More than 100 people in the south-west joined an online book club run by UNISON to help members get through the Covid-19 lockdown.

When Regional Education Organiser Mark Everden set up the closed Facebook group hosting the new book club shortly after the lockdown announcement, little did he suspect there would be such a huge demand from across the region.

Mark said:

We thought we’d maybe get 20 people but currently we’ve got 107!”

One of the first to join was UNISON rep Yvonne Richardson, who has had to stop work at Great Western Hospital in Swindon since her asthma and diabetes put her at high risk of infection.

Yvonne said:

I’ve got a lot of respect for Mark: he engages really well with the class when he’s teaching, which is how I know him because he taught us employment law when I was training to become a rep.”

He’s very well-read and he’s one of those people you could talk to for hours about books and share recommendations.”

The group kicked off with Circe, by American writer Madeline Miler, which places the enchantress from Homer’s The Odyssey at the centre of her own feminist story. It then moved on to Do Not Feed The Bear by Bath-based author Rachel Elliott, in which the main character decides to face her demons and return to the scene of a life-changing childhood holiday in St Ives.

While Mark himself picked the first two titles, book club members themselves now choose the books they’re going to read. Mark is keen to help local authors who have been seriously affected by the enforced cancellation of promotional events that would normally have raised their profile and boosted their income from sales.

Mark explained:

One of the reasons we chose Rachel’s book was that the publication of the paperback coincided with our dates and she was over the moon that a union would do this, as she has had to cancel all the author talks she had planned.”

And the great thing about her being a local author is that she’s getting involved: I’m collecting questions about the novel from book club members and she’s going to make time to answer them in breaks from writing her third book.”

South Somerset LG Branch Secretary Zoe Rodgers joined the group because she wanted to regain the habit of reading for pleasure.

Zoe said:

I was an avid reader when I was younger and what I’m really grateful for is that the book club has reintroduced me to reading."

I read the first book, Circe, at the beginning of the month and by the time we went to discuss it at the end of the month, I’d read another three!”

Zoe is working from home during lockdown, with twice-weekly visits to the office to support colleagues in the post room, who are part of the team she leads in her council role.

Zoe said:

If I’ve had a particularly busy morning, I can get away from the laptop and read for an hour, which I don’t think I would have done before: reading provides that break from work.”

For Yvonne, being part of the book group is a massive plus at a time when we are all very restricted in terms of real world places we can visit.

Yvonne explained:

You can’t go anywhere except your back garden (if you’re lucky enough to have one) but a book is a way of being able to travel without packing a bag – if you’ve got a good book and a good writer, they can take you somewhere else.”

While the Facebook group was only launched because face-to-face organisation was impossible due to Covid-19, moving online does have the benefit of removing some barriers to participation.

Mark summed up:

People can join in whenever they are free, they don’t have to be at a meeting in a particular place at a particular time.”

People are fitting it around their lives and it’s filling a gap for them at the time they need that gap filled.”

Now that the lockdown is easing up the Book Club is becoming less active – however if you would like to start something similar contact unionlearn who can provide you with a selection of Quick Reads to get you going.

Unionlearn has also produced “Ready to Read – promoting the use of Quick Reads in the Workplace” which is full of tips for ULRs to help encourage reading for pleasure.