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When the founder of Reading Force, Alison Baverstock, visited Cyprus in the summer of 2023 she gave several talks at the Akrotiri Hive. In the audience was Sarah, who pricked up her ears when Alison mentioned that in addition to family shared-reading with scrapbooks, Reading Force also support the setting up of book clubs. These aim to connect people from a Forces background, particularly when they are wanting to make new friends. A keen reader, and newly arrived from Blandford with her husband and 18-month-old son, Sarah thought for ages about [...]

Nicola has been our Book Club Ambassador since April 2022. Her role has since expanded to include sending our teen journals, scrapbooks and books to Reading Force families around the world. Nicola also sends certificates with a new book and scrapbook to any families who use our FREEPOST service to return their scrapbook and a new teen journal/book to those who send in their book review sheet. Here she talks about her role and a great recent read! Can you tell us a little bit about your Ambassador role? Our book [...]

Reading Force is pleased to have teamed up with Scotty’s Little Soldiers to make sure bereaved military children know they are warmly invited to receive Reading Force books and resources. In this blog you can find out how the charity was created and how it now supports hundreds of children every year. When Nikki Scott created the charity for bereaved military children, Scotty’s Little Soldiers, following the death of her husband, she had only one thing in mind: to make sure no bereaved British Forces child or young person [...]

The Reading Force Team worked with Carnagill Primary School to organise a very special visit from award winning author, Tom Palmer. In this blog Sarah Bradshaw, English & Service Pupil Lead at Carnagill, shares highlights of the day and much more…  “I’ve just seen him – we have a celebrity in school!” That was the first thing one of my young pupils said to me on Friday morning, his eyes wide open and hopping from one foot to the other. They were beyond excited, with important questions such as “Where is [...]

THIS EVENT HAS TAKEN PLACE Saturday 20th July, The Rifles Museum, Romsey Road, Winchester, 1-4pm If you have had a connection with the military, whether serving, reservist, veteran or you are from a military family, the chances are that your life has been very interesting. You will have lived through politically significant times, whether at home or internationally, and the domestic consequences will likely be just as interesting as the realities of active service. So how was it living abroad during a time when communication home was limited to letters (or [...]

Alison founded the Reading Force initiative in 2010 on a shoestring budget. What started as a pilot has gone from strength to strength and today Reading Force is a tri-service charity with worldwide reach. We are thrilled to congratulate Alison on being awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to military families in the King’s Birthday Honours list. Here she shares her Army and Reading Force life… When you decided to set up Reading Force in 2010 you were an Army wife, mum of four, author, and academic (in no [...]

Fiona Maxwell has been Reading Force Ambassador in Scotland since July 2017. Her role has since expanded to include the North of England. In Scotland she has become known as the Book Lady among the military community. Here she shares what being an RF Ambassador involves and a favourite book! Can you tell us a little bit about your Ambassador role? The main focus of my Ambassador role is to raise awareness of Reading Force and the positive impact of shared reading as widely as possible. To reach families, we rely [...]

In this blog publisher, author and Reading Force founder Alison Baverstock gives the lowdown on the sustainability of books. A criticism often faced by publishers is that books are not environmentally-friendly, and it would be more sustainable to encourage people to read on electronic devices. When talking about why books are enjoyable, in various contexts, I’ve often had it said to me that “I don’t buy books because I love trees”. Here I hope to convince you that you really can love both, without compromising your environmental beliefs! Books [...]

Newly posted to Brunei, and with the unfamiliar novelty of having time on her hands, Kim decided to start a book club. In this blog she shares her experience of getting the book club up and running, how the first three meetings went, the awkward bits, the good bits, and how it’s stuck… Book Club Brunei Before my family moved to Brunei, I was a primary school teacher and used to being busy. It hadn’t taken our three boys long to settle into their new school and my husband to get into [...]

In this blog Lorraine, one half of the dynamic duo We Are Bert, shares the story of how the wonderful Berts came about… As Andy and I celebrated our 60th birthdays recently, we found ourselves reflecting on the winding path that brought us to where we are today. Andy began his career with helicopters when he joined the REME at 16 and went straight to Army Apprentice College. It only feels like yesterday we were just 19 years old, embarking on the adventure of military life. From the early days of our first posting to the births of our [...]