The Rise Awards 2011For Excellence in Improving the Quality of Life and Well-Being Of

The Rise Awards 2011for excellence in improving the quality of life and well-being of mental health service users receiving support in the community

A. About the Awards

The Rise Awards are presented by Lemos&Crane who are sponsoring a prize of £1,500. Entries are invited from organisations working with mental health service users. In particular those organisations that deliver services in the community; residential care; supported housing; and to people at home.

Entries should be based on work in generating positive outcomes in one or more of the following three areas:

• Developing positive personal identity: Examples might include work to enhance personal independence and control; service user involvement, choice and empowerment.
• Developing and sustaining relationships. Examples might include work to enhance relationships with family and friends, loving relationships, relationships with pets and connections to communities and other networks or associations.
• Promoting positive life satisfaction. Examples might include work to enhance contentment about finances, accommodation, employment, physical health and use of leisure time.

B. Timetable

• Deadline for entries – 5pm Friday December 17, 2010
• Shortlist announced – January 14, 2011
• Winners announced – January 28, 2011.

C. Rules and procedures

1. Entries must be completed using this entry form and submitted electronically here:
2. Receipt of all entries submitted online will be automatically acknowledged.
3. Entrants may be asked to provide further information.
4. The judges' decision is final. Awards will be made at the judges' discretion and no correspondence will be entered into concerning any decision. Not all the awards advertised may be awarded if the judges consider the criteria have not been met. Additional commendations may be made at the judges' discretion.
5. The content of any entry may be used for informing other practitioners and also for publicity purposes unless the entrant withholds their consent to this in writing.
6. Entrants are deemed to have accepted these rules and procedures and to have agreed to be bound by them when entering this competition.

D. Your Entry

Please do not exceed 1500 words in total.

1. Your contact details

Full name / Dr Jane Davis
Organisation / The Reader Organisation
Telephone number / 07545420507/ 0151 794 2830
Email address /
Address / 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool
Postcode / L69 7ZG
Website /

1. Name of project you are entering for the Rise Awards

Get Into Reading (GIR)

1. Describe your project in one sentence

GIR is a leading social outreach project which aims to improve mental health and well-being, build community and positive relationships, and encourage personal development through its unique programme of shared reading in weekly community groups where stories and poems are read aloud and discussed by trained facilitators, with group members participating as they wish.

1. Specify the setting(s) where your project is delivered (eg day centre, residential, drop-in, supported housing, etc)?

Settings include: Mental Health Drop-In Centres, Supported Housing Centres and Hostels, GP Surgeries, Community Centres, Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Units, Libraries, Criminal Justice Centres, Women’s Support Centres and Residential Care Homes. We are a national charity and currently deliver over 250groups on Merseyside alone, reaching approximately 1000 beneficiaries each week. Current principal commissioners include local authorities in Liverpool, Wirral, Halton, Knowsley, and 6 NHS Trusts, including Mersey Care.

1. What are the project’s objectives?

To help mental health service users improve their quality of life by:
-Developing a culture of reading for pleasureand well being to be used as a natural resource and coping mechanism to increase capacity for longer-term resilience and support recovery and rehabilitation
-Developing individual potential and personal developmentthrough life-long learning and creative engagement
-Building a supportive community networkwhere people can form meaningful relationships within their local communities

1. What are the project’s activities?

-Delivery of weekly shared reading groups for 1-2 hours every week
-Provision of supported access to reading and literature through the unique GIR model of shared reading
-Provision of a forum for constructive reflection and discussion
-Provision of a Volunteer Programme where GIR members can build on their journey of personal development
-Provision of wider community reading events

1. What has been the impact of the project (please include any feedback or evaluation)?

‘Wellbeing and good mental health are partly dependent on social networks - family or supportive friends and colleagues – and on taking part in meaningful activity. Get Into Reading provides both of these, as well as the sheer pleasure of the book. Reading aloud, or listening to someone read aloud,is a community-building shared experience.’ (Professor Louis Appleby, the former NHS Director for Mental Health, 2009)
In 2009 GIR was highlighted as an example of good practice in The Department of Health’s ‘New Horizons’ report. We were also:
-Finalists in the NHS Health and Social Care Awards in 2007
-Nominated for the NHS Centre for Involvement Awards in 2008
-Awarded The Pride of Merseyside Awards in 2010
-Awarded The Morgan Foundation ‘Best Entrepreneurial Charity or Social Enterprise in Liverpool’ Award 2010
-Shortlisted for the Literacy Action New Awards in 2010
Since its conception in 2001, ourevaluation reports (including our most recent MerseyBEAT study – An investigation into the therapeutic benefits of reading in relation to depression and well-being 2009-2010), have consistently shown beneficiaries reporting:
-Improved Mental Well Being and Quality of Life
-Improved Self-Esteem, Confidence and Motivation
-Improved Concentration
-Personal Growth and Development
Case Study 1: Mental Health-Drop-In, Upstairs@83, Bootle, Liverpool
‘The reading group gets it out in the open. Whatever is hidden up and out - if you’ve got feelings put down they’ve got to come up and out otherwise your head would explode.’
Lucy is in her early 50s and joined the reading group in July 2009. She has learning disabilities and suffers from depression and anxiety. The group provides Lucy with a space away from everyday anxieties and the opportunity to channel her thoughts in new directions.Having access to the language of literature through GIR has enabled Lucy to better understand her own personal experiences. She read little before joining the group and never read poetry. Since joiningher reading interests and social networks have expanded and become more varied. She is doing an English course at college, achieving her level one City and Guilds qualification in November 2010. Her favourite poem is Maya Angelou’s ‘Touched by an Angel’.
Case Study 2:The Lauries Community Centre, Birkenhead
‘The reading group is really important to me as a man in my 60’s. Sometimes, particularly being a male, it can be very difficult to open up and talk about your feelings and I know that in the past I’ve suppressed them. But the reading group has forced me to confront my feelings and seek out help when I’ve really needed it – it’s been a life-saver, quite literally.’
John is in his early 60’s and suffers from Bi-Polar Disorder. Before joining the group John was already a keen reader – he had read most of the novels of Dickens by the time he was 13 years old. However he felt very isolated in his local community and lacked anyone to share his interests with. He first joined the reading group in March 2010 and values the group as a place where he can engage with other people and participate in a dynamic and creative activity. John still struggles with his bi-polar. In October 2010 he was submitted to hospital during a reading group session because he felt unable to cope. However he returned to the reading group the following week and has since reported that he feels better able to cope with his mental illness because of the group.

8.What are your plans for developing the project further?

We aim to continue to make GIR more widely available to Mental Health Service Users by developing new groups to benefit more people and by working on both existing and new partnerships with NHS Trusts and Community Support Services across the board.
We want to develop more opportunities for Mental Health Service users through our Volunteer Scheme, recruiting GIR members to progress into a range of volunteering opportunities including reading group assistances, promotion, and office administration.
We also aim to continue our research into reading and mental health to help to embed our work within local communities at all levels of service user engagement. Research currently underway includes an AHRC-funded doctoral projectdesigned to testthe use of the GIR model in mental health settings, inorder to determine the degree to which shared reading constitutesa form of therapy, and to build an evidence base in support of bibliotherapy as an intervention in mental health care.

E. Submitting your entry

Please return this entry form by 5pm, Friday 17 December 2010 by uploading it on this page:

On this page you can also add documents, photos, videos or other media that are relevant to your entry.

If you have problems sending us your entry then please email for help.

Thank you for entry.

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