On Saturday 2 October community volunteers gathered in Haverhill town centre to share stories with local families to mark the launch of Get Suffolk Reading in Haverhill. To highlight the wellbeing benefits of reading for just 10 minutes per day, 10 storytellers read a story every 10 minutes throughout the morning.
Get Suffolk Reading is a county-wide campaign from the National Literacy Trust to improve literacy levels in young people, and Saturday’s event marked the start of focussed activity in Haverhill. Project Manager for Haverhill, Suzanne Stevenson, is active in the community shaping plans for upcoming activity through discussion with local residents. Families can find the latest updates and future events listed on Facebook.
Almost 400 free books were given out to families, thanks to a donation from Penguin Random House. Families are encouraged to read these, or a book of their choice on Friday 8 October as part of the National Literacy Trust’s national #Take10ToRead challenge, which aims to inspire wellbeing-boosting reading habits. Schools, families and businesses across the country will be taking part by dropping everything to read at 10am. People can formally register for the challenge and access additional resources here.
Throughout the event, stories were read by a range of volunteers in the community, including Haverhill Town Council, head teachers from local schools, Suffolk Libraries staff, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Mind and several other organisations.
“Overall I would just like to thank you for such a fantastic event which I'm sure has been hugely beneficial for many children and families in the local area. We look forward to seeing what else may happen in the future.”
Hanna, who attended the event with her two children
“I thoroughly enjoyed the launch of Get Suffolk Reading in Haverhill and the opportunity to engage with so many local families and amazing volunteers that helped make the event possible. My experience of community collaboration throughout this event gives me great optimism for the development of the campaign over the coming years.”
Suzanne Stevenson, Haverhill Project Manager
Photography by Phil Morley, copyright National Literacy Trust
