Lucie’s story
I belong to a voluntary community group in Whitchurch, north Hampshire and addressing access to arts and culture is a key part of what we do. I am a keen reader myself – I love to listen to audiobooks when gardening. We hold a flagship family event each summer and it’s been wonderful to be part of the wider National Year of Reading initiative this year.
In July we held an outdoor theatre event, Whitchurch Open Air Theatre 2026, promoting reading to families with young children. There were six performances over three days, with around 600 people attending in total.
One of the shows was called ‘Books’, and each attendee completed a colouring page describing their favourite book. These were then laminated and pulled together to create a ‘bridge’ over the River Test in Whitchurch. This ‘Bridge of Books’ was done to celebrate the National Year of Reading 2026.
“We had some fantastic feedback from families who thought the Bridge of Books was a highly imaginative way to bring a love of reading to life.”
Lucie, Whitchurch
We are looking forward to our next event in 2027, the Whitchurch Children’s Festival, where we will work with Hampshire Libraries Service and innvite authors to read at a special story corner.
Here’s a video with highlights from this summer’s event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaPtoWDf6cA
Volunteers
Help someone discover the joy of reading
A little of your time can open up whole new worlds for someone else. Find out how you can support learners and be part of the National Year of Reading across 2026.
