Maidenhead United players join in with Maidenhead's Big Read festival

Players from the Maidenhead United men’s first team got involved in a poetry session as Maidenhead’s Big Read returned at the weekend.

The popular event was back for its eighth year across Saturday and Sunday with a packed programme of themed sessions and activities for children aged three to 13 at Maidenhead Library.

This year’s event followed the theme of ‘Get Moving’ and saw players from Maidenhead United entertain an audience of around 100 people with some poetry.

Some of the Magpies read a piece of poetry and were joined by under 11s players who did the same.

The senior and junior players also played games during the session, which also featured local author, poet and MBR patron Simon Mole, who was delivering poetry from his latest book Poetry Pizza.

“It’s really great, because the theme of this year is Get Moving,” Stephan Stephan, chair of Maidenhead’s Big Read, said.

“Get Moving could be dancing, it could be football, it could be basketball. It could be anything that’s moving rather than just sitting down and doing nothing.

“So in a way, it fitted nicely and every year the theme is different to encourage different children [and] enthuse them to start reading.”

The festival, which looks to encourage more people, particularly children into reading,
featured a large bill of

authors, poets, storytellers and special guests, including TikToker Gecko.

Author and ecologist Catherine Barr talked about her books and shared her passion for the natural world.

Youngsters also got the chance to draw alongside Good Dog, Bad Dog author Dave Shelton in a cartooning workshop.

On Sunday, young poets showcased their talents in an Open Mic Poetry session, hosted by poet Coral Rumble.

Mr Mole and Gecko were on hand to perform raps and poems as they welcomed around 50 to 60 people to the The Great Big Poetry Party’ on Sunday.

Ms Rumble also joined in with the fun, interacting with the audience during the session.

As part of the event, the team organised ‘Get Moving’ themed craft activities and games.

Visitors enjoyed a ‘fastest first answers’ game and got the opportunity to design and colour their own 3D skateboard.

Guests created a range of colourful designs as they designed a football boot and enjoyed using football-themed stickers to make a fridge magnet.

The event also offered a treasure hunt, and the team were on hand to transport youngsters into the world of books in the story zone.

Schools across the area were also asked to publicise the competitions, which invited children to design either a football strip, boot or ball or a swimming kit, costume or ballet outfit.

The Little Bookshop team from Cookham were also selling books at their stand.

A short walk from the library, the team from Once Upon A Bus brought classic children’s stories The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Stick Man and A Journey into Space, to life in interactive storytelling sessions on the top deck of the bus.

The festival was also visited by Royal Borough deputy mayor Cllr Sian Martin and Maidenhead’s MP Josh Reynolds.

Stephan explained that attendance figures did drop this year to more than 2,000, compared to over 3,000 last year, but said this may have been caused by the weather and activities going on elsewhere in the town.

Reflecting on the event, Stephan added: “I’m very pleased.

“Hopefully we’ve benefitted some children and encouraged [and] enthused some children to start to love reading.”

Previous events have seen a subsequent boost in library members, and Stephan said he is hoping the event will encourage more people to come into the library.

For more information, visit: www.maidenheads-big-read.org.uk