Our charity has been supporting Reading Force since 2019 with grants totalling in £75,000 to ensure the organisation can continue their support for Naval families by focusing on shared family activities, maintaining family relationships through supporting communications with the deployed parent, and focusing on promoting health and well-being. Reading Force provided 930 scrapbooks and books for families so they can connect with one another.
Caroline’s husband is in the Navy and their two children, Bethany and Jacob, are now aged nine and seven. Caroline’s family started participating in Reading Force approximately five years ago, when they met RF Ambassador in Scotland, Fiona Maxwell at a welfare event.
Caroline says they have mostly filled their scrapbooks while Dad is away at sea.
It’s amazing – it's so good for them. And they get to share it with Dad while he’s away. They talk about what they’re doing in videocall - it’s a talking point. And when their Dad emails they’ll reply to tell him they’ve just received a new book. I don’t know how but Reading Force always gets the reading age right with the books they send.
Caroline
School is so structured, but with this they can write and draw what they want. Bethany loves the art side of it. We do it together at home, I’ll listen to them read and we’ll sit down together and draw in the scrapbooks. We do have a collection of scrapbooks now – they are very special.”
The Lock family have completed a total of 15 scrapbooks over five years. Each time they enter the Scrapbook competition (which is returned to them) they receive a book prize and certificate of participation which they can then keep as a precious family memento.
The scrapbooks also get shared with the wider family, as Caroline says, “We’re now in Scotland but or we send them screenshots of the scrapbooks, so they know what Bethany and Jacob are doing.”
She says “We’ve seen Fiona at events several times now, she’s great, and I always tell her how much we enjoy Reading Force. It means when Dad goes away, they’ve got something to show him, and he can see how they’re getting on. Reading Force is amazing – the whole team.”
To find out more about Reading Force and how to access their services, you can visit their website at readingforce.org.uk
