The summer is over and children are back at school. Do you have spare time on your hands and want to do something exciting and rewarding to fill it? Why not become a volunteer reading helper with Beanstalk?
Reading is essential in today’s world.  Unfortunately many children struggle to learn to read for all sorts of reasons – one in eight children in England left primary school last year behind in their reading1 and one in six adults in the UK has a reading level below that expected of an eleven-year-old.2
Beanstalk is a national charity that gives one-to-one literacy support to children in primary schools across the County Durham area and they are currently looking for volunteers from the local community to work with children who have fallen behind with their reading.
By becoming a reading helper, you’ll give a child the one-to-one attention they need to build their confidence and help them catch up with their reading. You’ll give them a chance to learn at their own pace and adapt the sessions to suit them.
Volunteers work with three children and see each child for two 30 minute sessions a week, during term-time, for a whole year. Together, they will read, play and talk. With their support the child’s approach to learning and enjoying reading will be transformed.
We work in Woodhouse Primary School and St Mary’s RC Primary School and have more schools waiting for volunteers in the area.
“I have been volunteering for just over a year with an organisation called Beanstalk who have been providing literacy support to schools since 1973. I personally have a huge love of reading writing and literacy, these are a passion of mine and wanting to help children fulfil their potential in reading as much as I do. Working with the children has given me such personal satisfaction” Coral, Reading Helper
Our aim is to reach out to 10,000 children, nationally, by 2016 but to do this we urgently need more volunteers.
Volunteering as a Beanstalk reading helper is extremely rewarding, makes a lasting difference to children’s lives and is a great way to give something back to your local community. Why not take up a different kind of volunteering this year?