Nailsworth charity says books are 'wonderful' for children's wellbeing

Michael Loader works for charity Read for Good, which aims to improve the wellbeing of children in hospital

A storyteller who reads to children in hospital says books can be "wonderful" for their wellbeing.

Michael Loader works with the Nailsworth-based charity Read for Good and reads to children at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

The charity aims to support children's mental health, wellbeing and education during what can be a traumatic time in their young lives.

"It's a passion. Storytelling is a wonderful thing to do," said Mr Loader.

Mr Loader is also encouraging young people to get creative and enter the BBC's 500 Words competition.

He said storytelling can help people's wellbeing by allowing them to escape their reality and that his hospital visits aim to offer educational support during times when children are unable to attend school.

"Sometimes people don't find themselves in a good place and I think that ability to use your imagination to step outside of your reality can be hugely wonderful for your wellbeing," said Mr Loader.

Nickee said her son Victor had become more interested in books thanks to the visits

"When you're an inpatient, life is very boring," said Nickee, whose five-year-old son Victor has been treated at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital regularly over the past 12 months.

"It's not fair for them to be in hospital with not much entertainment and not much going on," she added.

Nickee said Victor did not engage with the stories at first, but has recently become more interested in books.

"He's just starting to enjoy the stories a little bit more. I think he likes the repetition," she said.

Competition judges include award-winning and best-selling authors

Mr Loader said children of all backgrounds and abilities could use their creativity and imagination to take part in the BBC's 500 words competition.

Entrants are asked to write a fictional story they would love to read, without the pressure of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

The only rule is that stories must be no more than 500 words.

"As well as listening to stories and hearing stories, giving children the opportunity to write stories is really important," said Mr Loader.

"I think it goes back to what we said before about the imagination, the creativity and finding that freedom to create your own space," he added.

The competition has two age categories: five to seven-years-old and eight to eleven-years-old.

Judges include best-selling authors such as Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson and former children's laureate Malorie Blackman and Sir Lenny Henry.

Children can enter the competition by visiting bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words and the deadline for entry is Friday 10 November 2023 at 20:00 BST.