AND FINALLY

Reading to others gives so much joy

WONDERFUL prose and poetry read aloud, delighted applause from the sell-out audience — it’s all still buzzing in my head.

This was Autumn Leaves, an event in aid of the small charity Read Around Bath, of which I’m patron. For ten years, RAB has been sending volunteers into care homes, working with other vulnerable groups and providing weekly sessions of reading and talk at Bath’s homeless shelter, Julian House.

What do people get from being read to? As well as the shared joy of words, it’s the sense that they matter.

Believe me, putting on such a show takes months — and depends on the generosity of those willing to give up a Friday evening to perform (bossed by me!) and even indulge the odd selfie request. Make no mistake, this is kindness in action.

Having taken on the role of compere and reader, I then had the task of assembling a cast... So here’s a shout-out for the busy, talented people who gave up their time.

Broadcaster and author Jonathan Dimbleby; arts supremo and writer Sir Christopher Frayling; that brilliant (and so handsome!) actor Anthony Head; local BBC radio and TV star Ali Vowles, actor and comedy festival organiser Ralph Oswick; poet and international opera librettist Ian Burton; and lovely young Catherine Mallorie, who trained with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but now helps people as a counsellor.

They could all have been ‘too busy’, but instead said ‘yes’.

Our readings gave the audience laughter, tears and food for thought — in all, a grander scale version of what Read Around Bath volunteers do every week: bringing people together through words, delighting old and young alike.

And the good news I want to share is that this is a national movement. For inspiration, visit

readaroundbath.org.uk. Then find the national reading charity The Reader (thereader.org.uk). You could join a group near you — or why not start one up?