Sultan hosts event to celebrate World Book Day
HMS SULTAN have hosted a special event with service charities and a local author to celebrate the 2025 edition of World Book Day; which was marked across the county / world today (March 6) and is designed to help encourage the Importance of reading for children / adults.
Personnel from across the Base were given the opportunity to find out about Reading Force and Aggie Weston’s; who both use the power of books to support families and help explore the many resources available within the Learning and Development Hub (LDH) at HMS Sultan.
Reading Force are a shared reading charity, supporting serving and ex-serving military families by providing tips for mums, dads, and carers with little ones on reading together. It was created in hope of promoting readers amongst families as described by founder and Director Rev’d Professor Alison Baverstock MBE, who commented:
“Reading force is an initiative which encourages families to read together to offset the ongoing impact of change. One thing you learn as a military spouse, as I was and am, is that life can be unpredictable and sometimes that can make families anxious. Reading Force is working to help keep families going and to keep normal conversations going, to help avoid mental separation.”
“Reading a book together keeps everyone in touch, so we’ve produced resources for families including scrapbooks, a reading record, and individual diaries to keep a record of their own experiences, as all service family members, whether serving, partner or a child will have their own story to tell which has value.”
“Times of separation, through a deployment cannot be easy for families, but if you can find common ground through books it can help keep you talking with each other, which can be a very valuable thing.”
In addition, local author, Fiona Ballard, gave a talk on how to get into creative writing and the many routes into publishing. She currently has five books published to date and an active member of the Portsmouth Authors Collective.
She said: “The Portsmouth Authors Collective was started to bring local authors together under one umbrella and runs market stalls, presentations and workshops, and provides support to writers with questions within publishing and editing.”
“Our writing groups and workshops which are available to support anyone looking to write, right across genres. If you’re interested then I think you have to have a go and join a writing group, make sure you don’t get despondent if things don’t go to plan, and surround yourself with likeminded people who will help put you on the right road for publishing.”
The author concluded: “I discovered I had a gift for writing through a global competition in New York where you were given just 48hrs to write and submit a piece based on an object, location. I found that as the rounds went on that I kept getting through and the judges thought that I had a voice.”
Meanwhile the Learning & Development Hub is based at the Gosport training establishment and is packed full of resources to support families / individuals with reading. This includes its very own ‘Little Legs Library’; where personnel across the site can bring their children or can borrow books to read with them.
Aggie Weston’s Pastoral Workers are further based within the Sultan Chaplaincy and are available to give additional support / advice on reading within families. Their Storybook Waves initiative enables personnel serving in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Fleet Auxiliary to record a bedtime story for their children to enjoy whilst they are separated; as well as supporting in recording messages to send to wider family members at home.
Base Warrant Officer, WO1 Marty Wallace said: “World Book Day provides us with an excellent opportunity to highlight some of the fantastic work which service charities are doing to help support service families. Service life requires a lot of hard work and commitment, and the welfare of our families is an important part of our own wellbeing.
“Our thanks go to all our guests today and to the Learning and Development Hub for organising everything. Hopefully, it will bring families together through books and inspire any budding writers.”
PICTURED BY MATTHEW HIBBERD: HMS Sultan Base Warrant Officer, WO1 Marty Wallace, Sultan staff, and guests gather to promote reading within service families and creative writing on World Book Day.
