THE 2012 Reading Force project has been launched at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with 35 children from Year 5 at Milton Park Primary School from Eastney in the city.
Joining them was leading children’s author Sara Starbuck along with Rear Admiral John Lang, Deputy Lieutenant for Hampshire; The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr Frank Jonas; Commodore Tony Radakin, Commander, Portsmouth Naval Base; Wing Commander Steve Beaumont, RAF; Colonel Celia Harvey, Deputy Commander, 145 (South) Brigade – the regional Army brigade, and Colonel David Cartwright, Directorate for Children and Young People
Reading Force 2011 brought together Service families and friends in a successful pilot reading project in Aldershot last year. This year it is bigger and better and the 2012 scheme covers Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Our 2012 launch on board HMS Warrior on 23rd May, a beautifully sunny day, was both fun and inspiring. Primary school children sat on the Cable Deck to listen to short talks by members of the Armed Forces on what reading had meant to them, and this was followed by an experience led by the fantastic author Sara Starbuck. Representatives from the Army, Navy, and RAF, alongside the Mayor and Mayoress of Portsmouth, were present.
Sara spoke about the wonders of books and reading, how she fell in love with stories as a child, and how stories allow your imagination to grow and be free. The author of pirate-girl stories, Sara also instructed the children in how to do pirate-snarls at all the adults! They were good at it too – and given the setting we felt grateful we weren’t made to walk the plank.
Sara had all the children (and adults) promise to read for fun (not work), to turn off the telly when not really watching and to read instead, and she had everyone raise their hand and pledge to be a bookaneer. As we were surrounded by canons, we didn’t dare refuse. Becoming a bookaneer, and being part of a bookaneer gang, felt good.
Others shared special recollections of what books have meant to them. Rear Admiral John Lang, Senior Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Hampshire, told us it was the books he had read as a child which fed his yearning to travel the world’s seas. He said his fulfilling career had indeed begun with the stories that drew him to boats and the sea.
Colonel David Cartwright asked the children how many times they had moved school. No surprises that it was the Services children who had moved the most. Some said they liked the fresh start and the chance to make new friends. Of course moving can also be disruptive, and it is in such times that books can be a kind of continuity, and reading a comfort, whether shared or done alone.
The idea of reading the same book as a family, even when separated by deployment, was embraced by all at the launch. So far well over one hundred schools have signed up to take part in Reading Force, but if your school hasn’t and you want to participate, you can contact us, or download a scrapbook from this site (go to the downloads section).
Become a bookaneer and take part in Reading Force 2012!