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How does it work?

Shared Reading groups are open to all and free to attend.

A group of people, one of them a trained Reader Leader, reads a great novel, short story or poem aloud. We stop and talk about what we have read. There is no need for group members to read aloud or speak – it’s fine to just listen. The idea is to create a space where people feel at ease. 

Reading the literature aloud in real-time, means that everyone is involved in a shared, live experience. Group members are encouraged by the Reader Leader to respond personally, sharing feelings, thoughts and memories provoked by the reading.

Everyone experiences the text in their own way, but the literature provides a shared language that can help us to understand ourselves and others better. Discover how Shared Reading has impacted group members and volunteers by exploring our Reader Stories.

No other organisation makes use of literature in this way. Shared Reading helps us to understand our individual and collective inner lives, round the same table, at the same time.

Find a Shared Reading group near you or learn more about volunteering with us.