On Thursday 8 October, members of the Chapter One team joined readers around the world in an attempt to set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most people reading online in 12 hours.

The attempt was led by the National Literacy Trust and the British Council. It was part of Take 10 to Read, the National Literacy Trust’s annual campaign promoting the wellbeing benefits of reading around World Mental Health Day. This year, as part of the National Year of Reading, the campaign went global. Each session included 10 minutes when everyone read together, choosing whatever they enjoy, in any language.

Chapter One colleagues joined in either during the work day or with their families in the evening. One of our Early Literacy Interventionists even joined in with her pupils as part of special sessions organised by their schools.

During one session, a colleague noted down the reasons people on the call gave for loving reading. They included going on adventures, real and imagined, and learning new things, from history, myths and legends to insects. People also mentioned understanding different points of view, feeling calm and grounded, and escaping for a while. Others valued being able to go at your own pace, and the fact that no two readers “see” the same story, because each of us builds our own world.

At Chapter One, we help children discover the joy of reading every week. It was a pleasure to Take 10 for ourselves!