About Schoolreaders

Schoolreaders, a charity established in 2013, recruits volunteers and places them in local primary schools where they listen to children read on a one-to-one basis. The need for this reading support is enormous. Even before the pandemic, 1 in 4 children were leaving primary school not reading to the expected standard. This has lifelong consequences as these children cannot benefit fully from their secondary education and so their life opportunities are compromised.

Poor literacy continues into adulthood. 1 in 6 adults in this country have poor literacy skills and are unable to do tasks such as filling in a job application form or reading instructions on a medicine bottle. Poor literacy is also a factor in many other problems facing our society such as homelessness, mental health, unemployment and criminality.

 Schoolreaders aims to provide every child with the opportunity to read well by the time they move to secondary school at the age of 11 so that they can access their education fully and make the most of life’s opportunities.

Our volunteers are in great demand. More than 10% of primary schools in England have joined as Schoolreaders partner schools and more schools are joining us every week. 

In March 2020 our volunteers were supporting over 12,000 children with a one-to-one reading session every week. Over the past year we have recruited a further 1,000 volunteers. Once they are all up and running we will be supporting over 20,000 children every week!

The Schoolreaders model offers a win-win situation to all involved: the schools, the children and the volunteers themselves.

Thank you for your interest and support. Your help will increase the future life-chances of many children by improving their reading skills.

For more information please go to: www.schoolreaders.org.