Meet Reader Leader Dorothy: ‘The most wonderful thing about being a Reader Leader is the people who I read with’

The UK’s largest Shared Reading charity is celebrating its amazing team of volunteers throughout June inspired by Volunteers’ Week 2025, Monday 2 June – Sunday 8 June.  

NAME: Dorothy Richardson 

WHERE DO YOU VOLUNTEER? Misterton, North Nottinghamshire 

ROLE: Volunteer Reader Leader in a Day Care Centre for people with dementia and Nottinghamshire Mind’s Changing Lives project 

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO VOLUNTEER WITH THE READER? I love talking about books that I have read, so when I heard about The Reader I decided to apply to be a volunteer in April 2024. The six-week half-day training course I attended was amazing. Who would have thought that I would enjoy reading and talking about poetry so much – as well as books! 

I was asked if I would be prepared to be a Reader Leader at a Day Care Centre for people with Dementia. I was very apprehensive at first but took on the challenge.  

It was an exciting yet nerve-wrecking time: could I apply all that I had been taught, stay in the moment, be bold, while trying to keep my nerves at bay? Eight people joined Shared Reading on the first day. I read The Washing by Christopher Fowler - a short story about domestic violence and female solidarity - which provoked a lot of conversation. We now have a regular group of five people who attend every week. We read many poems and extracts from stories. 

I also run a monthly Shared Reading group for Nottinghamshire Mind’s Changing Lives project with young women who have moved to the UK from war-torn counties. When we do Shared Reading at Changing Lives they know they are able to speak freely because they are in a safe, non-judgmental space, where we read, communicate and laugh, and talk about the poem and what it means to them. 

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE?  

The most wonderful thing about being a Reader Leader is the people who I read with. The ladies in the dementia day care group (and occasional gentleman) love it when we read poems. A lovely lady in the group loves to read out loud, I can see she gets really excited about it, and I’ve been told she reads the poem aloud to the people in the Centre after I have left. How wonderful is that! I have managed to build trust, joy and laughter in the group. If a memory is evoked, then I feel I have done my job. 

Changing lives helps young women who have moved here from their own war-torn counties. Their faces light up when I am there to read with them. It is so humbling. They are the most positive, happy women. Reading aloud is chaotic and funny - trying to understand each other. Between me, a Geordie, and them, not speaking or understanding much English, we still manage to communicate. When we do Shared Reading, they know that they are able to speak freely, because they are safe and in a non-judgmental space, where we read, communicate and laugh, and talk about the poems and what they mean to them. 

If you would like to find out more about training to be a Reader Leader and running one of our Shared Reading groups across the UK, please visit here. Volunteers receive full training and ongoing support from The Reader.