Wellbeing Day at The Reader

Volunteers enjoyed another successful Wellbeing Day at Calderstones Mansion House last week, putting the emphasis on wellbeing in action.

April 15^th saw another great Wellbeing Day for volunteers on our Merseyside Big Lottery Project taking place at our base at Calderstones Mansion House. The major theme of this Wellbeing day was actually doing things that promote wellbeing rather than just talking about it. Adoption of this great theme saw the group enjoying relaxing walks through the park between morning readings of Beyond the Bayou by Kate Chopin and Now I become Myself by May Sarton and readings of selected poems in the park itself, Slowly Slowly Wisdom Gathers and The Peace of Wild Things.

Slowly, slowly wisdom gathers:
Golden dust in the afternoon,
Somewhere between the sun and me,
Sometimes so near that I can see,
Yet never settling, late or soon.

- from Slowly, Slowly wisdom gathers by Mark Van Dorin

Lunch was another sumptuous affair in The Reader Cafe where everyone enjoyed the joys of great food and better company. The fuel was needed for the afternoon activities where they looked at what having an inner anthology might be like, the idea that we can have a collection of poems, stories or quotes that we can keep with us and turn to in times when we struggle, as C.S. Lewis said

“We read to know we are not alone”

Or to quote Megg one of our fantastic members of staff

“poems that we hold on to and in the holding of them they somehow hold us”.

The final cherry on the wellbeing cake would undoubtedly be the free gifts of Aloe Vera and Succulent Gasteria plants for all the days’ wonderful volunteers.

A great day and many thanks to everyone who came along.