HIP LIT NEWS
Take10ToRead
Hastings joins 100,000 readers across the UK in support of mental health and wellbeing
On Monday May 10th, over 1600 people from schools and businesses in Hastings took part in the #Take10ToRead Challenge as part of the Connecting Stories initiative delivered by the National Literacy Trust. Led by the NLT Hastings Hub, this Arts Council England funded project aims to increase children and young people’s access to literary experiences and books. 24 publishers and over 60 children’s authors are supporting the campaign through book donations, author workshops and virtual visits.
At 10am, children and adults across Hastings stopped what they were doing to pick up a book and read for 10 minutes. The #Take10ToRead challenge came as a way to help promote reading for wellbeing. As part of the challenge, the people of Hastings were asked to pick up a book, comic, magazine, or newspaper and read it for just 10 minutes, as research shows this is all that is needed to benefit wellbeing.
Schools and local businesses such as Hastings Opportunity Area participated by sharing images on social media with the hashtag #Take10ToRead in order to promote the importance of reading. Across the nation, 100,000 children and adults took part. Award-winning author Anthony Horowitz virtually visited schools in Hastings to introduce the challenge, which aims to increase access to literary experiences for local children.
PICTURE: National Literacy Trust
In the virtual event, Anthony shared his love of writing and reading with the children, explaining that he finds reading “a wonderful way to escape from the world into a safer, happier, more enjoyable place.” He encouraged them to follow their passions and to always do what they love.
In a Q&A session, Anthony revealed his favourite place to read is in bed, saying, “I start each day, every morning, I read a book – or part of a book, a chapter or page of a book, depending on how I’m feeling. In the morning I start by reading a bit of a story and when I get out of bed I feel happier.”
He then introduced the #Take10ToRead challenge at 10am ending on the note, “the most important thing is to enjoy it.”
Anthony Horowitz is the author of the best-selling Alex Rider and Power of Five book series’. The Alex Rider series has been adapted for television and the first season is available to watch on Amazon Prime. Anthony has won numerous awards including Children’s Book of the Year and the
Red House Children’s Book Award.
• Connecting Stories is a calendar full of exciting and engaging events, including author workshops, walk and talk trails, competitions and more. Coming up, Connecting Stories will hold a virtual exhibition to showcase creative writing from children across Hastings. To find out more information about the exhibition and future Connecting Stories events, visit: www.literacytrust.org.uk/communities/hastings/connecting-stories-hastings
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