About us

Maidenhead’s Big Read is an annual event, held at various venues in Town, that aims to engage and unite local people of all ages and backgrounds with reading, with a particular focus on those children and adults who are currently missing out on all that a love of books can provide. Due to the pandemic, this is being held virtually in 2021.

A message from our Patron

Dame Katherine Grainger

Our Team

Stephan Stephan
Chair

Helal Stephan, known to many as Stephan Stephan, is a retired Civil Engineer and Project Manager. Twice Past President and a member of Maidenhead Thames Rotary Club, he promotes educational events & Rotary led RBWM Primary Schools competitions.  He also coordinates with local Primary Schools in Maidenhead for Readers who visit schools weekly to encourage children to practise reading.
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Stephan is passionate about children becoming fluent in reading and love of reading at a very early stage to favourably shape their future.

Cathy Ison
Vice Chair

Cathy has been an avid reader since she was a teenager and has found reading to be a joy and a refuge during recent times. She has volunteered as a Rotary Reader in Schools for the last three years and enjoys interacting with the children through reading. She is fully supportive of the aims of the Big Read, particularly nurturing a passion for books and reading in all ages.

Cathy worked as a microbiologist at Imperial College London and Public Health England, where her main interests were teaching and research, and is now retired. She is a longstanding member of Maidenhead Athletic Club and is currently its President, is involved in coaching and is a track and field official. She is also Chair of the Braywick Sports Association, which brings together representatives from all activities across Braywick Park to work together.

Tessa Allanson
Member

Tessa worked in the publishing industry for 16 years, producing illustrated non-fiction books. She liaised between printers in the Far East, editorial and sales teams, and customers all over the world to ensure books were printed and delivered on time.

She has always been passionate about books and is now a volunteer reader in a local primary school. She would like every child to experience the joy of being truly engrossed in a book, desperate to read just one more page to find out what happens next, and that is why Tessa is delighted to be involved in Maidenhead's Big Read.
Yash Maudgil
Treasurer
Yash firmly believes that being able to read well is the foundation towards good education, allowing all children to achieve their full potential. He supports Maidenhead's Big Read project as its aim is to introduce children to reading in an informal and entertaining environment and  to develop a love of reading in their own time.

Yash is a qualified and practising accountant in Maidenhead, and has volunteered to be the Treasurer to ensure that the funds are appropriately expended to give value for money. He is also a member of Maidenhead Rotary Club.
Sarah Street
Member
As a child, Sarah was lucky to have someone who was always happy to read or tell her a story. This instilled her love of books and reading, and she passionately believes that every child and adult should be encouraged to read or tell stories in whatever forum they enjoy.

Her career was in early years education. She carried this passion into her work, always ensuring that children had access to stories and reading material enabling them to use their imaginations to carry themselves into places of fun and make believe. 
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Maidenhead Big Read encourages and promotes reading and Sarah is proud to be involved, as well as being a member of Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club.
Amy Lovell
Social Media
Amy was awarded Scholarship by Downing College, University of Cambridge, to spend an undergraduate freshman year at Pomona College, USA, studying the Liberal Arts, she graduated from Cambridge Judge Business School with a BA hons (Part II) in Management Studies. She joined Waitrose as a Graduate Management Trainee, and worked herself up to becoming Customer Service Manager and a Buyer of Newspapers, magazines, books and toys.

A Certified Pilates Instructor, Amy is most known for keeping busy - with running, four children, teaching Pilates and being a school Governor. She is also an Area Activator for GoodGym leading a group volunteering, running and fitness.
Arti Sharma-Grey
Member
Arti is a professional storyteller, and she also writes her own scripts as well as adapting those that are in the public domain.  She studied psychology at university before achieving post graduate studies in housing management.

Arti has worked in diverse environments, initially with adults and children with special needs before managing a homeless hostel for 16-25 year olds. She was head hunted by a corporate IT company specialising in housing management as a pre-sales consultant. She spent 15 years in this role where she was required to storyboard and demonstrate software based around real life scenarios, thus sharpening her presentation skills.

In 2013, Arti used her storytelling skills which were being tested by her two young children to develop a storytelling business for schools. She bought an old red school bus which was transformed into the beautiful world on wheels 'Once Upon a Bus’, serving over 300 schools around the UK with interactive stories following the national curriculum.

Arti is an experienced host and has fronted a number of live events without the bus, too. An example is cutting the ribbon for the grand opening of 'Royal Hampton Flower Show'. She has been the chief elf to Father Christmas, responsible for delivering presents to children on Christmas Eve!
Lara Edmonstone-West
Member
As a parent of two young children, Lara values the importance of reading as a key life skill. The ability to escape into a book supports mental health and self-confidence. This has become even more paramount as the coronavirus situation disrupts the normality of day-to-day life and makes access to reading and books even harder to achieve.

Lara is pleased to be involved in Maidenhead’s Big Read so she can support this super initiative within the local community, and help it blossom further during challenging times.
Derek Philip-Xu
Webmaster
Derek has been involved in education for around 18 years, initially teaching English to primary, secondary and adult learners in Japan, Spain and China. He originally planned to teach for a year and take a break from his initial career of Chartered Surveying. But he never returned to surveying and has remained keenly involved in education ever since. He also managed to find the time to complete masters degrees in Applied Linguistics and Educational Research.

Now that he's based in the UK, Derek is putting his writing skills to good use and works for an educational publisher in London. In addition, he also runs his own copywriting and editorial services business.

In his spare time, Derek is a (mostly) enthusiastic runner, and is on the committee of Maidenhead Athletic Club as its Chairman.