in the approach to mental health treatment.

IN THE SPOTLIGHTMAKING NEWS

There has been a great deal of media interest in TRO thisyear. Here are a few of the highlights.

How books can help you beat the bluesDaily Express, 30th June 2009

Feature piece about GIR and how it works to make peoplefeel better, including a case study of a reader and how one

man who has been on our Read to Lead training course isdeveloping the project in Durham.

Liverpool Reads The SavageSeptember 2009

Extensive media coverage for the run up and the launch of Liverpool Reads The Savage on 15th September, including:feature pieces in Liverpool Daily Post and Liverpool Echoandan interview with David Almond and Jane Davis on BBCRadio Merseyside. The project also featured online at Book -Brunch, artinliverpool.com, Liverpool.com and The Book -seller, amongst others.


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IN THE SPOTLIGHTTHE READER MAGAZINE

f ounded in 1997, The Reader magazine is published quar - terly and combines new ction and poetry with essays, book news, reviews and reader recommendations. Edited by Pro-fessor Philip Davis, it is concerned with the direct effect of books on readers, with the human content and purpose of literature, and encourages readers to extend their horizons.The magazine is also part of TROs public face, featuring re -ports on events and activities, and conducting an ongoingdiscussion of the Reading Revolution.

The magazine has a reputation that is growing with bothsubscribers and contributors, and has won the support of many well-known gures, including Seamus Heaney, DorisLessing, A. S. Byatt, Andrew Motion, Graham Swift, SimonBarnes and Harold Bloom.

One of the best things to thumpthrough the letter-box... full of pithy,

passionate and precise things.

Seamus Heaney


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Company registration number : 06607389 Charity registration number : 1126806 Registered of ce :19 Abercromby SquareLiverpoolL69 7ZG Bankers :Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank

BootleMerseysideGIR 0AA Statutory Auditor :Mitchell CharlesworthChartered Accountants5 Temple SquareTemple StreetLiverpoolL2 5RH

organISaTIonal INFORMATION

The Reader Organisation is constituted as a Company Lim-ited by Guarantee and a registered charity governed by itsMemorandum and Ar ticles of Association. The Reader Or -ganisation is administered by a Board of Trustees whichmust have between three and twelve individuals. The Boardmeets four times a year. A Director has been appointed (toact in the role of Chief Executive) by the Trustees to manage

the day to day operations of the charity.

THE READERORGANISATION



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Philip DavisHead of School of the Arts, University of Liverpool

Philip Davis is Professor in English and Head of the Schoolof the Arts at the University of Liverpool, and author of many books including Bernard Malamud: A Writers Life(Ox-ford; OUP 2007). He took over editorship of The Reader magazine in 2007 and now runs a part-time MA, Readingin Practice, the rst of its kind in the country, dealing withliterature and bibliotherapy.

Bec Fearon (to 10/09/09)Head of Participation, the Bluecoat

As Head of Participation for the Bluecoat, Bec Fearon leads a team dedicated to the provision of participatory arts experi-ences. The scheme is varied and includes a public programmeof family activities as well as more bespoke projects relating tocommunity groups and young people in educational settings.

Jill Forrest (to 10/09/09)Head of Special Projects, University of Liverpool

Jill Forrest has worked with TRO for many years. Prior to itsincorporation, as Head of the Regional Of ce at the Uni -versity, she helped to identify and secure funding to supportour early work with libraries and local communities. She isimmensely proud to have been part of the Universitys rstspin out organisation from the Arts and Humanities.

INTRODUCTION a number of changes have been made at Board level inorder to best serve the development of our growing or-ganisation.

TRO BOARD OF TRUSTEES 200910 Blake Morrison (Chair)Author, journalist and bibliotherapy advocate

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and former Chair of the Poetry Book Society and Vice-Chair of PEN, BlakeMorrison has written ction, poetry, journalism, literary criti -cism and libretti, as well as adapting plays for the stage. Hisbest-known works are his two memoirs, And When Did YouLast See Your Father? and Things My Mother Never Told Me.

THE READER ORGANISATIONTRUSTEES


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T USTEES 56

aim of encouraging people to read more and borrow morefrom public libraries. Dr Shyamal Mukherjee MBE

Medical Director, NHS Wirral Dr Mukherjee has been a General Practitioner for twenty-nine years in the Wallasey locality at a University teachingpractice, which has been awarded the Beacon Status. For seven years Dr Mukherjee has held the role of Medical Di -rector for NHS Wirral; he currently leads in a number of service redesigns. Alternative therapies leading to well-beingand better health are his par ticular interest.

Jill RuddSenior Lecturer, School of English, University of Liverpool

Jill has been a co-director of Graduate studies in the Schoolof English and has been an informal contact point for gradu-ate student helpers at the beginnings of TRO. She has par-

ticipated in various Reader initiatives, such as Readers Days,and is now the appointed liaison representative betweenTRO and the School of English.

Ivan WadesonChief Executive, All About Audiences All About Audiences is the audience development agency for the North West, working with nearly fty arts organi -

Rosemary Hawley MBEChair, NHS Knowsley Rosemary Hawley has a record of outstanding public service,especially in the eld of public health. She was a Board mem -ber of the Merseyside Regional Health authority in the mid-1980s, and her association with the NHS has continued ever since: rst with Liverpool Family Health Services Authority,

then as Chair of Nor th Mersey Community Trust, and nowas Chair of Knowsley PCT. She is also a magistrate. Chris Jones (to 10/09/09)Merseyside Operations Manager, Tomorrows People

Christopher Jones is Merseyside operations manager for na - tional employment charity Tomorrows People, helping andsupporting disadvantaged people in the labour market, intosustainable learning/employment, paid and voluntary work.He has a good knowledge of local and regional networks,and serves on a number of local groups and committees.

Jane Mathieson (to 19/09/09)Regional Reader Development Co-ordinator, Northwest

Jane Mathieson coordinates a regional partnership of reader development practitioners working in public libraries acrossNW England to share information and good practice indeveloping the audience for reading across the region. Thepartnership, Time To Read, develops promotions with the


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T USTEES 57

Steve Hawkins (from 10/09/09)Chief Executive, Local Solutions Steve is the Chief Executive of social enterprise, Local So-lutions and a Trustee and former Trustee of a number of local charities, including Radio City Charitable Trust and Na-

tional Energy Action. Steve has served as a Non-ExecutiveDirector in the NHS since 1991, including a year as ActingChairman of Liverpool Health Authority prior to becomingfounding Chairman of Mersey Care NHS Trust in 2001 until2008. Roger Phillips (from 10/09/09)Broadcaster, BBC Radio Merseyside Roger Phillips fell by chance into local radio (BBC RadioMerseyside) in 1978 whilst working as a Hackney cab driver.Hes been working as a broadcaster ever since. Roger wasrecently ap pointed Deputy Lieutenant in the County of Merseyside. Secretary: Chris Catterall (from 10/09/09)

Chief Executive: Jane Davis

sations. Ivan had worked extensively in theatres and artscentres before taking his current role in 2003. He is on theBoards of the Everyman and Playhouse theatres in Liver -pool, and Network, the national network of audience devel -

opment agencies. Lindsey Dyer (from 10/09/09)Director of Service Users and CarersMersey Care NHS Trust Lindsey is Director of Service Users and Carers at Mersey Care NHS Trust and leads Mersey Cares innovative humanrights based approach to involving people who use Trustservices and carers. She introduced GIR to Mersey Care.

John Flamson (from 10/09/09)Director of Strategic Partnerships and InnovationUniversity of Liverpool

John is Director of Partnerships and Innovation at the Uni-versity of Liverpool, dealing with external relations, strategicbusiness development and collaborations, and knowledge

transfer. He previously worked as European Director for

the Government Of ce for the North West, managing theObjective 1 programme for Merseyside, which has had asigni cant impact on the areas economic recovery.


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GET INTO READINGMERSEYSIDE

Kate McDonnellProject Manger Amanda BostonProject Worker

Katie Clark Elderly Careand Dementia Project Manager Caitlin CloughProject Worker, Young People

Jonathan DavisProject Worker, Young People Patrick FisherProject Worker, Young People

Emma HaywardProject Worker Wendy KayProject Worker

Emma McGordonProject Worker Alexis McNayProject Worker Anna ParryProject Worker, Young People

Sophie PoveyProject Worker, Young People Sam ShipmanProject Worker, Young People Eleanor StantonProject Worker

Mary WestonProject Worker, Mersey Care Clare WilliamsProject Worker

GET INTO READINGLONDON Penny MarkellProject Manager Paul HigginsProject Worker

GET INTO READING

WIGAN

Val HannanProject Manager Damian TaylorProject Worker

Kate HolcombeProject Worker


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Communiversity, Liverpool

Liverpool City Council

Liverpool LACES

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service

Mind, Tower Hamlets/Haringey

Neighbourhood Management Services, Alt Valley

(Liverpool)Resettle, Merseyside Probation Service

Princes Trust

Salvation Army (homeless drop-in), Westminster

St Georges House (mental health community),

CamdenSt Mungos (homeless hostel), Lambeth

Unicorn Day Centre (mental health drop-in centre),

Liverpool Wigan Council

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Working with Older People

Active Ageing, Liverpool

Cara Lunch Club, London

Halton Borough Council (Mill Brow Care Home)

Redholme Memory Care Home, Liverpool

Southern Cross Care Homes

Some of the people weve worked with over the last twelve months:

Working with the NHS

5 Boroughs Partnership

Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT

East Lancashire PCT

East London Mental Health Trust

Liverpool PCT

Knowsley PCT

Mersey Care NHS Trust

Wirral PCT

Working in the Community

The Ark, Birkenhead

Bluecoat, Liverpool

Cobalt Housing

THE READER ORGANISATIONPARTNERS

M h hi Lib iW ki i h B i


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Monmouthshire Libraries

Salford Libraries

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Stoke-on-Trent Libraries

Tower Hamlets Libraries (Idea Stores)

Warrington Libraries

Westminster Libraries

Wigan Libraries

Wirral Libraries

Working in the Criminal Justice system

HMP Liverpool

HMP Hydebankwood, Belfast

HMP Low Newton, Durham

Great Manchester Probation Trust

Working with Research Partners

Mersey Care NHS Trust

Reading and Health Research Group (Schools of English,

Medicine, Health Sciences), the University of LiverpoolMental Health Foundation

Liverpool PCT

Working with Business

Bibby Line Group

Government Of ce for the North West

Working with Young People

Find Your Talent, Merseyside

Knowsley Children and Young Peoples Department

Liverpool Extended Schools (Fazakerley High, Park -

lands, Childwall Sports College and BroadgreenInternational)Monmouth Comprehensive School

Tranmere Community Project

Weatherhead High School

Wirral Children and Young Peoples Depar tment

Working with Libraries

Bolton Libraries

Cheshire Libraries

East Lancashire Libraries

Haringey Libraries

Liverpool Libraries

THE READER ORGANISATION


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PROGRESS AGAINST THESE AIMSFOR 20092010

Delivered three new GIR projects working with youngpeople in Liverpool and Knowsley.Developed new GIR projects in London and Wigan.Delivered our rst international project with State Li -brary of Victoria, Australia.Secured funding to deliver Merseyside Community The -atre in partnership with Merseyside Fire and RescueService.Delivered the rst GIR conference.Secured publishing contracts with Walker Books andChatto & Windus.GIR singled out by the government as example of bestpractice in helping to improve public mental health andwell-being.

Won a Collaborative Doctoral Award from the AHRC to explore the foundations of bibliotherapy.

THE READER ORGANISATIONOUR AIMS

The Reader Organisations object as set out in the com -panys articles is: to advance the education of the public in the appreciation of literature including poetry and drama. Inorder to achieve this objective we set aims each year andundertake a range of activities, projects and campaigns inorder to make them happen. Our aims and progress against

them are detailed below: AIMS FOR 20092010 Engage with Education, Library Services, Healthcare and

Social Care to deliver GIR.Disseminate GIR to interested parties both nationally and internationally.Provide personal development opportunities for peo-ple who have been involved in GIR groups.Raise and maintain awareness about reading and aboutTROs work.Publicise the personal content of reading.Undertake all types of research into GIR.Maximise TROs potential by attracting resources con -sistent with its immediate and long term needs and by using them ef ciently and effectively.

PUBLIC BENEFIT Develop organisational remit from regional to national


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PUBLIC BENEFIT

The activities provided by TRO are funded by third parties,principally public sector bodies but also charitable trusts and

other partner organisations.

Therefore, we ensure there are no barriers to accessing these activities based on ability to pay.

Whilst there are no concessionary subscription rates for The Reader magazine, back issues are available at heavily dis -counted rates and can be downloaded from the websitefree of charge.

The Trustees have had due regard to the guidance pub-lished by the Charity Commission on public bene ts.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

We have established a range of objectives for the next

nancial period: 1) GovernanceDevelop new business plan, based on revised national ambi-

tions, to include:

Develop organisational remit from regional to nationalDevelop new organisational staf ng structureDevelop social franchise and legal infrastructure for rep-lication of GIR.

2) Communication

Develop clear key message for TRO as a national (inter -national) organisationRaise and maintain awareness of TROs work throughpublic engagement events, media coverage, publicationsand campaignsProducing appropriate marketing collateral to supportdevelopment and implementation of TROs work.

3) Finance

Develop and implement 3-year fundraising strategy Develop nancial management system.

4) Project DeliveryMaintain existing service level agreements and con -

tracts

Successfully deliver Our Read and Community Theatre Develop GIR further in health, education and elderly careDevelop research projects for mental health, LookedAfter Children and dementia.


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THE READER ORGANISATIONACCOUNTS

STaTeMenToffInanCIal ACTIVITIESfor THE YEAR ENDED31ST MARCH 2010

All of the companys activities areclassed as continuing.

2010 2009

Unrestricted Restricted Total TotalIncoming resources

Incoming resources from generated funds:Voluntary income 31,424 11,250 42,674 137,130Investment income 232 232 724

Incoming resources from charitable activities 390,816 240,863 631,679 429,635 ______ ______ ______ ______

Total incoming resources 422,472 252,113 674,585 567,489 ______ ______ ______ ______

Resources expended

Charitable expenditure:Charitable activities 362,418 230,567 592,985 375,271Governance costs 3,750 3,750 3,500 ______ ______ ______ ______

Total resources expended 366,168 230,567 596,735 378,771 ______ ______ ______ ______

Net incoming resources before transfers 56,304 21,546 77,850 188,718

Transfer s between funds 18,000 (18,000) ______ ______ ______ ______

Net movement in funds 74,304 3,546 77,850 188,718

Accumulated funds brought forward 64,502 124,216 188,718 ______ ______ ______ ______

Accumulated funds carried forward 138,806 127,762 266,568 188,718 ______ ______ ______ ______

______ ______ ______ ______


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BalanCe SHEETaT 31ST MARCH 2010

TheSe summary accounts are not statutory accountsbut a summary of information relating to both theStatement of Financial Activities and the BalanceSheet. As such they may not contain suf cient in-formation to allow as full an understanding of the re-sults and state of affairs of the charitable company aswould be provided by the full accounts and reports.

For further information, the full accounts, theauditors report on those accounts and the Reportof the Trustees should be consulted.

The accounts were approved by the trusteeson 9th September, 2010 and signed on their be-half by

Blake MorrisonChair

2010 2009

Fixed assetTangible assets 9,127 2,707

Current assets

Debtors 50,092 23,518Cash at bank 361,340 176,993 ______ ______

411,432 200,511CreditorsAmounts falling due within one year 153,991 14,500 ______ ______

Net current assets 257,441 186,011 ______ ______ Net assets 266,568 188,718 ______ ______

Funds

Unrestricted fundsGeneral funds 138,806 64,502

Restricted fundsGet Into Reading Merseyside 94,008 105,126Get Into Reading Training 16,206 15,958Get Into Reading London 17,548 Liverpool Reads 3,132 ______ ______

Total funds 266,568 188,718_______ _______ _______ _______


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The Reader Organisation is supported by:


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The Reader Organisation10 Abercromby SquareLiverpoolL69 7ZQ

+44 (0) 151 794 2830

email: [email protected] website: www.thereader.org.uk

blog: www.thereaderonline.co.uk

Registered charity number 1126806


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The Reader Organisation19 Abercromby SquareLiverpoolL69 7GZ

www.thereader.org.uk

TRO Annual Report 2009-10 Download

Documents

Transcript of TRO Annual Report 2009-10 Download