News

In this blog our fabulous Book Club Ambassador, Nicola, gives the lowdown on her role supporting book clubs to get up and running… Thanks to a grant from the Veterans’ Foundation, we are continuing to support book clubs to get up and running in our military communities. Reading Force is a tri service charity, and we welcome Veterans, Reservists and MOD staff to our community. We offer book clubs for both children* (8yrs +) and adults – each book club member will receive three books for free to help get the book club going! “Thank you so much, [...]

‘My Forces Life’ Art Competition Winners! From the Under 4s to Adults’ entries, once again the Forces community have amazed us with their immense creativity and power of expression. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone – little and large! – who submitted their art, it has been a privilege to see your work. We would also like to thank our sponsors who made this competition possible: Bolt Burdon Kemp, Nosy Crow Children’s Books, and Daler Rowney. Finally, thanks to our esteemed judges who have chosen the winners with great care. Our panel of judges [...]

We’re thrilled to welcome Andrew Terry as our guest blogger. Andrew left the Navy in 2022 and set about writing and illustrating a children’s book about deployment and how as a deployed parent you’re always thinking about your children while away. The book has now sold over 1,000 copies! Here Andrew talks about creating the book…. Earlier this year, I wrote and illustrated a Children’s Picture Book, entitled Life in a Blue Suit. It has received support and praise from many naval charities and from senior echelons within the Royal Navy. I have dispatched [...]

We are thrilled Rhian Tracey’s mystery adventure set in Bletchley Park at the start of World War II, has just come out! In this very special guest blog, Rhian reveals her inspiration for the story, its characters, and the role of women and teenage girls in Bletchley… I first visited Bletchley Park when my daughter was in primary school. I was intrigued by the place because we’d recently found out that my great-aunt, Audrey, had been there during the war, although we initially knew little about the role she had played because [...]

Our junior book clubs are perfect for children aged 8 -11 years old and our senior clubs are suited to those aged 12-16/18yrs with a military connection including children of veterans and reservists. If you’re a military parent/carer, Welfare Officer, Service Community Champion, Community Development Officer, get in touch to find out more about our book clubs*. Our book clubs can be online or in your local community. Reading Force will support you from the very beginning, provide each member with three free books and ideas on how to continue your book club afterwards. Junior book club members will [...]

The Rock Retreat and Accord Literary are hosting workshops and running a young writers and illustrators competition and inviting Reading Force children and young people to take part! Accra in Ghana is UNESCO World Book Capital 2023 and to celebrate that Accord Literary and The Rock Retreat are creating an exciting global writing project and competition that will launch in Gibraltar next month. Young people in Bermuda, Ghana, Gibraltar & MOD families from across the globe will be taking part in this three day festival of writing and creativity. SIGN UP by 20th February - email ellie.dobbs@icloud.com to get a [...]

In this blog our Ambassador in Scotland, Fiona Maxwell, highlights the fantastic work of the charity Fighting With Pride… Fighting With Pride Prior to January 2000, there was a ban on LGBT+ personnel serving in the British Armed Forces which resulted in thousands of people being dismissed or forced out of military service. Recent research by the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research at Northumbria University has confirmed anecdotal evidence that the impact of the ban has resulted in many LGBT+ Veterans being isolated from the military family and support services, enduring hardship and struggling with mental health [...]

Join a Reading Force book club and read more amazing books, for free! Check out our THREE AMAZING new titles for our adult book clubs!  New volunteer coordinators can choose from: Capital by John Lanchester, Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud, or Skios by Michael Frayn See more information here about the available titles for the other free books. Reading benefits your physical, mental and spiritual health, and those benefits can last a lifetime*. Volunteer coordinators will be supported by Nicola to run their book club and each member will receive three FREE books from Reading Force. Capital From [...]

We’re thrilled to welcome Mairi Holden as our guest blogger. Mairi is Oscar Holden’s mum - you’ll remember that 11-year-old Oscar recently published his first fantastic book about his character Fazoom. Here, Mairi recalls Oscar starting to create characters age six, and how his first book was published. Oscar created the characters in his book Fazoom and Zen at around age six. He has always had a love of reading, particularly The Beano, The Dandy and Superhero stories. He started by drawing the characters and putting them into comic style, he would doodle and make stories about them - Fazoom [...]

In this blog Reading force founder Alison Baverstock reflects on Christmas in the military and eclectic Christmas tree decorations! I don’t come from a military family. As a child, listening to ‘Two-way family favourites’ on the radio, I remember being fascinated by the messages sent by Forces families. They always seemed to be longing for Christmas – when they would next all be together. But what a long time to wait! Now, looking back on thirty years as a Forces family, the Christmases really do stand out. Rather than merging into one, I can still date them by looking [...]