Tucked away in the dreamy Calderstones Park is the Mansion House, home to ‘The Reader’; the UK’s largest shared reading charity.
In this UK-wide ‘year of reading’, a national initiative that aims to reverse the decline in people reading for pleasure, The Reader’s groups are a quiet army of friendly faces who share books as a means of overcoming loneliness and building social connection.
Shared reading was described by Megan Walder, Development Coordinator at the Reader as: “All about bringing people together to discuss literature in a safe space.”
Here is reading as social activity; rather than working their way through books on their own to talk about afterwards, as in a conventional book club, here people come to the group to listen and enjoy literature together.
Mersey News Live joined one of the groups at its weekly meeting.
The reading group we visited we in the midst of 1930s Brighton as they read the murder thriller ‘Brighton Rock’.
The group of four, who preferred not to be named, sat in the sun-soaked blue room surrounded by books and antiquities, the strong sense of community was clear as they welcomed me in and explained the book so far.
And the lead reader read a passage of the story aloud before the group came to discuss the story and the recent plight of the characters.
Watching on from the end of the table the discission left Brighton and its cast and instead began a sharing of stories and personal connections.
Speaking to the group’s members they felt that the group gave them community, opportunities to connect and a regular calendar events to look forward to.
It also allowed them to read stories they otherwise would not have picked up.
The group usually focuses on short stories each week. One member went into her bag and pulled out a printed copy of a short story they had read a few weeks ago.
We laughed at is crumpled state as she explained all the people in her life she has shared the manuscript with.
The community and connections that a story can create is vital to the ethos of the charity.
This is just one insight into the impact shared reading can have. Megan also told us about other groups that bring together people with similar lived experiences or backgrounds. Others like the one I was able to go along to brings together people that may have not otherwise met.
The Reader’s efforts come amid a national decline in reading for pleasure, with National Literacy Trust data showing only 50% of adults and 20% of children read for pleasure.
In response to this decline and nationwide concerns, 2026 has been named the ‘National Year of Reading’ by the national literacy trust which aims to change the decline in reading among children and adults.
Research suggests that social media and the digital age are reducing attention spans therefore making reading a less common form of leisure.
Online there is a small revolution against this. On social media there’s endless shorts of book recommendations, known as ‘booktok’ and a range of famous faces clutching the latest must read books.
To reignite your love of reading CLICK HERE to find your local library.
Or read out socials post about reading events in Merseyside.
