LES Beaucamps High School celebrated the National Year of Reading with a visit from Guernsey FC player Ross Allen, who came to the school to share his love of reading with students.
Almost as prolific a page-turner as goalscorer, the footballer has embarked on a quest to go around the island’s secondary schools to discuss the role that reading has had in his life, hoping to inspire students to pick up books themselves.
‘In today’s day and age, everything’s always moving so fast. Reading makes you slow down and I think learning things that way is a lot better for your health and your mental health,’ he said.
‘It’s also a bit of a challenge. Anyone can watch a video, but I don’t really think you get a sense of completion from that. I think reading is a really important way you can find a sense of achievement.’
The theme for the National Year of Reading 2026 is ‘Go All In’ – a theme oriented towards encouraging people to read books on topics they have a pre-existing interest in. It is hoped that this approach will help reframe reading, particularly in the minds of young people, as an appealing and enjoyable activity, rather than a gruelling slog through pages of Victorian prose.
Mr Allen, for his part, said he read several books by and about sportsmen in his earlier years, before pursuing other genres of novel in his teens and onwards.
‘I remember reading a few books from players when I was younger, but then it became like too much of the same thing. So I think, for me, when I was younger, that’s why I drifted towards stuff like fantasy – I think I was in secondary school when Harry Potter came out, and that whole magical world was just a great form of escapism for me.’
Mr Allen said that branching out the types of books he consumed both helped him diversify his interests and dig deeper into those passions he already had.
‘If I go back to my time at school, there weren’t really any particular subjects where I found I really wanted to go down that path. I had, I suppose you could say, a subtle interest in all the topics. Then through reading, through trying different books, it’s sparked a real interest in some of these things that we’d learned at school.’
For others, the joys of reading really come to the fore when they are delving into long-beloved topics. Les Beaucamps student and voracious murder mystery consumer Maisie Bourgourd said that her love of mystery novels was due largely to a pre-existing love for all things crime and mystery, exemplifying the ‘Go All In’ theme.
Mr Allen’s school visits are being arranged by the Guille-Alles Library as part of its National Year of Reading campaign.
‘We’re thrilled to have Ross on board for the National Year of Reading – he’s the perfect ambassador to inspire young people to “Go All In” and rediscover the joy that reading can bring,’ said the library’s head of children and young people’s services Jodie Hearn.
‘We want people to read about things they love, because that’s when reading is most exciting.’
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