Why volunteer with VRH?

Your time will make a difference

Reading is essential in today's world.  By volunteering as a reading helper you can help transform a child's life. 1 in 5 children in England left primary school last year behind in their reading. By giving a child one-to-one reading time, you can give them a chance to learn at their own pace and adapt the sessions to suit them.  VRH reading sessions are relaxed and fun and by working together you can help a child catch up with their reading.

You can give children a brighter future

Can you imagine what it would be like if you couldn't read?  This could be the reality for children who fall behind with their reading and never catch up.  Many of the children we help are not getting much reading practice at home; some have English as a second language and for others it's simply a case of not having the confidence to read out loud in class.  Don't allow illiteracy to become a life sentence for these children.  By offering them your time, you can make sure they become literate for life.

It's rewarding

By giving children the time to learn at their own pace and meeting their needs you can give them the best possible chance to succeed.  It takes time, but last year 96% of the children we supported improved their reading confidence.  The key to this success is to give them regular support over a year and to adapt the reading sessions to their needs, which is something we train you to do.

Everybody wins

Each week VRH reading helpers spend one-to-one time with children to chat, read and play educational games on a regular basis.  Over time, this simple method helps the child build their reading confidence and skills.  The sessions take place outside the classroom and we work with schools by offering individual help to the children they see are falling behind - something that is rarely possible in a classroom of around 30 children.  Our reading helpers are not teachers but they are a trained and trusted adults who works at the child's pace to help them succeed.  It is a 'win-win' situation for both the child and VRH reading helper, as they both have fun and see real progress.

How do I apply?

1. Use our VRH branch finder to check if we work in your area  
2. If we do, go to the 'What's involved' section to find out more about the reading helper role
3. If we don't provide our service in your area, please go to other ways to get involved
   
   Please note that if you are applying to volunteer in London, we currently have a waiting list of volunteers, due to the phenomenal response we have had to the Evening Standard ‘Get London Reading’ campaign. Please feel free to complete an application form and return it to us so that we can add you to our waiting list. We are working hard on training and placing in schools the hundreds of applicants we have already received to date. Once we have placed all our current applicants in a school and have spoken with local schools about their capacity to take on further volunteers, we shall contact you when further vacancies become available. Please contact us on 020 7729 4087 if you would like to discuss this further.