The Eastchurch POA Learning Book Club in collaboration with, local charity, Sheppey Matters has continued to meet, regularly, over the lockdown period but in a virtual capacity. 

With sessions going online some members needed support to use the Zoom meeting platform, but once they had tried it a few times it soon became second nature.

Meetings have been carried out twice a month with all members receiving a Kindle book to read on electronic devices.  This ensured that everyone was kept safe from Covid-19.

At the beginning of each session everyone scores the book out of ten and a general discussion takes place with everyone having the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions.  This is followed by a quiz (just to make sure that everyone read it properly!)

A recent book of choice was ‘Finding Henry Applebee’ by Celia Reynolds which sparked a debate on war, growing old and the six degrees of separation which is often discussed.

Authors such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, Bryson and Samson were explored as well as current audible books which members had been listening to.

Fiona, one of the founding members of the Eastchurch Book Club commented that;

It has always been for me a bit of a release. But particularly at the moment, it has been a way of getting away from the stress and strain of every day life. Even though I have continued to work, the emotional toll on trying to be all things to all people is starting to crack the happy face. Normal whatever that is!”

The only thing that is required of me is to read a book, nobody is demanding anything from me. And then share a bit of Internet time with some like-minded people. It really is helping to keep me sane. Thank you so much for being patient with us, with all our Internet and social media issues and showing us how to overcome them. I really appreciate your patience, your thoughtfulness, and your sense of humour. Sometimes it’s the little things that mean so much.”

Covid-19 may have resulted in many facilities easing or shutting down all together but one thing is for certain, the Eastchurch Book Club will continue to meet in whatever form is necessary.

Nicola Waghorne, Community Engagement Manager for Sheppey Matters said:

Zoom Book club has been a huge benefit to our book club during this lockdown , not only has it enabled our members a very valuable opportunity to read books via Kindle but to talk with others that they would not have been able to see during this time.”

The collaboration with POA Learning has been fantastic.  Centre Manager Bev Nolker has talked us all through setting up the Zoom app and how to get the very best from the sessions. Without this encouragement and IT support most of us would have given up. With the addition of quizzes and interactive sessions, accompanied by great visuals, Bev has greatly improved our confidence when using this app.”

Not only has this helped develop the skills needed to confidently use Zoom, which most of our members would never have used before, most have gone on to use this skill to enable them to see and speak to other groups and family members reducing their feeling of isolation greatly.”

Nicola felt that the book club has always been a great resource for opening up conversations. This has been hugely beneficial during social distancing of making Sheppey’s most isolated members feel more included.

Nicola said;

Reading has been a great way to escape the worries brought on by this situation for a short while, and I am sure that even after things have returned to ‘normal' we will continue to use these skills, especially for those members who can't always make it to the book club sessions in person, to enable them to still take part.”

Unionlearn has a large selection of free Quick Reads available. Email [email protected] if you would like to order some for yourself or your workplace.