The first Reading Friends project in Northern Ireland, with Verbal developing the programme.

Verbal is working with Older People North West to deliver Reading Friends in Derry/Londonderry.

Older People North West is a day centre and has remained open as normal for Meals on Wheels which has scaled up to meet increased demand. They now run two vans and in addition to meals they have delivered add ons such as magazines, puzzles and propagated seeds for people to grow their own winter vegetables. They are working hard to make changes to their building in order to re-open and welcome friends back as soon as they can.

Before Covid-19:
There were weekly groups in Older People North West and in two residential care homes, one specialising in the care of people living with dementia. There was a bi-weekly group with the Alzheimer’s Society memory café. They had a bi-monthly group with older women which combines reading with walking, foraging and local history. Also Poetry in Motion sessions match places to poems, legends or short stories.

Join Us

To find out more about the programme in Northern Ireland contact Christine at [email protected]