THE READER

ORGANISATION

ANNUAL
REPORT THEREADING
2009–10 REVOLUTION
TRO Annual Report
2009–10
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THE READER ORGANISATION

ANNUAL REPORT
2009–10

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2
FOREWORD
BLAKE 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 children’s homes. Its guiding
principle 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 difficulties. It’s a way of reconnecting people who
feel that they’re not connected, that they don’t matter, that
they’re not at the centre of their own lives.
Though the charity originated and still has its heart in
Merseyside, its work has begun to spread across the UK
and beyond. This has been an exciting year for TRO, with a
doubling in the number of groups and volunteers, the setting
up of research projects to evaluate the therapeutic ben-
efits of reading, and the preparation of the organisation’s
first-ever anthology, A Little, Aloud. Training programmes have
3
now reached as far as Australia, where the Reader way of
doing things was enthusiastically received. TRO also held its
first national conference – ‘New Beginnings’ – taking stock of
achievements and looking to the future.
The work of the organisation has received a lot of media
attention this year and was even mentioned in the House
of Lords as an example of the way that culture can impact
positively (and cost-effectively) on health. If the benefits of
reading aloud have begun to be recognised, then TRO is
largely responsible for getting that message across. Thanks
to its groups, many people who have struggled to cope with
life are finding support 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 difficult economic climate for brave new initia-
tives. But the Reading Revolution deserves all the support
it can get. Long may the revolution flourish.
Blake Morrison was Chair of Trustees 2009–2010, and is
now Patron of TRO
ABOUT THE READER
ORGANISATION
The Reader Organisation (TRO) works to spread the many
benefits 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 life
in every sense, encouraging people to engage with litera-
ture on a prolonged basis and in turn, encounter the ways in
which it can greatly enrich and improve a life.

Join The Reading Revolution – if you would like to ex-

plore working in partnership 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 2009–March

2010.

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 CONTENTS
3   Foreword, Blake Morrison READER EVENTS
4    About The Reader Organisation 45    Words and Images Readers’ Day
6   Bringing About a Reading Revolution 46    Penny Readings
7   Introduction, Jane Davis 47   The Reading Cure
48    New Beginnings
REACHING OUT
Get Into Reading IN THE SPOTLIGHT
11   Merseyside 51    Making News
13    Mersey Reads 52    Website and Blog
16    Wirral Children and Young People 53   The Reader Magazine
21   The Annual Get Together
24    Beyond Merseyside, North West THE READER ORGANISATION
28    Beyond Merseyside, London
54    Organisational Information
Liverpool Reads 55  Trustees
29    The Savage, David Almond and Dave McKean 58   Staff
60   Partners
Read to Lead Training
62   Our Aims
33   From Alt Valley to Australia!
63    Public Benefits and Future Developments
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SUMMARY ACCOUNTS
39    Current Research Projects
64    Accounts
41    Focus: Grace Farrington
66   Auditors’ Statement
43    Strategic Relationship with the University of Liverpool

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BRINGING ABOUT
A READING REVOLUTION
The focus of our work is engaging ordinary people in sharing
a 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 and
a source of hope. We call this the Reading Revolution.
In order to help bring about this Revolution we under-
take the development of projects and partnerships with
other 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:
6
• Providing a range of services and interventions which
brings 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 develop
new 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.
INTRODUCTION
JANE DAVIS
Founder and Director,
The Reader Organisation
‘I never realised all this was in books,’ said a trainee at one
of our Read to Lead courses this year. That is the Reading
Revolution in action.
When one of my colleagues coined that ‘reading revolu-
tion’ phrase at an away day in 2009 I loved its hard-hitting
ambition but even I thought it was slightly overblown. Now,
having read through this report on the year’s work, I’m not
so sure. T
  he 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 firefighters carry
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hundreds of copies of The Savage up the stairs into Liverpool
Central Library, or read a report from one of our project
workers 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 so
far-fetched.
For me, one of the most moving experiences of the year
came at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service HQ. Here, it
felt an enormous privilege to be reading literature with a
group of people whose serious day job faces life and death,
and routinely requires courage, bravery, and discipline. That
reading together should have a place in that world seemed
a genuine achievement. As we read and talked about The
Savage the conversation ranged from parenthood to child-
hood pain, to marriage and divorce, to fatherhood and fire-
fighting. An ex-Army man talked about how helpless it made
him 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.’ T   hat remark is about more than reading; it is
also about what is in us, and about the language we have to
express what is in us.
But as our organisation grows we have to manage the in-
evitable and sometimes uncomfortable changes: at the GIR
Get Together this year I looked around and realised that de- I look forward with excitement, and a little trepidation,
spite the many well-recognised faces (including two people to the next year’s work, both in reading and in organisation-
from the first ever GIR group), there were many people I making, encouraged by the belief, dedication and humane
didn’t know.That felt odd, and marked a step change. On the intelligence of our staff and trustees.
other hand, our first Conference, achieved despite the winter
freeze, proved an exciting way of meeting new people and
bringing old friends together. I was moved, as many in the au-
dience were, by the testimonies from GIR readers, Noelene
Banks, Margaret Stocker, Louise Jones and George Norman.

The day our team left for Australia I had a striking sense
of 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 fertile
Australian soil. New work is now also developing in the US,
and in Denmark. In April 2010, just as the year’s work cov-
ered by this report came to an end, I had an email from a
medical student working in the Children’s Hospital of San-
tiago. She wants to develop Get Into Reading in Chile. The
future possibilities seem endless.

But as the idea spreads, we must also build an organisa-

tion that is strong enough to support its readers, staff, and
volunteers. Consolidation must have equal priority with de-
velopment for the coming years. That, too, is the Reading
Revolution.

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 THE READING REVOLUTION
REACHING OUT
Through working with a number of local authorities and
NHS 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 values
shared 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.
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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, children’s 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 little
or as much as they want to. It’s not academic and it’s not
formal: 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.
“
Get Into Reading is like sitting
around a fire and telling stories to

”
each other – a way of binding us
together.
GIR member
suffering from depression

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GET INTO READING
MERSEYSIDE
It has been a year of huge and exciting growth for GIR on
Merseyside, with provision almost doubling: by 2010 there
were 190 sessions taking place each week across the region,
reaching approximately 1000 people. The range of people
we are working with grows ever wider – asylum seekers and
economic migrants, people with physical or mental health
problems, looked after children, people with learning disabili-
ties, in drug rehab, suffering from dementia, homeless people,
carers, young mums, lonely and isolated people, children in
primary 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 been
my salvation.
GIR member
Birkenhead
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“
I forget about everything that’s
”
putting pressure on me and
go right into the book.
10-year-old boy
Seacombe
As well as retaining our existing commissions at Mer-
sey Care, Halton, Wirral NHS and MBC, Weatherhead High
School and Liverpool PCT, a Liverpool Libraries Lottery
Fund bid has brought a full-time GIR project worker to the
Toxteth area of Liverpool. We’ ve run sessions at Resettle in
Speke (a rehabilitation project for ex-offenders with per-
sonality disorders). We’ ve had a new Reader-In-Residence at
4 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 joint
Home Office and Extended Schools-funded project in the
Seacombe area of Wirral, creating 20 new reading groups
for primary school children and their parents.
 Examples of growing confidence and self-realisation
abound: a lady in her seventies from Birkenhead’s Wood-
church estate joining a trip to The Globe and enjoying a
Shakespeare play for the first time in her life; a group of GIR
members independently setting up a singing group which
visits care homes; a young woman from a multiply-deprived
area of Liverpool – who’ d arrived at a GIR group having
never read a book in her life and so nervous she couldn’t
get her words out – speaking with poise and clarity in front
of 140 people at our first national conference.

And there is more growth ahead: a new commission

from 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 parts of the
borough. Work will focus on more deprived areas, as well as
with 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 find out more about each other’ s
work, as well as to help signpost GIR beneficiaries to their

”
The groups help people get back to
wider services. We also hope to include comprehensive their natural selves.
evaluation and a volunteer project, working one-to-one with
housebound people and those with early onset dementia. GIR member
suffering from depression

GET INTO READING: MERSEYSIDE  12

 GET INTO READING
MERSEY CARE READS

The year 2009–10 has been fast-paced for Mersey Care

Reads. We’ve continued to expand, providing another 14
groups 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 and
Mental Health nurses to put on weekly reading groups in
“ I have been a Mersey Care service
user for 7 years as I have a severe and
enduring mental illness. When I first
began to attend the readers group over
a year ago, I was finding life difficult.
I rarely left the house and had mini-
mal contact with people other than my
family. Through attending the weekly
reading group my self-confidence has
hospitals and day settings from Speke to Southport. Sharing
grown far beyond anything I could
greeat literature allows people to relate at a depth which is
have hoped for. The group has given
not necessarily a personal depth: members can forge inti-
me the opportunity to practice some-
mate relationships and approach psychological issues in an
thing I’ve always loved, reading, and to
unthreatening way.

”
make new friends, share insights and
stories and have lots of laughs.

Chris Kirby
Activity Worker, Park Unit

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 “
HIGHLIGHTS 2009–10
Two of the groups in high secure services were short listed
for the Penguin/Orange Broadband Reading Group Award
in May 2009 – Ruskin and Eliot Wards. Neither group won
first prize, but both groups received a full set of the books
on the Orange Prize shortlist.
Eisteach – The Irish Journal of Psychotherapy commissioned
the Readers in Residence to write an article about the work
being carried out in Mersey Care NHS Trust: ‘Moments of
Electricity:The Power of Reading’.  The focus of the piece was
around how the GIR model promotes personal change.
Mersey Care Reads teamed up with the Bluecoat for this
year’s Chapter and Verse festival. The project had four super
events, including a powerful session in which Brian Keenan
read to patients at Ashworth Hospital. Mersey Care Reads
was also part of Liverpool Reads, hosting a series of lunchtime
reading events that featured David Almond’s The Savage.
Work began on the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award: a
collaborative research project between Mersey Care NHS
Trust, The Reader Organisation, the School of Medicine and
the School of English at the University of Liverpool.
GET INTO READING: MERSEY CARE READS  14
There is an inextricable link between
good cultural services and the health and
well-being of a community. Let me quote
from a letter that I received from Alan
Yates, the Chief Executive of the NHS
mental health service provider in north
Merseyside, Mersey Care NHS Trust:
It is my opinion that culture in all
its forms is a more significant con-
tributor to health and well-being
than direct formal services alone.
He has given me the example of 25
reading groups that have been set up
through Mersey Care… He can iden-
tify people within these groups who
would have needed in-patient care had
it not been for the support and benefit
of the groups. Groups cost about £6 per
”
person per session; by comparison, an
in-patient stay costs £9,000 on average.
The Lord Bishop of Liverpool
House of Lords, March 2010
 “ I have seen many therapeutic benefits
for people in the reading group, the
mood lifting with laughter and spon-
taneity. The focus on a short story or a
poem improves concentration, promotes
more structured and logical thinking,
and it can shift attention away from
worrying or disturbing thoughts.
I have seen the group help channel
agitated and restless behaviour into
more controlled purposeful actions.

BRIAN KEENAN The poems and short stories have

given us a different look at life, differ-
ent perspectives, given us experiences
READING FROM HIS NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
of other cultures and periods in history.
‘I’LL TELL ME MA’ There is something special about
Mersey Care NHS Trust, The Bluecoat & The Reader at:
sharing a story in this way as though

”
we help each other to explore it further
CHAPTER & VERSE FESTIVAL or experience it more deeply.
invites 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.
Guy Thomas
Brian will be reading from ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’, a memoir of his childhood Occupational Therapist, Windsor House
in Belfast and the impression that troubled city left upon him.
date location time
ASHWORTH
16/10/09 HOSPITAL 9.30A.M.

15 GET INTO READING: MERSEY CARE READS  15

 WIRRAL CHILDREN
AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Early in 2009, we received additional funding from Wirral
Children and Young People’s Department that allowed us
to employ another part-time project worker. This means
we can now reach more young people in the care of the
local authority on a weekly basis, and also that we have
more 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-one
basis are becoming more and more impressive; we see the
children we read with engaging with literature in a way that
they may never have had the opportunity to, and there are
also huge improvements in terms of increased self-esteem,
confidence and reading ability.
“”
I thought reading was boring but I like
it now. Would I come again? Yes! Yes!
Yes!
Year 8 pupil
Story Time
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HIGHLIGHTS 2009–2010
The Woodchurch Reader-in-Residence project continues to
thrive, delivering reading-for-pleasure groups in primary and
secondary schools and at SNAP, a Woodchurch youth club.
Liverpool LACES Reading for Pleasure Sessions provide
weekly one-to-one reading sessions with Children in Care,
creating a fun and safe reading relationship that benefits the
children 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 (aged
5–8), 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 Cottrell
Boyce’s Proper Clever and Roger McGough’s Slapstick Poems.
Both performances were at The Playhouse in Liverpool.
Art in the Park. In the summer of 2009 we ran a creative arts
project in Birkenhead (funded by the J. P. Getty Jnr Charita-
ble Trust). A group of ten (aged 12–16) 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.
17
CASE STUDY 1: WOODCHURCH YOUTH CLUB
“
Whoever you visit next with
Get Into Reading is in for
a real treat, the young people

”
adore you and the wonderful stories.
p. was a casual reading group member at SNAP (Saturday You are always welcome at SNAP.
Night Activity Programme), a Woodchurch youth club man-
Maureen Cain
aged by local residents, where GIR ran a reading group with SNAP
the aim of showing children that reading can be fun. Often
at first she came for just half an hour before moving on to
dancing or basketball with her friends. She told our project
worker that she mainly read joke books and didn’t do a lot
of 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. Then
we began reading the play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
and this was the breakthrough. P. asked if she could take
her copy home to ‘practise’ and seemed surprised when we
said, ‘Yes, of course.’ The following week, her mother told
us, ‘We’ve been reading the Charlie script in bed – she loves
this, you know!’ In the following session, P. read the part of
‘Grandpa Joe’ and was tremendous, entertaining the group
with her croaky, old man’s voice.
Asked why she liked the reading group she said: ‘Because
it’s really funny reading poems and plays and sometimes I
just get sick of TV or playing out.’

GET INTO READING: WIRRAL CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE 18

 “
CASE STUDY 2: ONE-TO-ONE SESSIONS
When I first 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 a
proud 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 take
part on the grounds that he ‘would be helping to select
books for children of his age’, rather than working on his
reading because ‘he needed it’.  At first, M. was defensive, ‘If
I just read the back cover, I don’t need to bother with the
whole thing’, and in the early weeks he often told me that I
need not come again.  However, the subtle difference in how
the sessions were presented allowed him gradually to get
more involved without having to let his guard down.
“
It has been a turning point for M. He’s
much more willing to tackle things
now. Even with his computer games, if
”
he gets stuck, he reads the
instructions. He’s reading!
Carer
GET INTO READING: WIRRAL CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE  19
A lot of the time it sounds like you
are just having fun together
with books, but I have realised
now that it is like a dripping tap
– the message sinks in over a
period of time, and because it is done
”
gradually in a non-intrusive way, it is
more likely to stay with her for life.
Carer
Over the following weeks, there were signs of improve-
ment: he was unwilling to read aloud but I could tell he was
paying attention to the story because he would stop and
correct me if I made a mistake, and he began to talk about
what was happening in the book. He would sometimes sur-
prise himself with his positivity, as on one occasion when he
described the book as ‘cool’! The real positive change in M.’s
attitude towards reading came in week 12, when we were
reading a play.  M. asked if he could read 2 of the 4 parts, and
did so with real enthusiasm and confidence. Even when he
made 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.
“ You hear what is happening at other
groups. You share a day out together

”
and it gives everyone a sense of
belonging.

GIR group member

20
 THE ANNUAL GIR
GET TOGETHER 2009
We held our fifth Annual Get Into Reading Get Together at
Birkenhead Town Hall one Tuesday in November 2009. The
Get Together is important in TRO’s event calendar – the
one day in the year when our reading group members from
across 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 figure yet to
attend this annual event) and with their arrival the Town Hall
was quickly transformed into a hub of activity.   individual 131 comments five separate poetry sheets have
Guest readers included the Mayor of Wirral Councillor
Andrew Hodson and the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside
Dame Lorna Muirhead, who kindly joined us on the day to
show their support for the GIR project.
“
”
It is inspiring to meet up with others.
GIR group member
21
Many said the most inspiring part of the day was when
10 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 aloud
in front of their fellow GIR groups, many of whom would
not have dreamed of doing so before joining the project.
The event also provided the opportunity for members to
produce what has now become known as the GIANT GIR
POEM, designed by Michael Hannah. Group members were
asked to think about their reading groups in terms of the five
senses – smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight – and out of their
been produced to represent the wonderfully diverse and
moving 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 the
value 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 gives
a sense of fellowship. You see

”
people from all walks of life, each
having something to offer.

GIR group member

GIR made its impression on the people working at the

Town Hall.  As we were leaving at the end of the day, one
of the men working there came over to say goodbye:  ‘You
know what?’ he said, ‘It was great having you lot here today.
Over the past 18 months we’ve held a lot of events here
but when I saw your lot queuing up for the buffet, and we

“
looked in the hall and saw it was full of smiley faces, it was
just great!’

”
It’s important for everyone to know
they are part of a bigger whole.

GIR group member

GET INTO READING: ANNUAL GET TOGETHER  22

When I think of my Get Into Reading group I smell…

Paper. Warmth. Paper, pencil. FRIENDSHIP. Ink and paper. The scent of ideas,
sometimes hard to express. New books and coffee. We smell refreshed when coming to and from GIR.
THE TEA. The smell of new school books, at the start of a new term. Reading Jane Eyre and practically smelling the
mustiness and gloom of big old houses. BOOKS AND COFFEE AND THERAPY. The wood in the building, coffee
and biscuits, biscuits. 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 people’s thoughts and
opinions. Hyacinths. Cafe. LAUGHTER. Friendship. Cooking food. I smell
freesias; I smell happiness. Flowers, breath of fresh air. ROAST DINNER. The
coffee that Lee buys and says “You can’t have cake, don’t make a fuss.” PAPER. Fresh
tea & coffee brewing. OLD BOOKS. FLOWERS. The smell is of the ladies’
perfume and the air fresheners in the room. The coffee. Biscuits. BOOKS.
Printers’ ink! FRESH AIR. FLOWERS. Perfume. Coffee. Sweet fragrance of
love. COFFEE. The lovely familiar smell of books. COFFEE. Coffee – warming
welcoming. Breath of fresh air. The sweet tobacco smell of an old book yellow with
age. The fragrance of the Tree of Knowledge. Libraries. Coffee and sometimes the
leaves of a newly opened book. I like the smell of new books. Earthy
nature smell. NATURE, EARTHY SMELL, COFFEE. Natural things paper and trees.
Smell of the book. TANGERINES. Old Books. The bacon in the pan burning. Fear. CINNAMON.
Comfort. Coffee. COFFEE. The odour of the scenes. The sweet smell of success – they’ve got me out
of bed!! Toasted teacake. Toast, new books, old musty books, a very old tarnished teapot, perfume or soap or
shampoo as we all come through the door. Rain or the sea if its windy. Warm Bread.

Get Into Reading Get Together 2009, Birkenhead Town Hall

GET INTO READING: ANNUAL GET TOGETHER  23

 BEYOND MERSEYSIDE
NORTH WEST

SALFORD GIR

After a two-year collaboration with Salford Library Services,

the Salford project is in great shape. There are now eight
centres providing GIR groups for the elderly in day care cen-
tres, residential homes, a rehabilitation centre and sheltered
accommodation. Most groups are run by staff from the cen-
tres following intensive GIR training, and their reaction has
been overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate the greater
flexibility and love the experience. Sarah Coyne, the Reader
Development Officer for Salford Libraries, will continue to
monitor these self-run groups and provide them with assis-
tance as required.
The other Salford focus – provision for those with mental
health problems – has evolved in four centres: START, a cen-
tre offering artistic activities for people with mental health
problems; MIND in Salford, the Angel; Little Hulton Library
and the Loaves and Fishes Drop-in Centre for Homeless
People. Salford is now well placed to train more staff and
extend the provision further.
24
GOVERNMENT OFFICE FOR THE NORTH WEST
The fifteenth floor of the City Tower in Manchester and the
marbled grandeur of the Cunard Building in Liverpool have
provided the settings for weekly sessions run as part of the
10-month Reader-in-Residence scheme. The lunch-time
groups have proved popular, with people finding them a
good way to get to know colleagues in other divisions of the
Government Office. The ‘Book Chat’ zone on the fifteenth
floor is complete with comfy chairs, bookshelves, a mock
hearth and mantelpiece and a wall display of ‘High Impact
books’, where people have shared their all-time great reads
with anecdotes and extracts.
RESETTLE (PROBATION SERVICE)
Resettle is a scheme drawn up by the government, NHS,
prison service, police and probation to work constructively
and intensively with men with personality disorder coming
out of prison. The 10-week pilot GIR project was part of
the centre’s activities aimed at improving the men’s mental
health, 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, groups
were small. It was important to gain the men’s trust as well
as their interest. The informality and the material used were
key. Kipling’s ‘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 Frost’s ‘The Road not
Taken’ held the attention of one angry and frustrated man.
‘I feel lost,’ he said, when the notion of being at a crossroads
was raised. At the end of the session, having reminisced
about walking the Wirral Way, he said he’d be there the fol-
lowing week, if he was still at Resettle. ‘I’ll have to choose
the right road,’ he said.
25
ST JOSEPH’S APPROVED PREMISES, PATRICOFT
With approximately 32 residents, St Joseph’s is now the
only approved premises in the country for men coming out
of prison with serious mental health problems. In the 14
months of GIR group sessions, over 20 men have attended
with a regular weekly attendance of 4 or 5. Positive out-
comes include increased self-confidence and belief in their
own abilities, as well as improvement to social interaction,
mental stimulation, and a greater interest in reading. The
groups also provide a distraction from concerns and anxi-
eties.
“
This place restricts us in ways that
can sometimes seem petty. This group
”
offers us the opportunity to have our
views and opinions heard.
Resident at St Joseph’s
BIBBY LINE GROUP
TRO’s successful one-year Reader-in-Residence scheme
from 2008 to 2009 and last year’s pilot corporate training
programme created links with the Bibby Line Group which
have been maintained in a number of ways. Discussions are
underway about the development of an intensive facilita-
tion/communication skills programme for divisional teams
using the shared reflective reading model. The Books at
Bibby Line Blog continues to attract interest and favourable
comment.
“
Your emails create a sudden and much
needed relief and offer a prospect not
”
readily to hand when caught up in our
frantic business tangles. Keep it up.
Reading group member
GET INTO READING: NORTH WEST  26
WIGAN
TRO obtained funding from the Working Neighbourhood
Fund in 2009 from Wigan Council as part of their Workless-
ness Strategy. The aims were to develop a collaborative GIR
scheme between April 2010 and March 2011, in partnership
with Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust. The project is a Social
Prescribing project for the arts and mental health, and it aims
to involve a wide range of groups, networks, statutory, volun-
tary and community organisations around the premise that
reading good books aloud together can make an important
contribution to people’s mental health and well-being. By im-
proving social skills and supporting reading, we aim to reduce
the levels of worklessness among people across the borough,
including those with mental ill-health.
It is at base an inclusive approach, which will improve
community well-being through increased provision and ac-
cess to sustainable services and support, including self-man-
agement, particularly for at-risk groups.
“ Normally when I’m reading, I’m
thinking about what I’m going to have

”
for my tea! But reading aloud really
helps you to concentrate and take it in.

Participant at GIR taster session

International Women’s Day, Norley Hall, Wigan

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

sustaining and part of the community, TRO has free training
on offer to enable group members or staff members in a
host 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 Hostel
visiting the theatre for the first time

GET INTO READING: NORTH WEST  27

 BEYOND MERSEYSIDE
LONDON
GIR London began with a commission from the East London
Mental Health Trust in April 2009. We initially focused our
work in Tower Hamlets, working with Crisis, Mind and the
library 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 some
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 George
Eliot, Charles Dickens, Rohinton Mistry, George Orwell,
John Steinbeck and Russell Hoban, and in September 2009
we took 30 group members to The Globe to watch Love’s
Labour’s Lost.

“
volunteer time as well, they are running reading groups in
libraries in Haringey, Battersea and Westminster, the Salva-
I should have gone to the doctor this
tion Army, St Mungo’s, Mind, in a number of boroughs and
morning, but I couldn’t get out of bed.
with various older people’s and mental health services.
Then I remembered this group and I
could move and wanted to come.
We held an event in March 2010 with some high-profile

”
Psychologically this is much better for
speakers and raised interest with NHS bodies, social housing
me.
providers, and with more library services and charities from
across London. There are ongoing conversations about how GIR group member
we can work together to reach more people.

28
 LIVERPOOL READS…

THE SAVAGE
BY DAVID ALMOND
and ILLUSTRATOR DAVE MCKEAN

‘Imagine you wrote a story and that story came true…’  This is
exactly what happens to Blue Baker when he writes about a
savage living alone in the woods near his home. After his dad’s
death, Blue finds comfort in dreaming of a wild kid who survives
on 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 ends
and the savage begins.

We 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, Merseytravel
bus stations and M2Go rail station shops, local Waterstone’s
stores, the News from Nowhere and Amorous Cat book-
shops, Starbucks and all Liverpool Football Club Stores, as
well as to schools, community centres and youth groups
through our GIR project.
29
 We didn’t just want to give away the book; we wanted
it 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. We
also 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. The
guide is still available at:
www.thereader.org.uk/liverpoolreads/onlineresource
GET INTO READING: LIVERPOOL READS  30
LAUNCH DAY
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and TRO joined forces –
fire officers and author, fire engines and books – to attend a
very different kind of emergency!
One day in September, author of The Savage, David Al-
mond, illustrator Dave McKean, Deputy Chief Fire Officer
Mike Hagen and Director of TRO, Jane Davis, along with
trainee fire fighters, helped to load up fire engines with The
Savage, and began the six-month quest to get them to com-
munities across Merseyside.
 And what better place to host the first stage of the read-
ing emergency than the home of the city’s books – Central
Library? David Almond and Dave McKean met with chil-
dren from city centre schools to talk about The Savage and
sign their free copies. They also visited pupils at Palmerston
School and St John Bosco School to get an insight into what
the book means to the children of Merseyside.
teacher from each group has been trained to lead the group
subsequent to the departure 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 phrase
‘reading is boring’ was heard many times at outset; other

Director of TRO, Jane Davis said of Liverpool Reads:

‘Reading for pleasure is more important in determining life
chances than the economic status of your family, but year
on year, fewer young people are enjoying reading. That’s 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 Officer readers?’

FIND YOUR TALENT

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

to give young people access to five hours’ worth of culture
a week. TRO was involved in FYT through Liverpool Reads
and 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 is
an important part of the project so a volunteer parent or
GET INTO READING: LIVERPOOL READS  31
groups were full of enthusiastic readers who scrambled to
be the next person to read aloud. They were all different to
one another. But no matter where the groups began, the
common thread through the eight weeks turned out to be
the participants’ enjoyment of The Savage.
“
”
If I can create the savage
then I don’t have to be one.
Young person
Liverpool
‘I never dreamed I’d hear such off-the-wall, elaborate
theories about the savage’s 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 the
whole group. We’ve had fantastic discussions on the themes
of loss and bullying that ran through The Savage.’
GET INTO READING: LIVERPOOL READS  32
CASE STUDY 3: THE SAVAGE
J. is a twelve-year-old boy who before reading The Savage as
part of the GIR Extended Schools Project had not read a
book since he was able to read independently at the age of
five. He had begun to realise that reading could be pleasur-
able when he drew his vision of the poems we read so as to
further his understanding of them. It was at this point that
he revealed his ambition to be an artist and said that his two
favourite colours were green and black. When I showed him
a copy of The Savage J. loved to hold it and he devoured the
front cover. He was keen to start reading it and we spent
lots of time on each page considering not only the words
but 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 were
discussing. The Savage showed J. how alive a book could be
and has instilled a passion in him for other adventure stories.
All the way through, he was intrigued, repulsed, in awe and
wary of the savage.
“ ”
The most scary, cool, shocking and best
book I’ve ever read
J.on The Savage
 READ TO LEAD TRAINING

FROM THE ALT VALLEY

TO AUSTRALIA!

ThIS past year has been a phenomenally exciting and

busy time for Read to Lead Training. Over 500 people
have 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
finds a home through the training programme. We’re
no strangers to breaking new ground at TRO: here are
a few of the things that the Read to Lead team did for
the first time in 2009–2010:

“
READ TO LEAD NON-RESIDENTIAL TRAINING
Best training I’ve done! So beautifully
We have answered the demand for a non-residential structured and layered. Felt seamless,

”
training equivalent to the fantastic residential course as though I learnt skills without
that we continue to run at Burton Manor. This flex- realising that was happening.
ible course has allowed us to meet and train people
Trainee
33 State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
who would not otherwise have been able to come to us
on Merseyside. To date we have been commissioned to run
non-residentials by the following: the University of Bolton;
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; Warrington Council;
East Lancashire PCT; Stoke Libraries; Liverpool PCT. We are
confident that this will be a huge area of growth over the
coming 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) in
Melbourne, Australia, which hosted three of our lucky train-
ers to run an intensive but hugely rewarding week training
librarians and key community partners in the GIR model. It
was very satisfying to see how well the model was under-
stood, appreciated and put into practice on the other side

“
of 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 personal, challenging and rewarding
experience. I feel confident to
A comprehensive project and evaluation is underway

”
implement a new set of skills that has
in Victoria which we hope will lead to further partnership the potential to make a real difference.
work with the SLV as well as the commissioning of further
training courses. Trainee
State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
GET INTO READING: READ TO LEAD 34
TRAINING IN ELDERLY CARE & DEMENTIA SETTINGS
We ran a successful pilot training course specifically aimed
at working with staff in elderly care home.The course, which
trained staff and volunteers at Redholme Memory Care
Home in Liverpool, focused on the specific needs of estab-
lishing and developing groups in care homes and drew on
the extensive experience of TRO staff in this area.
It was wonderful to see how one participant in particu-
lar gained confidence in reading over the course. Reading
had always presented difficulties for him – reading aloud in
particular – but the focus, practice and mutual support pro-
vided by the training allowed him to develop his skills and,
crucially, to see how much he and the act of shared reading
had to offer those in his care. We hope to run and develop
more courses for care home staff in the future, as part of
TRO’s commitment to this growing area of work.
VOLUNTEERS AT STOKE LIBRARIES
The Non-Residential course commissioned by Stoke Libraries
was a first: all of the trainees were working towards running
GIR groups as volunteers, under the auspices of the library
service. The variety of backgrounds from which they came
GET INTO READING: READ TO LEAD
– from local mental health service users to nurses for Stoke
City Football Club – made for a rich and exciting training
experience. We will be keeping an eye on the development
of the subsequent project in Stoke, with the aim of devel-
oping more courses for volunteers in the future.
oTher NEWS FROM 2009–10
our Read to Lead Training continued and developed the
exciting work that we began in past years:
• In schools and with young people: working in partner-
ship with Find Your Talent to train teachers, parents and
volunteers in the Liverpool area to develop extra-
curricular GIR groups within their schools.
• In the workplace: working with Merseyside Fire and
Rescue Service and Bibby Line Group Ltd in establish-
ing, maintaining and developing training programmes for
staff.
• Throughout the UK: continuing our regular pro-
gramme of Read to Lead Workshops, Residentials and
Masterclasses.
35
THE YEAR IN NUMBERS
155 attended Read to Lead Workshops
73 attended Read to Lead Residentials
113 attended Read to Lead Non-Residentials
46 attended our Masterclasses
OUR BEST BITS FROM THE YEAR
Casi Dylan, Training Manager
The Read to Lead trip to Melbourne was my favourite train-
ing experience of the year, it was not just the wonderful
opportunity to travel but the way in which it forced me
to delve into the unknown. The majority of the books and
reading 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 courses
always aim to show trainees – that it’s not knowledge that
counts in GIR but the practical experience of the writing.
Amanda Brown, Trainer and Project Worker
In Melbourne on the day that trainees facilitated their own
groups for the first time, one of the invited volunteer group
members was a gentleman who works as a cleaner in the
State Library – a large, shy man, slow of speech and nervous
GET INTO READING: READ 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.
“
This course let me share a common
passion with a bunch of nice people
”
– and I learned some ways to enrich
other people’s lives.
Trainee,
Stoke
Katie Clark, Elderly Care and Dementia Manager
My highlight of the year was the training held at Redholme
Memory Care Home for staff and carers. One attendee is in
his 60s, having recently changed his career from manual la-
bour work to where he now works as a care assistant at the
home. He was initially nervous about attending due to very
low confidence with reading. He is dyslexic and feared that
this would hold him back, but he told us: ‘I came because I’ve
seen the reading group in action, and heard the responses
from some of the people I work with, and it’s amazing. One
man picked up on a point in the poem that I’d completely
missed, and I thought – this has brought something out of
him, a spark, that is there.’
 That ‘spark’ led him to take on the training despite his
concerns and his confidence grew so much that he is now
running one-to-one sessions reading with residents at the
home. Two other staff members and a carer have started
running weekly reading groups, including the activities coor-
dinator who has been involved with the group for years but
never 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!’
GET INTO READING: READ TO LEAD  37
Mark Till, Training Programme Assistant
The 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 reaffirmed what we’re
trying to do.
AIMS FOR THE FUTURE
As The Reader Organisation develops nationally, so too does
the Read to Lead Training programme. It is our aim to main-
tain the high standard of our work to date, to consolidate
the local and national partnerships that have developed as a
result 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 can
be maintained and protected as we develop nationally
and internationally.
 THE READING REVOLUTION
RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT
One consequence of TRO’s success in reading serious litera-
ture in health contexts is a growing pressure to evaluate the
anecdotal evidence of its therapeutic efficacy. It is a pressing
concern to find or develop research tools and methodolo-
gies which have currency with the scientific/medical com-
munity and yet which do not damage or misrepresent the
nature of the intervention. A generic aim of all our current
and future projects is to demonstrate that literature offers a
humane, shared language for complex individual experience
both to those in need of mental health care, and to health
care professionals, as an alternative or complement to exist-
ing diagnostic discourses.
38
But this is a human and social as well as a health inter-
vention. One key ambition of TRO’s research, in partner-
ship with the University of Liverpool (UoL), is to found a
School of Bibliotherapy (or Reading Therapy, or Reading and
Health) which will embrace, as well as influence, a range of
disciplines – anthropology, education, health sciences, medi-
cal humanities, neuroscience, philosophy, psychoanalysis, psy-
chology, psychotherapy (especially the latter) – but which
will have literature at its foundation and will lay the basis for
Bibliotherapy as an influential way of thinking as well as a dis-
tinctive discipline and profession.
 RESEARCH ‘Therapeutic benefits of reading in relation to
depression’
CURRENT PROJECTS
This 2-year pilot project – funded by MerseyBEAT (£45,000),
a collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Liv-
erpool PCT – is studying the benefits to depression sufferers
‘A practice-informed study of the theoretical bases for of GIR groups established in a GP surgery and a health drop-
Bibliotherapy’ in centre in Liverpool. The project is a partnership between
TRO and the Schools of English, Medicine and Health Sci-
This 3-year Arts and Humanities Research Council Collab- ences at the University of Liverpool and has developed an
orative Doctoral Award partners the University of Liverpool innovative multidisciplinary approach to mental health re-
and Mersey Care NHS Trust. Exploring the foundations for search, integrating arts and science methodologies.
the practice of bibliotherapy, or reading as cure, in the Eng-
lish literary tradition, the project will translate theory into
practice by using methods and materials suggested by the
research base in GIR shared reading groups in Mersey Care
contexts. This PhD is the first of its kind to seek to reclaim
Arts and Humanities as pivotal in relation to health and well-
being, and to help lay the basis for a new health profession
in reading therapy.

Grace Farrington was appointed to the studentship in

October 2009. Supervisory team: Dr Josie Billington (Uni-
versity of Liverpool), Dr Jane Davis (TRO), Professor Philip
Davis (University of Liverpool), Dr Dave Fearnley (Mersey
Care NHS Trust).
39
“ It gets it out in the open. If you’ve got
feelings put down, they’ve got to come
”
up and out otherwise your head would
explode.
Member
MerseyBEAT Reading Group
The expertise of a clinician (Professor Chris Dowrick,
specialising in depression), a social anthropologist (Dr Jude
Robinson), a linguist (Dr Andrew Hamer), a literary special-
ist (Dr Josie Billington) and an intuitive group facilitator (Dr
Clare Williams) are combined in the analysis of quantitative
and qualitative data relating to reading groups in primary
care settings, studying the nature of the intervention (group
dynamics, facilitator’s role, which literature works and why)
and the outcome measures which will inform the design of
future research.
‘A Study of a Literature-Based Intervention with Women
in Prison’
This 18-month project, funded by the National Personality
Disorder Team, Department of Health/Ministry of Justice,
seeks to capture the impact of GIR groups for female pris-
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  40
oners at HMP Low Newton, Durham. In addition to using
routine quantitative and clinical data at the prison, the study
will try to gauge the psychosocial benefits of reading, through
a (literary/social-scientific) collaborative application of nar-
rative evaluative methods (ethnographic and interpretive
phenomenological). In their natural affinity with literary nar-
rative, these approaches harness the close-reading skills of
the literary thinker to the health-psychologist’s method, and
offer a complement to medical discourses which may in-
fluence self-stigmatising personal narratives. Research Team:
Dr Josie Billington, Dr Jude Robinson, Dr Dave Fearnley.
These projects received a special commendation ‘for contri-
butions to the field of arts and mental health research’ from
The Royal Society for Public Health (September 2009).
“
The shared reading of great novels
and poetry has opened up avenues for
thought and feeling – a creative attitude
of wonder and sense of the possible,
”
feelings that are often lost or closed
down for people living with depression.
Clare Williams
MerseyBEAT facilitator
 RESEARCH
FOCUS: 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 extent
of this growth reflects the multifaceted nature of the activity
and the benefits that it provides to group members.

David Fearnley, consultant forensic psychiatrist at Ash-

worth Hospital, has observed that the reading group on the
ward has been a positive cultural experience for patients
in a setting that historically has excluded culture in favour
of an artificially constructed health environment. The Ash-
worth reading group has improved members’ confidence
and self-expression. It has also fostered tolerance and peer
support, helped resolve disputes, and, making use of both a
communicative as well as a complex cognitive skill, has had
both social and educative benefits.
GIR warrants investigation as a form of therapy, whilst its
less 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 is
a new therapy, or possibly a valuable primer for more ad-
vanced therapy, where is its theoretical base to be located?

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  41

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

“
Part of the difficulty in researching the subject is that in
the groups we know so little about each other’s 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-
A gracious Spirit o’er this earth presides,
And o’er the heart of man: invisibly
It comes, directing those to works of love,

”
preciate about the groups, and what it is that affects them. Who, care not, know not, think not, what
Yet their attendance demonstrates their commitment, and a they do…
laugh after the reading of a certain paragraph or poem, or a
look upwards towards the person who is reading, can serve
to illustrate moments in which a connection is made, when Wordsworth
On the power of books and poetry
something 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 be
defined in full. Far from this being a uniquely contemporary
discovery, this comprehension might be aided by the insights
of writers who over the centuries have sought to articulate
the power of literature’s engagement with the mind.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  42

 OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH
THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

IMPACT, KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER,

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE:

TRO’s activity and research figured prominently in UoL’s KE

Prospectus, 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 Universities
UK Creative Economy consultation exercise.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY Two current PhD registrations are directly TRO-related:

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 first Exter-
nal Examiners’ report for its ‘ambition for the literary’, its
‘pioneering’ development of a ‘new and exciting subject’ and
its brave ‘thinking through the divide between literature and
lived experience’.
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award (‘A Practice-Based
Study of the Foundations for Bibliotherapy in The English
Literary 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’.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  43

UNDERGRADUATE STUDY/STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Following the success of the ‘Reading in Practice’ project
(English Subject Centre funding award, 2008–2009), which
placed undergraduates in English in GIR community groups,
a new Level 3 module was developed ‘Reading in Practice:
Dissertation’ and ran for the first time in 2009–2010. The
project and subsequent module attracted national attention
from:
• Royal Literary Fund (RLF), which supports professional
writers as Fellows in Higher Education Institutions to
help develop students’ writing skills. (15 Fellows have
now 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 in
Booker’s ‘One Book Two Cultures’ programme, where
Booker 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.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT  44
Possibilities for future collaborations between TRO and the
School of Arts include:
Bringing the outside in…
Joint Module(s) ‘Reading for Life’ (TRO/English/Medical and
Health Professions) in Medical Humanities, based in School
of Arts (SoA), structured around annual schedule of events/
speakers etc), which trainee health professionals can opt
into and involving TRO partnership with Mersey Care and
Liverpool PCT so that SoA/TRO events become intrinsic
part 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/Liverpool
PCT run out of TRO.
• Volunteering programme – ‘Reading for Pleasure’-cum-
‘Mentoring’ programme – in partnership (TRO/Dept
of English) with Liverpool Education Services and local
schools.
 THE READING REVOLUTION
READER EVENTS
Our live literature events bring people together – pro-
fessionals, writers, members of the public, experienced
readers and beginners – to share books and ideas in stim-
ulating settings. They offer an entry 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 live WORDS AND IMAGES
quality, just as music, theatre and sculpture does.
READERS’ DAY
We run public events such as Readers’ Days and the June 13, 2009,
Penny Readings. In addition we stage events to help pub- Brindley Arts Centre, Runcorn
licise the work of TRO to professionals from medicine, so-
cial work, psychotherapy, education, and so on, who might With workshops on the relationship between painting and
not yet have realised the value of reading in their particular literature, photographs and poetry, film adaptations and the
field. classics, illustration and the printed word – there was even
an afternoon creative writing session led by Rebecca Goss. A
events.thereader.org.uk/ good time was had by all.

45
PENNY READINGS we’d never heard of it either but it was outstanding!), and
Georgina Aasgaard who brought us all together in an inter-
December 6th, 2009, active rhythm session with the help of a xylophone, a cello
St. George’s Hall, Liverpool and some brave members of the audience.
Each year we host a Christmas extravaganza in the form of … Oh, and there was the ‘creative’ raffle wheel (pictured
the ‘Penny Readings’, bringing together people from across below with Alexei Sayle).
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 and

BBC Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips joined award-winning
author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce for the sixth
annual Penny Readings in 2009.

Frank Cottrell Boyce read the nativity scene from his

book Millions. Frank, who was slightly nervous that he had to
follow Alexei Sayle and ‘be funny’, announced on stage: ‘It’s
like going on after Led Zeppelin and being told to be loud’,
but of course, he didn’t fail to make us all laugh.

Musical highlights included The University of Liverpool

Chamber Choir, Mark Carney on the theremin (it’s okay,

READER EVENTS  46
THE READING CURE, LONDON
March 2nd, RIBA
At The Reading Cure event in the beautiful surroundings of
the Royal Institute of British Architects in London more than
70 people from health and mental health services, libraries,
homelessness organisations and publishing companies, as well
as interested writers, journalists, counsellors and an archi-
tect joined us to hear about the power of reading groups,
and eat cup cakes.
learning and understanding she’s gained from books (par-
ticularly from Laurie Lee) and why she commissioned GIR at
Mersey Care; Dr David Fearnley (Medical Director, Mersey
Care NHS Trust) told us about the group that he runs in a
secure psychiatric unit at Mersey Care and their enjoyment
of Anton Chekov, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens and Agatha
Christie.  Andrew McCulloch (Chief Executive, Mental Health
Foundation) worked hard to keep the speakers to time,
allowing the audience to get involved and ask questions,
and at the end lots of people stayed around to ask more
questions, share their enthusiasm and desire to get reading

“ ”
groups happening in their organisation. By the end of the
event, Get Into Reading London had truly arrived!
The reading group makes you see that
you’re not alone, that you’re not an
excluded freak.

GIR member
suffering from depression

Jane Davis (Director, TRO) read ‘Crossing The Bar’ by

Tennyson, showed photos demonstrating the huge range
of people coming to reading groups, and shared some ex-
periences of the impact of reading on children, vulnerable
adults and fire fighters; Lindsey Dyer (Director, Service Us-
ers and Carers, Mersey Care NHS Trust) talked about the

READER EVENTS  47

‘NEW BEGINNINGS’
CONFERENCE & READERS’ DAY
March 5th–6th 2010,
Blackburne House, Liverpool
Over the last two years, GIR has grown rapidly. From our
base in Merseyside, the read-aloud project now reaches
across the United Kingdom and as far afield as Australia.
There has been advance too in the range of sectors that
welcome our groups, such as mental and public health ser-
vices, education, libraries, Looked After Children, criminal
justice and residential care homes. It is time to take stock.
TRO held the first GIR Conference, ‘New Beginnings’, joined
by our patron Blake Morrison and speakers from health, ed-
ucation and elderly care, and a crowded hall of delegates.
The whole ‘New Beginnings’ event, which included Con-
ference, Supper and Readers’ Day, was deemed a triumphant
success by all involved and attending. Delegates joined us
from far and near, from London, Dundee, Cornwall, Durham,
Monmouth and Denmark and from all over the North West,
to join in the discussion about the future of GIR and enjoy
lots of reading together.
READER EVENTS  48
“”
Get into Reading has more impact than
laptops on the education of young
people.
Stuart Smith      
Executive Director for Children’s Services
Liverpool City Council
At the Conference, Jane Davis talked through the story
of GIR, and Blake Morrison spoke of his first visit to Mersey-
side which led him to write ‘that’ article. This was followed
by a showcase of GIR facilitators from over the country, ex-
plaining how they’ve taken GIR back to where they live. The
morning and afternoon workshops covered diverse topics
such as: Reading with Young People, What is Reading?, Mer-
seyBEAT Research Project and GIR in Libraries.
A particular highlight from Friday came when some of
our brave reading group members stood up to give their
testimonies on the importance of their groups to them –
deeply moving and inspiring.
 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 discuss
‘The Value of Reading in a Life’, which led to some amusing
and heartfelt stories of the impact of reading. The audience
joined in the conversation in great spirit and everyone left
very full of food for the body and soul.

The ‘New Beginnings’ Readers’ Day was great fun! Radio

Merseyside’s Roger Phillips was our host and guests includ-
ed Clare Allan and Tim Pears, David and Helen Constantine,
and TRO’s own Angela Macmillan, Kate McDonnell and Jane
Davis recommending their favourite reads. Brian’s Paradise
Lost workshop was particularly popular.

“ A phenomenal inspiration: buzzy

atmosphere, inspiring content, great

”
lunch, excellent venue, fantastic
organisers and punters, really good.

Delegate at ‘New Beginnings’ event

READER EVENTS  49
 THE READING REVOLUTION

IN THE
SPOTLIGHT

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, radio
or television. The idea that books and reading can influence
people’s lives is radically simple and we want to encourage a
debate about it, and if possible to draw in interested parties.
It’s a vibrant and interesting side of TRO’s work.

50
 IN THE SPOTLIGHT
MAKING NEWS
There has been a great deal of media interest in TRO this
year. Here are a few of the highlights.
‘How books can help you beat the blues’
Daily Express, 30th June 2009
Feature piece about GIR and how it works to make people
feel better, including a case study of a reader and how one
man who has been on our Read to Lead training course is
developing the project in Durham.
Liverpool Reads… The Savage
September 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 Echo and
an interview with David Almond and Jane Davis on BBC
Radio Merseyside. The project also featured online at Book-
Brunch, artinliverpool.com, Liverpool.com and The Book-
seller, amongst others.
51
‘The Reader Recommends’
BBC Radio Merseyside, August–December 2009
Each week a different member of TRO staff went onto the
Drivetime show on BBC Radio Merseyside to recommend
one of their favourite books or what they were currently
reading to listeners.
‘Scenes from a British War on Knowledge’
The Independent, 9th October 2009
One of the most commented-upon articles we’ve published
in 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 great
and shocking article was widely read, and it stirred Boyd
Tonkin, literary editor of The Independent. to write about it.
‘Healing power of books should be taken as read’
Guardian, 6th January 2010
Clare Allan, Guardian columnist and author of the fantastic
Poppy 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.
Other appearances and articles in 2009–2010 include: IN THE SPOTLIGHT
• Article by Yves Schaeffner (‘La Nouvelle Therapie Par WEBSITE AND BLOG
Les Livres’) in the magazine Elle Quebec.

• Online articles by Jen Tomkins and by Mary Weston for

Mental Health News.
• Letter by Philip Davis in TLS on the need to ‘bring the
humanities to the centre of national health’.
• BBC Radio 4 appearance by Jane Davis on Open Book
to recommend books to a listener who has found it
difficult to concentrate on reading since a bereavement
15 years ago.
• Article by Tim Richards in The Melbourne Age on GIR’s
advance to Australia, where it will be called ‘Book Well’.
• Many articles and GIR news stories in the blog Book-
brunch.
Our blog continues to go from strength to strength. With
numbers continuously rising, we’re publishing even more
posts: 97, 067 visits during the year and 336 posts. We’re
thinking of giving it a bit of a makeover, seeing as it’s doing so
well.  With book recommendations, news, discussions, vid-
eos, links and reviews, it is a vital site for all kinds of readers
– from GIR reading group facilitators throughout the coun-
try to keen readers of novels and poetry. Importantly in this
digital age, the website and blog put TRO ‘out there’… and
you never know where the next link will lead.
thereader.org.uk
thereaderon line.co.uk

• BBC Headroom (online). See the TRO page here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/headroom/learning_resources/
get_into_reading.shtml.

• Editorials in Mersey Cares (NHS trust magazine).

52
 IN THE SPOTLIGHT
THE READER MAGAZINE

Founded in 1997, The Reader magazine is published quar-

terly and combines new fiction 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 TRO’s public face, featuring re-
ports on events and activities, and conducting an ongoing
discussion of the Reading Revolution.

The magazine has a reputation that is growing with both

subscribers and contributors, and has won the support of
many well-known figures, including Seamus Heaney, Doris
Lessing, A. S. Byatt, Andrew Motion, Graham Swift, Simon
Barnes and Harold Bloom.

“ One of the best things to thump

through the letter-box... full of pithy,
passionate and precise things.

”
Seamus Heaney
53
 THE READING REVOLUTION Company registration number: 06607389

THE READER Charity registration number: 1126806

Registered office:

ORGANISATION 19 Abercromby Square

Liverpool
L69 7ZG

Bankers:
ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank
Bootle
The Reader Organisation is constituted as a Company Lim- Merseyside
ited by Guarantee and a registered charity governed by its GIR 0AA
Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Reader Or-
ganisation is administered by a Board of Trustees which Statutory Auditor:
must have between three and twelve individuals. The Board Mitchell Charlesworth
meets four times a year. A Director has been appointed (to Chartered Accountants
act in the role of Chief Executive) by the Trustees to manage 5 Temple Square
the day to day operations of the charity. Temple Street
Liverpool
L2 5RH

54
 THE READER ORGANISATION
TRUSTEES
INTRODUCTION
A number of changes have been made at Board level in
order to best serve the development of our growing or-
ganisation.
TRO BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2009–10
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, Blake
Morrison has written fiction, poetry, journalism, literary criti-
cism and libretti, as well as adapting plays for the stage. His
best-known works are his two memoirs, And When Did You
Last See Your Father? and Things My Mother Never Told Me.
55
Philip Davis
Head of School of the Arts, University of Liverpool
Philip Davis is Professor in English and Head of the School
of the Arts at the University of Liverpool, and author of
many books including Bernard Malamud: A Writer’s Life (Ox-
ford; OUP 2007). He took over editorship of The Reader
magazine in 2007 and now runs a part-time MA, ‘Reading
in Practice’, the first of its kind in the country, dealing with
literature 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 programme
of family activities as well as more bespoke projects relating to
community 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 its
incorporation, as Head of the Regional Office at the Uni-
versity, she helped to identify and secure funding to support
our early work with libraries and local communities. She is
immensely proud to have been part of the University’s first
‘spin out’ organisation from the Arts and Humanities.
Rosemary Hawley MBE
Chair, NHS Knowsley
Rosemary Hawley has a record of outstanding public service,
especially in the field 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: first with Liverpool Family Health Services Authority,
then as Chair of North Mersey Community Trust, and now
as Chair of Knowsley PCT. She is also a magistrate.
Chris Jones (to 10/09/09)
Merseyside Operations Manager, Tomorrow’s People
Christopher Jones is Merseyside operations manager for na-
tional employment charity Tomorrow’s People, helping and
supporting disadvantaged people in the labour market, into
sustainable 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 across
NW England to share information and good practice in
developing the audience for reading across the region. The
partnership, ‘Time To Read’, develops promotions with the
TRUSTEES  56
aim of encouraging people to read more and borrow more
from 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 teaching
practice, 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-being
and better health are his particular interest.
Jill Rudd
Senior Lecturer, School of English, University of Liverpool
Jill has been a co-director of Graduate studies in the School
of 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 between
TRO and the School of English.
Ivan Wadeson
Chief Executive, All About Audiences
All About Audiences is the audience development agency
for the North West, working with nearly fifty arts organi-
sations. Ivan had worked extensively in theatres and arts
centres before taking his current role in 2003. He is on the
Boards 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 Carers
Mersey Care NHS Trust
Lindsey is Director of Service Users and Carers at Mersey
Care NHS Trust and leads Mersey Care’s innovative human
rights based approach to involving people who use Trust
services and carers. She introduced GIR to Mersey Care.
John Flamson (from 10/09/09)
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation
University of Liverpool
John is Director of Partnerships and Innovation at the Uni-
versity of Liverpool, dealing with external relations, strategic
business development and collaborations, and knowledge
transfer. He previously worked as European Director for
the Government Office for the North West, managing the
Objective 1 programme for Merseyside, which has had a
significant impact on the area’s economic recovery.
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-Executive
Director in the NHS since 1991, including a year as Acting
Chairman of Liverpool Health Authority prior to becoming
founding Chairman of Mersey Care NHS Trust in 2001 until
2008.
Roger Phillips (from 10/09/09)
Broadcaster, BBC Radio Merseyside
Roger Phillips fell by chance into local radio (BBC Radio
Merseyside) in 1978 whilst working as a Hackney cab driver.
He’s been working as a broadcaster ever since. Roger was
recently ap­pointed Deputy Lieutenant in the County of
Merseyside.
Secretary: Chris Catterall (from 10/09/09)
Chief Executive: Jane Davis

TRUSTEES  57
 THE READER ORGANISATION
STAFF

OPERATIONS THE READER MAGAZINE GET INTO READING

TRAINING
Jane Davis Philip Davis
Founder and Director Editor Casi Dylan
Get Into Reading Training Manager
Chris Catterall Sarah Coley
National Development Manager Deputy Editor Amanda Brown
Get Into Reading Training Trainer
Zoe Gilling Maura Kennedy
Business Manager Co-Editor Mark Till
Training Programme Assistant
Jen Tomkins Angela Macmillan
Communications Manager Co-Editor
Josie Billington Eleanor McCann
Research Manager Co-Editor
Lee Keating Brian Nellist MBE
Office Administrator Co-Editor
Claire Speer John Scrivener
Communication Assistant Co-Editor

Sean Hill
Finance Assistant

58
GET INTO READING GET INTO READING
MERSEYSIDE LONDON

Kate McDonnell Emma McGordon Penny Markell

Project Manger Project Worker Project Manager
Amanda Boston Alexis McNay Paul Higgins
Project Worker Project Worker Project Worker

Katie Clark Anna Parry

Elderly Care Project Worker, Young People
and Dementia Project Manager Sophie Povey GET INTO READING
Project Worker, Young People WIGAN
Caitlin Clough
Project Worker, Young People Sam Shipman Val Hannan
Jonathan Davis Project Worker, Young People Project Manager
Project Worker, Young People Eleanor Stanton Damian Taylor
Patrick Fisher Project Worker Project Worker
Project Worker, Young People Mary Weston Kate Holcombe
Project Worker, Mersey Care Project Worker
Emma Hayward
Project Worker Clare Williams
Project Worker
Wendy Kay
Project Worker
59
 THE READER ORGANISATION • Communiversity, Liverpool
• Liverpool City Council
PARTNERS • Liverpool LACES
• Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service
• Mind, Tower Hamlets/Haringey
• Neighbourhood Management Services, Alt Valley
Some of the people we’ve worked with over the last (Liverpool)
twelve months: • Resettle, Merseyside Probation Service
• Prince’s Trust
Working with the NHS • Salvation Army (homeless drop-in), Westminster
• St George’s House (mental health community),
• 5 Boroughs Partnership    Camden
• Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT • St Mungo’s (homeless hostel), Lambeth
• East Lancashire PCT • Unicorn Day Centre (mental health drop-in centre),
• East London Mental Health Trust Liverpool
• Liverpool PCT • Wigan Council
• Knowsley PCT • Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council
• Mersey Care NHS Trust
• Wirral PCT
Working with Older People

Working in the Community • Active Ageing, Liverpool

• Cara Lunch Club, London
• The Ark, Birkenhead • Halton Borough Council (Mill Brow Care Home)
• Bluecoat, Liverpool • Redholme Memory Care Home, Liverpool
• Cobalt Housing • Southern Cross Care Homes

60
Working with Business • Monmouthshire Libraries
• Salford Libraries
• Bibby Line Group • State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
• Government Office for the North West • Stoke-on-Trent Libraries
• Tower Hamlets Libraries (Idea Stores)
• Warrington Libraries
Working with Young People • Westminster Libraries
• Wigan Libraries
• Find Your Talent, Merseyside • Wirral Libraries
• Knowsley Children and Young People’s Department
• Liverpool Extended Schools (Fazakerley High, Park-
lands, Childwall Sports College and Broadgreen Working in the Criminal Justice system
International)
• Monmouth Comprehensive School • HMP Liverpool
• Tranmere Community Project • HMP Hydebankwood, Belfast
• Weatherhead High School • HMP Low Newton, Durham
• Wirral Children and Young People’s Department • Great Manchester Probation Trust

Working with Libraries Working with Research Partners

• Bolton Libraries • Mersey Care NHS Trust

• Cheshire Libraries • Reading and Health Research Group (Schools of English,
• East Lancashire Libraries Medicine, Health Sciences), the University of Liverpool
• Haringey Libraries • Mental Health Foundation
• Liverpool Libraries • Liverpool PCT
61
 THE READER ORGANISATION
OUR AIMS
The Reader Organisation’s object as set out in the com-
PROGRESS AGAINST T
  HESE AIMS
pany’s articles is: to advance the education of the public in
FOR 2009–2010
the appreciation of literature including poetry and drama. In
order to achieve this objective we set aims each year and • Delivered three new GIR projects working with young
undertake a range of activities, projects and campaigns in people in Liverpool and Knowsley.
order to make them happen. Our aims and progress against • Developed new GIR projects in London and Wigan.
them are detailed below: • Delivered our first international project with State Li-
brary of Victoria, Australia.
AIMS FOR 2009–2010 • Secured funding to deliver Merseyside Community The-
atre in partnership with Merseyside Fire and Rescue
• Engage with Education, Library Services, Healthcare and
Service.
Social Care to deliver GIR.
• Delivered the first GIR conference.
• Disseminate GIR to interested parties both nationally
• Secured publishing contracts with Walker Books and
and internationally.
Chatto & Windus.
• Provide personal development opportunities for peo-
• GIR singled out by the government as example of best
ple who have been involved in GIR groups.
practice in helping to improve public mental health and
• Raise and maintain awareness about reading and about
well-being.
TRO’s work.
• Won a Collaborative Doctoral Award from the AHRC
• Publicise the personal content of reading.
to explore the foundations of bibliotherapy.
• Undertake all types of research into GIR.
• Maximise TRO’s potential by attracting resources con-
sistent with its immediate and long term needs and by
using them efficiently and effectively.
62
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 website
free of charge.
The Trustees have had due regard to the guidance pub-
lished by the Charity Commission on public benefits.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
We have established a range of objectives for the next
financial period:
1) Governance
Develop new business plan, based on revised national ambi-
tions, to include:
63
• Develop organisational remit from regional to national
• Develop new organisational staffing structure
• Develop social franchise and legal infrastructure for rep-
lication of GIR.
2) Communication
• Develop clear key message for TRO as a national (inter-
national) organisation
• Raise and maintain awareness of TRO’s work through
public engagement events, media coverage, publications
and campaigns
• Producing appropriate marketing collateral to support
development and implementation of TRO’s work.
3) Finance
• Develop and implement 3-year fundraising strategy
• Develop financial management system.
4) Project Delivery
• Maintain existing service level agreements and con-
tracts
• Successfully deliver Our Read and Community Theatre
• Develop GIR further in health, education and elderly
care
• Develop research projects for mental health, Looked
After Children and dementia.
 THE READER ORGANISATION
ACCOUNTS
2010 2009
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Incoming resources £ £ £ £
Incoming resources from generated funds:
Voluntary income 31,424 11,250 42,674 137,130
Investment income 232 — 232 724
STaTeMenT Incoming resources from charitable activities 390,816 240,863 631,679 429,635
______ ______ ______ ______
of Total incoming resources 422,472
______ 252,113
______ 674,585
______ 567,489
______
fInanCIal ACTIVITIES
for THE YEAR ENDED Resources expended
31ST MARCH 2010 Charitable expenditure:
Charitable activities 362,418 230,567 592,985 375,271
Governance 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

Transfers between funds 18,000

______ (18,000)
______ —
______ —
______
Net movement in funds 74,304 3,546 77,850 188,718

All of the company’s activities are Accumulated funds brought forward 64,502
______ 124,216
______ 188,718
______ —
______
classed as continuing.
Accumulated funds carried forward 138,806 127,762 266,568 188,718
______
______ ______
______ ______
______ ______
______

64
 2010
£ £
2009
£ £
BalanCe SHEET
aT 31ST MARCH 2010
Fixed asset
Tangible assets 9,127 2,707
Current assets TheSe summary accounts are not statutory accounts
but a summary of information relating to both the
Debtors 50,092 23,518
Cash at bank 361,340 176,993 Statement of Financial Activities and the Balance
______ ______ Sheet. As such they may not contain sufficient in-
411,432 200,511 formation to allow as full an understanding of the re-
Creditors sults and state of affairs of the charitable company as
Amounts falling due within one year 153,991
______ 14,500
______ would be provided by the full accounts and reports.
Net current assets 257,441
______ 186,011
______ For further information, the full accounts, the
Net assets 266,568
______ 188,718
______ auditors report on those accounts and the Report
of the Trustees should be consulted.
Funds
Unrestricted funds The accounts were approved by the trustees
General funds 138,806 64,502 on 9th September, 2010 and signed on their be-
Restricted funds half by
Get Into Reading Merseyside 94,008 105,126
Get Into Reading Training 16,206 15,958
Get Into Reading London 17,548 —
Liverpool Reads —
______ 3,132
______
Total funds 266,568 188,718
_______
_______ _______
_______
Blake Morrison
Chair

65
Independent Auditors’ statement to the Opinion

Trustees of The Reader Organisation
We have examined the summarised accounts for the year
ended 31st March 2010 set out on pages 64 and 65.
In our opinion the summarised accounts are consistent with
the full annual accounts and the Trustees’ Annual Report of
The Reader Organisation for the year ended 31st March
2010.

Respective responsibilities of the trustees and the auditor Mitchell Charlesworth

Statutory auditor
The trustees are responsible for preparing the summarised
accounts in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law August 2010
and the recommendations of the charities SORP.
5 Temple Square
Our responsibility is to report to you our opinion on the Temple Street
consistency of the summarised accounts with the full annual Liverpool
accounts and Trustees’ Annual Report. L2 5RH

We also read other information contained in the sum-

marised annual report and consider the implications for our
report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements
or material inconsistencies with the summarised accounts.

We conducted our work in accordance with Bulletin 2008/3

issued by the Auditing Practices Board.

66
The Reader Organisation is supported by:

67
The Reader Organisation
10 Abercromby Square
Liverpool
L69 7ZQ

+44 (0) 151 794 2830

email:  info@thereader.org.uk
website:  www.thereader.org.uk
blog:  www.thereaderonline.co.uk

Registered charity number  1126806

68
The Reader Organisation
19 Abercromby Square
Liverpool
L69 7GZ

www.thereader.org.uk