Shared Reading a key recommendation in new report to Government

As the UK’s biggest Shared Reading charity, we are absolutely delighted to see the Education Committee highlight Shared Reading as a key recommendation in its new Reading for Pleasure report.  

We were particularly pleased to see:  

• A recognition that what is read in Shared Reading matters. Our work with care experienced children relies on literature choice being personalised and child-led. And we know fiction has a special power for achieving outcomes around emotional wellbeing and empathy for both adults and children. 

• The need for more targeted work with care experienced children and young people.  

• That if we want to develop the next generation of readers, we must also enable adults to have a positive relationship with reading.

This report really highlights what reading can do, and we see this in action across the UK every day delivering Shared Reading in places like hospitals, prisons, cafes and community centres. At The Reader we choose literature that we know sparks rich conversation and connection. And we know it works. Of our Shared Reading group participants, 80% agree it helps them connect with others in a deeper way.

The report also cites evidence that around a third of parents had avoided reading with their child because they worried about their own reading ability.

We have seen this in the communities where we work and it is why we developed training packages that support parents, carers and early years professionals to feel more confident in reading to the children in their lives. After taking part in this training, 100% of parents and carers that we surveyed wanted to spend more time reading with their child. 

The mission set out is big. No one organisation will achieve this. That’s why we’re delighted to be part of the Literacy Link alongside other reading charities and why we work in partnership with public sector and third sector organisations to embed Shared Reading in their services.

We support the call for a Decade of Reading because the great work being done in the sector needs to be supported and developed over the long term to achieve real change.   

We have the evidence-based training programmes and tools ready to go and hope more organisations will be inspired by the report to adopt Shared Reading in the work they do.  

Do get in touch, we'd love to chat:
- Find out about volunteering for, or commissioning, Reading Heroes, for care experienced children
- Learn about our training programmes
- Talk to us about bringing Shared Reading to your community: 
- Find a Shared Reading group near you
- Explore research on the impact of Shared Reading
- Visit the international centre for Shared Reading at our home in Liverpool