News
Richmond Villages Nantwich Residents Welcome School Children To Share A Love Of Reading
Residents from Richmond Villages Nantwich and children from Underwood West Academy have come together to share a love of stories and reading, with a focus on nature and the environment, as part of the ‘Reading for the Planet’ initiative, a partnership between Bupa Foundation and the National Literacy Trust.
Reading for pleasure supports a child’s reading skills, wellbeing, empathy, confidence, and aptitude for learning, but the latest research from the National Literacy Trust shows only 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 - 18 enjoy reading in their free time.
‘Reading for the Planet’, funded by the Bupa Foundation and Bupa Care Services, works to change this story by offering children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to discover a love of stories and reading through engaging planet-themed events that connect them with their community, as well as a diverse collection of free books to choose from and take home.
Similarly, meaningful social interactions and positive relationships have been shown to boost wellbeing in elderly people, as well as reduce loneliness and even possibly slow cognitive decline.
At the event at Richmond Villages Nantwich, children and residents had an engaging natured-themed storytelling session with professional storyteller John Hughes. They also decorated bird houses and bird-feeding stations together, which will be hung up in the village garden and the playground of Underwood West Academy. Finally, each child chose a nature-themed book to take home and keep, and time was spent sharing their book with residents at the home.
Both the care home and school were gifted a collection of nature-themed books for their library, and, later this year, children will be inviting the residents from Richmond Villages Nantwich back to their school for a final fun reading event, where children will get to choose another book to take home and keep.
One resident, Rosemary, said: “I had a lovely time reading with the children. It reminds me of my teaching days and all the happy memories in the classroom. The children told me about their favourite stories, and I shared my favourite books as a child. I’m looking forward to seeing the children again and hearing about their progress with their reading, it’s a very important activity for the next generation.”
Lynne Griffin, Village Manager at Richmond Villages Nantwich commented: “Our residents love spending time with children, they bring such energy to the home and reading is an activity that everyone can enjoy together. We’re so pleased to be involved with this partnership. At Nantwich we strive to provide the highest quality care for our residents and play an active role in the local community. Seeing the children and our residents bond over the joy of reading and caring for the environment has been so wonderful and rewarding in many ways.”
"Reading is a powerful way to bring people together and reading for pleasure has a huge host of benefits, including supporting both education and wellbeing,” said Nick Oram, Programme Manager of the Young Readers Programme at the National Literacy Trust.
“Sharing stories and being able to choose your own books from a diverse collection is a crucial part of inspiring children to read, and we’re so excited to put both of those things into practice with Bupa.”
The initiative sees some Bupa care homes and Richmond Villages across the country partnering with local primary schools to encourage a love of reading, with a focus on the environment and the natural world. Through the partnership, 300 schoolchildren will be given the opportunity to choose a book of their own to take home, as well as taking part in a range of reading for pleasure events, both at their schools and in Bupa care homes, where professional storytellers will help residents and children bond by taking part in ‘Reading for the Planet’.