Latest News & Blogs
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Day Sixteen – Crask Inn to John o’Groats (82 Miles) and mission completed!
1st September 2021 Day Sixteen – Crask Inn to John o’Groats (82 Miles) and mission completed! The final instalment of Alison’s stories of being the back-up and support for the intrepid cyclists, [...]
Days 14 and 15 across the Scottish Highlands from Glencoe to The Crask Inn
31st August 2021 Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the back-up and support here, as she reports back with a daily MAMILgram (that’s Middle-Aged-Men-In-Lycra): Day Fifteen – the penultimate day, from [...]
Days 12 and 13 from Loch Lomond into The Highlands, and some equipment tips
27th August 2021 Days 12 and 13 from Loch Lomond into The Highlands, and some equipment tips Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the back-up and support here, as she [...]
Days 10 and 11 from the Lake District to Loch Lomond, and some roadie tips
Days 10 and 11 from the Lake District to Loch Lomond, and some roadie tips – Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the back-up and support here, as she reports back [...]
Days 7, 8 and 9 from mid Wales to the Lake District, through driving rain to beautiful sunsets
23rd August 2021 Days 7, 8 and 9 from mid Wales to the Lake District, through driving rain to beautiful sunsets - Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the [...]
Days 4 and 5 from the South West to mid Wales – and then a well-earned rest day
20th August 2021 Days 4 and 5 from the South West to mid Wales – and then a well-earned rest day - Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the [...]
And so the epic bike ride begins…
18th August 2021 Days One, Two and Three as the cycling challenge gets underway - Follow Alison’s stories of what it’s like to be the back-up and support here, as she reports [...]
Fulfilling your life’s ambitions
9th August 2021 On 13th August Neil Baverstock kicks off his cycle ride from Land’s End to John o’Groats to raise money for Reading Force. Alison, his wife and founder of Reading [...]
Reflections on 10 years of Reading Force
19th July 2021 Life generally just rolls on. One often looks back week to week (‘This time, last week…’). Holidays and official festivals puncture time, seeming to last for ages and afterwards collapsing in on themselves. How [...]
Special guest author blog on The Cat Mafia!
9th July 2021 We’re thrilled to welcome author and naval mum, Liz McKittrick, as our guest blogger. Liz wrote Valiant Tails: The Cat Mafia, which is the very first book to kick off [...]
Extending our support to veterans in Northern Ireland
Reading Force is based on personal experience. As a family we found that shared-reading kept us in touch, both as a family and with our wider friends and connections, throughout our time in the [...]
World Book Day 2021!!!
Here at Reading Force we LOVE World Book Day and are very excited that despite these challenging days of lockdown and home schooling the day is still going ahead on Thursday 4th March! The [...]
We need to talk about the book…
We are delighted to announce the launch of a new Reading Force initiative – online book clubs for groups of Forces children and groups of adults and, we’re looking for volunteers to run [...]
Tales From Our Living Room: The Children’s Isolation Book Project
The Children’s Isolation Book Project is a wonderful example of a creative response to lockdown, and we’re very pleased to welcome Juliette Jones, who came up with the project, as our guest blogger. Below [...]
Guest blogger Donna David, author of Oh No Bobo!
20th October 2020 A big welcome to our guest blogger, author of Oh No Bobo!, Donna David. Here Donna talks about how she became a children’s author and how writing fits in so well with her [...]
Giving Forces children a voice through creativity and the arts
30th September 2020 In this blog Katie Salari, Director of Operations for Never Such Innocence, talks about the charity’s work to give military children and young people a platform to share their experiences and [...]
The Blakesley family return to Kuwait…
During lockdown the Blakesley family wrote blogs for us about being stranded in the UK, unable to return to Kuwait. In their final blogs, Nathaniel, Paul, and Karen share what it was like to [...]
Ever have battling thoughts over what your family ought to be reading?
In this blog Reading Force founder Professor Alison Baverstock talks about why reading and sharing ANY book is what matters… Which book should we choose to share? We are often asked by [...]
Lockdown Librarian
Our resident blogger Emma O’Brien reflects on the similarities between lockdown and military family life, AND shares the best books to escape with, books for a good cry and a good laugh, and comfort [...]
Brave New World
Ahead of a seminar on the lives and experiences of Forces partners, taking place on 8th July, Alison Baverstock, Reading Force founder and military wife for 30 years reflects on lockdown and deploymets. Talking to a [...]
‘I’ve always enjoyed both reading and being read to.’
In Part 3 of the Blakesley family lockdown blogs, Nathaniel (12) shares his thoughts on reading, boarding school, and Sherlock Holmes during lockdown… I’ve always enjoyed both reading and being read to. I remember having [...]
Lockdown Life
In Part 2 of the Blakesley lockdown blogs, Karen takes the pen from Paul and recalls arriving in the UK, moving to the Services Cotswold Centre, how reading habits change with life events, and her [...]
Word of command?
Alison and Corporal Andrew Miller, The London Regiment – G Company Last week journalist Marina Hyde highlighted the increasing use of a military vocabulary for the COVID-19 crisis. She was right. Journalists and [...]