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Planning for Christmas… with a loved one away

2019-12-18T22:29:59+00:00

Founder of Reading Force, Alison Baverstock, was an Army wife for 30 years and experienced many Christmases separated from her husband. Here she shares her top tips for managing Christmas with a loved one away from home. Our local department stores usually start their preparations for Christmas around autumn half-term. By now I imagine their staff are thoroughly fed up with the sound of carols and Christmas songs! Planning for Christmas can also be a very stressful business. To me it’s no surprise that it regularly scores high on the list of common events people dread. There are just so many [...]

Planning for Christmas… with a loved one away 2019-12-18T22:29:59+00:00

Let’s hear it for the girls…

2019-11-20T11:37:36+00:00

A lucky Reading Force family recently won a copy of Holly Webb’s exciting new book The Runaways. Holly is the author of 128 books, and we’re thrilled Holly has written our guest blog on her favourite books with standout girl characters… I’ve always loved books with a historical setting, so starting to write books set in the past has been so exciting for me over the last few years. My new book, The Runaways, has a determined girl at its centre, a child who’s determined to save the animals she loves. Here are some of the historical novels whose amazing girl [...]

Let’s hear it for the girls… 2019-11-20T11:37:36+00:00

A Secret Diary of The First World War

2019-11-11T22:31:55+00:00

Our guest blogger, Gill Arbuthnott, author of A Secret Diary of The First World War, shares what it was like to write about real Scottish soldiers... I always buy a poppy in November, but until a couple of years ago, it was a rather impersonal act on my part. Not any more: in September 2016 I started writing a children’s book about the First World War, based on the trench diary of James Marchbank, a boy from Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, who went to war aged 14, in August 1914 and basically grew up on the Western Front. Suddenly, what I read about [...]

A Secret Diary of The First World War 2019-11-11T22:31:55+00:00

Thinking of doing Reading Force?

2019-09-23T18:01:18+00:00

We’re very pleased to welcome guest blogger Daniela Makin, who generously shares her family’s experience of doing Reading Force below…. Our Reading Force... by the Makins Hello! We are the Makins, a book-loving and creative family of one grown-up, one pretend grown-up and two small children, Raphael (age 4) and Corin (age 3). My husband, Seth, is an army doctor working in Suffolk, where we have lived since last September. I am a qualified secondary teacher, currently on sabbatical to enjoy my children's last year at home before they go to school. Reading is very important to us. We have read [...]

Thinking of doing Reading Force? 2019-09-23T18:01:18+00:00

Many thanks for supporting our Ride London 100 cyclist!

2019-08-29T14:19:22+00:00

Many thanks for supporting Neil, our Ride London 100 cyclist!  He made it with flying colours!! We’d like to thank everyone who supported our Reading Force cyclist in August’s gruelling Prudential Ride London 100 miles! And of course we’d like to congratulate and thank Neil Baverstock himself for his amazing achievement. Neil setting off at 0530hrs for his epic ride Neil prepared for this epic cycle ride with significant training in all weathers which paid off on the day. It was a challenging ride made especially difficult by being one of the hottest days of the summer. He completed [...]

Many thanks for supporting our Ride London 100 cyclist! 2019-08-29T14:19:22+00:00

Reading Force summer reading top picks!

2019-08-13T17:29:58+00:00

Whether you’re on the beach or at home, you can travel everywhere with a good book! Here are some of our favourite new releases…. Babies and toddlers             Swarm Of Bees by Lemony Snicket and Rilla Alexander It can feel good to be angry. It can feel better to stop. Swarm of Bees! Swarm of Bees! You are SO angry! What will you do? Watch out! A mischievous boy has unleashed an angry swarm of bees! The result is a zany gallop through a charming town where readers will encounter evidence of some bad behaviour, some [...]

Reading Force summer reading top picks! 2019-08-13T17:29:58+00:00

Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for Reading Force founder

2019-08-05T10:34:35+00:00

We’re thrilled that our founder and Director, Dr Alison Baverstock, has been awarded a Points of Light Award to coincide with Armed Forces Week for her commitment to Forces families. Points of Light are outstanding individual volunteers – people who are making a change in their community. The Points of Light award acknowledges volunteers who make a difference in society. The awards are administered by the Prime Minister’s office, in collaboration with the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Every week day the Prime Minister recognises an inspirational volunteer with the Daily Point of Light award. On receiving this Points of Light [...]

Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award for Reading Force founder 2019-08-05T10:34:35+00:00

Why I set up The Ripple Pond

2019-06-06T10:50:52+00:00

We love working with other charities supporting Forces families, and The Ripple Pond is a charity we admire and are very happy to work with. Here, founder of The Ripple Pond, Julia Molony, shares her story…. Why I set up The Ripple Pond Julia Molony, Founder of The Ripple Pond In 2009 my second son, Anthony, deployed to Afghanistan. This was his 6th tour of duty in seven years. On 21 May I received a phone call from Anthony’s wife to say he had been seriously injured when his vehicle had detonated an IED. Thankfully I have a very [...]

Why I set up The Ripple Pond 2019-06-06T10:50:52+00:00

Home is where the books are

2019-05-03T15:53:16+00:00

Our guest blogger, children’s author S.P. Moss, shares memories of her RAF childhood and the books that became ‘home’. She is kindly giving two signed copies of her books, The Bother in Burmeon and The Al-Eden Emergency, to Reading Force families. See our Facebook page for giveaway details. Home is where the books are My brother and me (cool sunglasses!) in Aden, 1960s I learned to read in Aden, back in the far-off days of the 1960s. According to my mum, once I started, I didn’t stop. I read on Tarshyne Beach, which was usually so hot it wasn’t [...]

Home is where the books are 2019-05-03T15:53:16+00:00

How to ensure teachers understand Forces children

2019-02-01T12:09:02+00:00

Free seminar at Kingston University – March 22nd 2019 Photo credit: Neil Hanna Photography At Reading Force we support Forces families, and draw wider attention to the special circumstances that are part of their world – but not necessarily understood by others. Forces families tend to be off the general radar. Although there is an annual reminder on 11th November, for much of the year there are those who live the experience of being in the Forces and those who don’t, and the overlap is not large. Forces people tend to be independent, self-contained, and disinclined to complain. And [...]

How to ensure teachers understand Forces children 2019-02-01T12:09:02+00:00