'Helping a child to read is a gift for life... what could be more important than that?'

Louis Bennett: 'For me, it's about helping kids go into the world and reach their potential'
12 April 2012

An hour at lunchtime can be enough to help a child into a bright new future. David Cohen talks to five people about their experiences with Volunteer Reading Help in the capital

City Executive: Louis Bennett, 25, PricewaterhouseCoopers associate, volunteers at Grange Primary School in Southwark where he reads with Nunique and Samanta, both 11.

"EVERY Friday lunchtime, I drop what I'm doing at our London Bridge office and take a 15-minute walk to another reality. Grange Primary in Southwark is ethnically diverse with a high turnover of pupils, many from tough backgrounds and some with parents in prison. It is as dissimilar from my work, and from my own former private school, Highgate Primary, as one could imagine.

"I am one of 48 volunteers from our firm who signed up with VRH to read once a week with children. This is my third year, which means I've given more than 100 hours, but I can honestly say it's one of the most rewarding parts of my week.

"The six children I've read with have all been different. The first two were painfully quiet, and it was wonderful to see them come out of their shell. Nunique, one of my current charges, is a bright, chatty boy who can't wait to tell me what he's been up to, but he's a slow reader.

"He got so nervous and desperate to keep up with his peers that he developed a stutter. I've helped him to relax and to realise that he's got all the time in the world to get it right with me, and now the stutter is pretty much gone.

"Samanta is a decent reader, but she makes stuff up and skips words, so the challenge has been to slow her down and read what's actually on the page.

"For me, it's about helping kids go into the world and reach their potential. It helps me, too, because you remember what's valuable in life and how lucky you are. Some people think their boss will give them a hard time, but no partner ever said to me, "you can't go read with the children".

"Helping a child to read is giving them a gift for life - I can't imagine what could be more important than that."

Public Prosecutor: Sally Weddell, 45, A senior public prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, volunteers at
John Donne Primary in Peckham, where she reads with Destiny, nine, Aliyah, nine, and Shane, 10.

"WHEN your job is about prosecuting murderers, you can lose perspective. I have spent the past nine years putting the same barely literate sort of people behind bars, and I was looking to do something that could make a difference to people's lives.

"I've always believed that literacy is the key to everything - from being employable to having a broad outlook to having fun. Twice a week for the past year I have walked over to John Donne Primary, near my home in Peckham, and read with three children for half an hour each.

"When I first started, Shane could only read flash cards and Destiny and Aliyah were on picture books. They suffered low self-esteem and didn't want to read.

"They were two years behind their peers, but all three have improved and have caught up about a year, and are now more fluent, confident readers. The girls have progressed onto chapter books and Shane is whizzing through Dr Seuss.

"Sometimes we have to be smart to turn them onto books. One of my fellow reading volunteers had a child who said he didn't need to read because he was going to become a washing machine repairman like his dad. The volunteer brought in a washing machine manual, and the pupil suddenly became super-keen!

"VRH teach us excellent strategies. We listen, correct, break down words or sound them out - the way a parent would. Most of all, we make reading fun.

"It's not supposed to be a slog. The truth is, I get as much out of it as they do."

IT Expert: Malcolm Larkins, 56, right
IT manager with Groupama Insurance, volunteers at St Mary's Catholic Infant School in Croydon where he reads with two six-year-old boys.

"EVERY Thursday after lunch, I walk to the school from our office in the centre of Croydon and the minute the two boys see me, they come running, each one wanting to read first and shouting 'me, me, me!'

"The school is energetic and vibrant and I am always made to feel incredibly welcome. I am one of five employees at our company who volunteer, but I'm aware that we are there for a serious purpose - a lot of these kids have nobody to read with at home and we are their lifeline.

"This is my second year as a volunteer, and one of the children I read with last year, a seven-year-old boy, had severe difficulties that no teacher had picked up. He would point to a word but then read something else. He said the words were "jumping about".

"I saw this boy once a week, and another VRH volunteer, Eddie, did the other session with him. Eddie picked up that this boy had a perceptual condition called Irlen Syndrome that is often mistaken for dyslexia.

"It is easily remedied. All you have to do is place a colour filter over the page and it settles the words down. There was a dramatic improvement in this boy's reading after that, so Eddie has probably changed this kid's life. As the father of children who are now 15 and 25, it's a tonic going back into primary school.

"It's not a huge commitment to take an hour out of your week, but you do have to be consistent. Literacy contributes more to the confidence of children than anything else. I love doing it - it gives me a buzz and a lift like only kids can."

Ex-Teacher: Nicky Manby, 53 Oxford graduate and former teacher, volunteers at Pakeman Primary School in Islington where she reads with three children, including
10-year-old Charlie Tsoukalas whose inspirational story we told last week.

"AFTER I retired, I decided to join VRH to work with young kids. I expected the children to feel embarrassed to be sent out of class to read with me, but the reality turned out to be just the opposite.

"In Charlie's case, he was a very demoralised boy when he started with me last year. He read baby books very slowly and for him reading was a great chore and a source of embarrassment and shame.

"We started reading How the Leopard Got His Spots and The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, but they were too hard and he became discouraged. I would say, 'no rush, Charlie, no pressure', and we tried poems instead. I tried to make reading fun.

"Over the five years I've been with VRH, I've worked with 15 children, but none have been as determined to learn to read as Charlie.

"I think that anybody suffering from depression should be sent to read with children in primary school because it's an instant cure. When I leave the school, my mouth aches from smiling."

Editor: Drummond Moir, 27
Editor at Random House, volunteers at Westminster Cathedral School in Pimlico across the road from his office where he reads with two eight-year-old boys.

"I HATED reading when I was little. But when I was 15, a friend suggested I read Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. It changed the course of my life.

"When I discovered that my employer has a scheme with VRH and that I could volunteer in the middle of my workday, I jumped at the chance. About 30 of us from Random House go into local schools. I go on Mondays at lunchtime.

"So far, I have read with three boys. The one that stands out is an eight-year-old with severe dyslexia and a tough life - no dad at home and nobody to read with. He was on picture books. He couldn't understand why I'd come to read with him, and he didn't want to settle down because he was embarrassed.

"This boy grew to love the attention and he became a good student. His confidence grew and his interest took off. This was a kid who never had a desire to read; now he brought in 600-page Harry Potter books to try together. For me, the scheme is about confidence. If you infuse them with a bit, they jump-start themselves."

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