Young person – aged 12

My Social Worker said I was to go to Reading Rooms.  I was not very sure at the start, and I did not know what I had to do.  We met every week with a group of other boys who my social worker met with.  It was ok.  We all sat together out and about, even in the park which was cool.  We listened to a story, and she asked us questions.  It was good to hear what the other boys had to say and to learn from them.  We talked about lots of stuff like how we felt, what helps us feel better.  I talked about my da and how he’s not at home and how this makes me feel, but it was ok cause some of the other boys are the same.  We talked about role models and how we look for help if we need it.

I liked going to the group there was no pressure to talk I could just listen if I was having a crappy day or was tired. 

The stories were all new I did not know any of them and they were fun to hear, the characters were my age and fun.  We talked about the characters and how they acted and if they were good or not, it was not like school, and I enjoyed it.

Young person – aged 9

I took part in Reading Rooms every Thursday; it was really fun, and I did it with 5 other girls.  I didn’t know them at the start, they were in my school just.  I liked listening to Karen every week she read storied to us. 

We got to talk about really important stuff, like our feelings and how we felt about the story and the decisions the person was making, if they were good or not.  Sometimes they were good and sometimes they were back, we talked about how we would act in that story and if we could think of different ways to act.  It was really good to hear other ways and helped me understand how people feel and how it might be different from me.    

I enjoyed the time to relax and think about lots of stuff.  I was able to talk in the group more and even in my class I was more confident to speak out and ask for help. 

At home every week my mummy would get me to tell her about the story we read, and she asked me what did I think about it.  I would tell her.

I really enjoyed the Reading Rooms and did not want it to stop, it was so good and made me happy after each session.