Lancashire Libraries: Empowering Young People Through Poetry and Reading Well 

As part of the Reading Well Community Champions pilot, Lancashire Libraries partnered with local poet Nathan Parker to deliver creative poetry workshops in high schools. Here, John Haigh from Lancashire Libraries shares his experience of running these powerful sessions. 

As part of the Community Champions pilot, we met with young people aged 13–19 at the very beginning of the project to discuss which events and activities could effectively promote the Reading Well for teens collection and support their health and wellbeing. A recurring theme was the challenges they faced with school, exams, and mental health. 

Working with local author Nathan Parker and high schools, we aimed to raise awareness of Reading Well for teens and the benefits of cultural activities on health and wellbeing. 

To date, five schools have taken part in the creative poetry sessions, with two more lined up in the coming weeks. 

How We Ran the School Wellbeing Sessions

The sessions followed a standard format but were adapted to meet the health and wellbeing needs of the young people. Each session lasted between two and three hours depending on the school, and each group attended two sessions: one in school and one in a local library where possible, subject to staffing and transport. 

Schools had freedom to select pupils to attend, but most focused on those already working with the school wellbeing team due to challenges around neurodiversity, emotional regulation, and external factors. Participation was voluntary and all pupils were from year 9 (13 -14 years old).  

What We Saw and Heard 

One teacher told me: 

“Of the 13 students who took part, 5 are neurodivergent or undergoing assessment and 7 receive regular targeted support in school for mental health or emotional difficulties. To have these kids engaging in any way with this sort of thing is massive in and of itself. The sessions far exceeded my expectations of what the students would be willing to do, which is a testament to the set up.” 

At the start of each session, I introduced Reading Well for teens, the library service, volunteering opportunities, and the wider value of cultural activities. We showed them the Reading Well books and let them know the collection was being donated to the school library. The Reading Well book most students had already heard about was A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. 

Nathan then talked about his own background and the challenges he faced growing up. We began with games and then moved into what makes a poem – its theme, message, emotion, and technique. We’d read a couple of poems together, including Nathan’s 21st Century Prison about social media, which linked well with Reading Well themes. 

We focused on similes and metaphors and encouraged the young people to write short poems using the emotions they had identified earlier. If they felt comfortable, they read them aloud. Finally, we worked together on a group poem around a theme chosen by the participants. 

Nathan read his poem You Taught Me…, about his older brother, which led us into talking about grief and how to share powerful emotions. The group then wrote poems in the same style, about people who had taught them something. These pieces really resonated, expressing a mix of positive and painful feelings. 

One pupil’s parent even messaged Nathan afterwards to say: 

“Hello, you recently went into my son’s school to do a creative writing workshop and he had a recording done of him reading the poem he wrote. I was just wondering if this is going to be published anywhere as I would love to hear it. I also want to thank you for working with him – he absolutely loved the sessions and got so much out of it, and I even benefited with a Mother’s Day poem! I was honestly amazed with how emotional his poems are after he’s had a tough time this year. It was so good to see him have an outlet for that. Thank you again.” 

At another school, the students had experienced the loss of a peer between the two sessions. They engaged amazingly well, producing some extremely emotive pieces. They commented that expressing their feelings through poetry was difficult but helped them feel better afterwards. It was wonderful to see them support each other and care for each other in those moments. 

Each session was unique because of the themes the young people chose to focus on. These included anxiety, depression, social anxiety, fears about social media, appearance worries, identity, LGBTQIA+ topics, and grief.  

Time and again, young people said the sessions helped them feel more confident expressing themselves and asking for help if they needed it. They told us they often felt unheard, and these sessions gave them a voice. 

One teacher summed up the school wellbeing sessions beautifully:

“What a fantastic project this was. Nathan and John gave our pupils a voice – a voice that felt valued and listened to. Pupils who often struggle in class thrived at writing their own poems, and it was so lovely seeing their confidence grow. They discovered the positivity in poetry – the way it helps you communicate your feelings and make sense of challenges. The poems were so fabulous we put them together in a booklet in our school library.” 

One young person’s poem from a grief-focused session has stayed with me: 

“You taught me how to read and write 
You taught me how to walk and talk 
You taught me to be happy and sad 
You taught me to smile even when I’m mad 
You taught me to be strong even when times got tough 
Like when you left and it got rough… 

… 

I miss you mum, we had so much fun 
But when my time comes to an end I am done 
We will reunite at last just like the past.” 

Seeing these young people use poetry to find their voices and share their stories has been an incredible experience. I feel proud to have been part of it and to see how Reading Well for Teens, paired with cultural activities, can make such a meaningful difference. 

Find out more about Reading Well here.