MENUWe are passionate about working with partners in the community to deliver projects which support health and well-being, provide accessible cultural opportunities and that enrich people’s lives.
• Playtime sessions for pre-school children with their carers
• Jam Babies, making music for little ones and their carers
• Sharing Stories - connecting people by starting conversations through stories both with individuals in the community and in local care homes
• Soup and Stories - open to the community providing good company, hot soup and fun stories
• Early Years Literacy - communication, language and reading skills workshops in partnership with local nursery school
• Reading workshops for young adults, who would benefit from small supportive groupwork
• Book Groups
• Book Binding, Creative Writing, History workshops
Our team and volunteers support a wide range of activities that we provide free of charge to support the community:
Sharing stories
Our support for older people includes our Sharing Stories project that matches volunteers to people who may be experiencing some isolation. By sharing books, stories and occasional afternoon teas, we help to increase their social contact and sense of community. We also work in partnership with staff at care homes to run book clubs for residents.
From time-to-time we invite all those involved in Sharing Stories to come into The Bookery to meet an author and enjoy a cream tea. Our volunteers have completed over 650 hours in the company of older people since 2021.
Playtime
Utilising the community space, we help parents and carers support their young children’s learning through play and fun.
'Playtime @ The Bookery' works with parents, carers and pre-school children who enjoy a small group and a nurturing environment. The group offers play, messy crafts, music, singing, snack at ‘picnic time, along with a book to borrow each week.
It’s also a great place for parents and carers to meet others and chat. Playtime runs during term-time and for a maximum of eight families.
"Parenthood can be a very lonely time, so it’s been great to form friendships with other parents and grandparents."
"This group has been a lifesaver—for myself and my little girl."
"Lovely small group with lots of great things to do and it makes learning fun."
Playtime with Jam Babies
Following the success of our weekly Playtime sessions we have partnered with The Turning Tides Project CIC to deliver weekly Jam Babies sessions for those with learning disability and autism in Devon.
These creative play and music sessions for preschool children and their carers continue throughout the year on a Thursday morning and are provided with open access to all in our community. Our sessions offer a wide range of ways in which to engage and participate.
"We really look forward to the music and creative play on a Thursday, spending a very happy hour, which is stimulating, interactive, friendly and lots of fun!"
Soup and Stories
We invite the community to join us in our newly upgraded social space for Soup & Stories—a free event held within our designated Warm Space. The sessions are all about good company, fun stories, and hot soup.
Led by our amazing volunteers, each gathering features a short story, a book excerpt, poetry, or a personal tale, along with engaging activities that encourage participation and foster social connection.
We offer delicious soup and hot drinks in a safe, welcoming, and comfortable environment. We are delighted to continue our partnership with The Turning Tides Project, who kindly provide the delicious soup for each session. In the summer months we replace the soup with sandwiches.
Craft drop-in activities
We provide during Half Term and in the summer holidays free themed Craft activities for children aged 5+ allowing parents or carers to relax and browse books.
These sessions are open to the community with no booking required.
Book groups
For the many book clubs that purchase books from us we offer a 20% discount. We host at The Bookery a regular History & Politics Book group and book groups for young adults and have helped to arrange book groups with Crediton Town Council. We can on occasions connect customers to a book group and work with these book groups to help support and promote our Author events. To learn more about creating or joining a book group please contact [email protected]
“Thanks to The Bookery’s brilliant recommendations, generous discounts, and inspiring events, our book group has flourished. We feel truly supported every step of the way.”
Recognising the generosity of our supporters
We are deeply grateful to the organisations whose generous support has helped us deliver our Outreach programmes.
These include The Crediton Hospital League of Friends, National Lottery Community Fund, Crediton Town Council, Devon County Council’s Growing Communities Fund, Mid Devon District Council, Siobhan Dowd Trust, The David Gibbons Foundation, The Elmgrant Trust, The Norman Family Charitable Trust, The Crediton & District Lions, The Forte Charitable Foundation, Tesco Stronger Starts, Penguin Random House and Morrisons.
Their contributions have enabled us to reach more people, foster connections, and enrich lives through books and community-led activities.
