This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. We are promoting a public library initiate, ‘Keep the Heid and Read!‘to promote and celebrate the power of reading with regards to mental health and wellbeing.

“To celebrate the power of reading, libraries and good mental health, you are being asked to pledge SIX minutes on Wednesday 11th May 2022 and devote it to reading.

Why? Because taking some time for yourself to relax and do things you enjoy like reading is important to help look after your mental health and wellbeing.

It has been scientifically proven that reading for just SIX minutes a day boosts your mental health by 68%.” (Keep the Heid, 2022)

To join in the ‘Reading Moment’, pledge to read 6 minutes on Wednesday 11th May here. There is still time for the target of 300,000 minutes to be met.

At Stromness Academy we are encouraging staff an pupils to read for 6 minutes and all our S1-3 have been pledge as a group. There will be a display of fiction and non-fiction books in the school library whic are available for borrowing. These include books from the Empathy Lab reading list as well, many which deal with mental health, as well as helping to building empathy in our young readers.

‌Links to Mental Health support services can be found on the school website and in LearnPath in OLIVER, the school library Catalogue.

Links to Information on Reading & Mental Health

National Literacy Trust. (2018). Mental wellbeing, reading and writing. [online] Available at: https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/mental-wellbeing-reading-and-writing/ [Accessed 9 May 2022].

Reading-well.org.uk. (2021). Reading Well. [online] Available at: https://reading-well.org.uk/ [Accessed 9 May 2022].

Why (2018). Why reading can be good for mental health. [online] MHFA Portal. Available at: https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/blog/reading-good-mental-health/ [Accessed 9 May 2022].