The Royal Literary Fund, the world’s oldest literary fund, is expanding its Reading Round community-focussed reading groups into hospices, NHS Recovery Colleges, and prisons as part of its activity for the National Year of Reading. The benefits of reading in community are undeniable:
The Reading Agency’s State of the Nation’s Reading Report 2025 found that regular readers were 86% more likely to report a sense of belonging to their community, with 35% feeling less lonely, and the Reading Round experience creates that sense of connection by bringing readers and writers together in an atmosphere of trust.
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Havens Hospices in Essex have piloted this life-changing initiative.
Syd Moore, a writer and RLF Fellow who leads the sessions says:
What emerges from these sessions is not just discussion, but a profound sense of human connection and fellowship…I have seen huge benefits in patients wellbeing, along with noticeable increases in self-esteem and confidence. It’s a joy – the most meaningful and worthwhile work I’ve ever done in my life’
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF), the world’s oldest literary charity, recently announced a host of new initiatives as part of the National Year of Reading.
They are:
- Expansion of its Reading Round community-focussed reading groups, led by trained RLF Fellows, including acclaimed poets, playwrights, novelists and biographers, into more diverse settings including hospices, prisons (in partnership with the National Literacy Trust) and NHS Recovery Colleges.
- The benefits of reading in community are undeniable: The Reading Agency’s State of the Nation’s Reading Report 2025 found that regular readers were 86% more likely to report a sense of belonging to their community, with 35% feeling less lonely, and the Reading Round experience creates that sense of connection by bringing readers together with the opportunity to grow in confidence in an atmosphere of trust.
- Hospice and Recovery College Reading Round groups will expand into Norwich, Eastbourne, Southend, Newport and Dungannon (Northern Ireland).
- Reading Round groups confirmed in prison settings for the first time include HMP Leeds, HMP Liverpool, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Brixton and HMP Bristol.
- Libraries are also the focus of enhanced activity with a series of free Collected Live panel events across the UK with additional Reading Round library sessions in nine regions of England including Liverpool, Morpeth, Leeds, Leicester, Stourbridge, Upper Norwood, Bath and Willingdon.
- The Royal Literary Fund is the world’s oldest literary charity dedicated to supporting professional writers in financial difficulty. The charity’s mission is to enable writers to keep writing and to share their skills with others. Each year the RLF distributes over £7 million through grants and a range of education, community and workplace programmes, like Reading Round.
- The National Year of Reading 2026 is a year long collective action campaign that aims to (re)connect people of all ages with reading as a meaningful, modern and social activity.
The RLF’S Reading Round is a reading group with a difference; a community-focussed programme that centres the experience of reading, listening to, and discussing stories and poetry in a relaxed, inclusive and supportive environment. Running since 2013 and hosted in a variety of settings including theatres, community centres, churches and arts venues across the UK, the new initiatives will see Reading Round expanded across libraries and NHS settings including recovery colleges and hospices, and offered in prisons for the first time, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
The benefits of reading in community are profound, with the simplicity of the Reading Round format part of its success. The State of the Nation’s Adult Reading Report 2025 (The Reading Agency) found regular readers were 86% more likely to report a sense of belonging to their community, 58% more likely to report feeling generally happy and 35% more likely to say they don’t feel lonely and the Reading Round experience, led by trained RLF Fellows, including acclaimed poets, playwrights, novelists and biographers, creates that sense of connection by bringing readers together with the opportunity to grow in confidence in an atmosphere of trust.
Katharine McMahon, Director, Workplace and Community for the RLF says:
‘As adults we often forget the sheer joy of reading stories and poems aloud and talking about them with other people. For a dozen years, Reading Round has connected people across the country through cultivating a pleasure in great literature – and in this National Year of Reading, I’m delighted that the RLF is committed to training and supporting writers to share the fairy dust with adults in ever more diverse communities and settings.
Writer Syd Moore, who piloted Reading Round with Havens Hospices, which provides care and support to adults living with incurable conditions and their families in Essex, says:
‘When palliative patients receive their diagnosis their world shrinks. The Reading Round works so well because it makes few demands: participants don’t have to use their hands, arms or legs. Group members are able to contribute at their own pace in a calm environment where each comment is heard, respected, valued, and responded to. Because we focus on the text, members of the group feel safe and ‘held’, the conversations are immediate and engaging. The first time I delivered a Reading Round at Fair Havens one of the members remarked, ‘it’s the only time in my week when I don’t think about cancer.’
As we move through the course, something genuinely magical happens. Other writers, who come to observe me, are often surprised by how much laughter there is. Of course there are disagreements too, lots of reflection, and, perhaps most importantly, a deepening sense of empathy. What emerges from these sessions is not just discussion, but a profound sense of human connection and fellowship.
It’s a timely reminder that meaning is something we make together. When we do this, in Reading Round sessions, in our small but very significant ways, we find ourselves restored, fuller and more alive. I have seen huge benefits in patients’ wellbeing, along with noticeable increases in self-esteem and confidence. It’s a joy – the most meaningful and worthwhile work I’ve ever done in my life.’
Hospice and Recovery College Reading Round groups will be expanded across the UK with new settings confirmed in Norwich, Eastbourne, Southend, Newport, and Dungannon (Northern Ireland) and planned groups in Dundee, Hastings, Northampton, Ipswich, London, Brighton and Kent.
Christine Harris, Supportive Therapies Lead at Havens Hospices, says,
‘Reading Round gives the people we care for the chance to focus on something other than their incurable condition. Distraction is a recognised and valuable part of supportive therapy — it reduces anxiety, lifts mood, and helps people feel more like themselves. Having that space to engage with literature, share their thoughts and connect with others, delivers all of those benefits.
Programmes like this are also a reminder that hospice care isn’t only for the end of life — we are here to support people to live well throughout their life’s journey. We’re grateful to the Royal Literary Fund for funding the programme and to Syd for her expertise and for bringing the sessions to life.’
Prison settings confirmed to date include HMP Leeds, HMP Liverpool, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Brixton and HMP Bristol with more to come across the UK.
Edward Kemp, RLF Chief Executive says:
‘The pleasure to be found in reading is life-changing, not just for children but for adults too, and to do it in community can make it all the more profound. In this National Year of Reading, we want to focus our attention on the joy of reading for everyone, so I am delighted that our Reading Round programme is being expanded to even more diverse settings across the UK.
Reading together creates community and connection, empathy and hope, and as the world’s oldest literary charity, the RLF is proud to be partnering with the National Literacy Trust and organisations like Havens Hospices, to ensure greater access to reading opportunities for all.’
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About Reading Round:
Available to any member of the public who would enjoy discussing books and reading with other like-minded literature fans, Reading Round groups run all across the UK. They are led by a professional writer, who begins each session by introducing a short story or poem to the group for everyone to read and talk about together. There is no homework or preparation and there are no qualifications required – Reading Round is for anyone with an open mind. Groups run for 6 weeks and are approx. 90 mins long.
About the Royal Literary Fund:
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is the world’s oldest literary charity dedicated to supporting professional writers in financial difficulty. The charity’s mission is to enable writers to keep writing and to share their skills with others. Each year, the RLF distributes over £7 million through grants and a range of education, community, and workplace programmes and the Fellowship scheme has created earning opportunities for over 750 professional writers at more than 100 universities and institutions across the UK. Their online magazine WritersMosaic is dedicated to celebrating and showcasing writers from the global majority.
Through the support of many writers over the centuries, the RLF has been able to provide both short-term and long-term hardship grants to writers, whether they face an unexpected bill, reduced income, or are unable to write due to a change in circumstances, sickness, or disability. Beneficiaries have included Anna Burns, Margaret Busby, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Hanif Kureishi, DH Lawrence, Doris Lessing, Edith Nesbit, Mustapha Matura, Edna O’Brien, Mervyn Peake, Ali Smith, Bram Stoker and Dylan Thomas. www.rlf.org.uk
The National Literacy Trust X National Year of Reading 2026:
The National Year of Reading 2026 is a year-long collective action campaign, delivered in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, supported by leading literacy sector charities, funders, sponsor and pledge partners, that aims to (re)connect people of all ages with reading as a meaningful, modern and social activity. https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/criminal-justice-sector/
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Lead photo caption: Reading Round group in Bath by Fernando Manoso copyright Royal Literary Fund
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