COVID-19

16 March 2020

The Reading Agency are paying close attention to COVID-19, government guidance and ongoing developments. Within our own organisation we are developing contingency plans should the current crisis worsen and the government indicate that it will escalate its response which may involve more of the public self-isolating. The wellbeing of our beneficiaries or if you are part of a partner organisation, your staff and volunteers is central to our purpose and our top priority as we join companies around the world responding to the current global health challenge.

If you are a partner of one of our programmes and would like to discuss any upcoming events, necessary alterations to your current offer etc. please do contact the specific programme coordinator or email [email protected]. If you are a volunteer please contact the organiser e.g. the library directly.

If you need more information about current guidance, please see the below link but also please pay attention to any future developments or advice https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

Stay connected!

If you’re having to self-isolate or are social distancing, if you have to stop delivery of activities or if someone you’ve been working with (i.e. care home/sheltered accommodation) is in a lockdown situation, we’re encouraging everyone to stay connected where possible, even if this can’t be in person. We appreciate this is a difficult time for everyone, but maybe you or your volunteers could consider doing any of the following to minimise would be participants from feeling isolated:

Arrange a telephone call or Skype to keep in touch.
Send a letter, poem, story, postcard, drawing, book recommendation, video clip to volunteers and/or participants.
Send our recent spring-themed resource pack which has activities and readings for volunteers and/or participants. You can find these in our resource section of The Reading Agency website.
Check out our booklists that are published on our website and our social channels – you can sign up now to receive a free audiobook on World Book Night and many of the booklist suggestions can be found online as e-books or ordered at online retailers including Amazon and Hive.

Stay connected on socials @readingagency on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Please let us know if you have any ideas or activities you’re planning to help keep in touch so we can share.