Volunteer-led group appeals for support to help adults in Devon read amid high demand
A volunteer-led group is appealing for support to help more adults in Devon learn to read amid rising costs and demand.
Read Easy North, East & West Devon, which supports adults to read through free one-to-one coaching, is looking for further volunteers and support to reach more people across the county.
Joanna Clarke, a fundraiser at Read Easy North, East & West Devon also known as Read Easy NEW Devon, says costs and demand remains high, with the group’s reading coaches currently supporting around 50 adults.
“We support people of all ages and backgrounds. We could be working with 19-year-olds or 70-year-olds. Some of the people we support have gone through the whole schooling system with no one identifying that they can’t read,” she said.
In England, 18 per cent of adults aged 16 to 65, or 6.6 million people, can be described as having ‘very poor literacy skills’, according to the National Literacy Trust.
Read Easy NEW Devon is one of nearly 100 volunteer-led groups that are helping to tackle the issue as part of the national charity Read Easy UK’s network. The groups within the network support adults across the country to read in their communities.
Joanna says Read Easy NEW Devon supports a range of residents, including those who have a learning difficulty that wasn’t diagnosed at school, people recovering from a stroke or a brain injury, and adults who have English as their second language.
Among those supported by Read Easy NEW Devon, is Vasylyna who moved to the UK from Ukraine with her two-year-old son in 2022 following the outbreak of war. Vasylyna struggled to read and write in English but that soon changed when she began to have reading sessions with coach Penny.
Vasylyna, who has completed all five levels of the Read Easy programme, said: “In the future I’d like to do a job buying and selling land, as I have a degree in Land Management from Ukraine. I’d like to help my son to do his homework. Reading and speaking English helps me to meet new people, talk with them and make friends.”
Joanna says that once people start learning to read with the support of Read Easy NEW Devon their lives quickly transform.
“One young woman we helped had never learned to read and her family didn’t know she couldn’t read. She got through our programme in record time and then got an apprenticeship at a local nursery. She’d always wanted to work with young children and thanks to our programme she could fulfil that dream,” she said.
Joanna says that many of the people they support at Read Easy NEW Devon have learnt to hide the fact they can’t read and are reluctant to seek help.
“Not being able to read still carries quite a big stigma so people don’t necessarily want to admit that they can’t read. We know the demand is out there and is the same as it has always been.
“It’s a bit like alcoholics anonymous; they have to want to come to us. Most of the people we support come through referrals, including the probation service, housing associations, social care charities, GPs, and family and friends. We get a few self-referrals but they’re the exception.
“People will disguise that they can’t read and for instance say, ‘I haven’t got my glasses with me can you read that for me?’, or they will guess, but not being able to read is so debilitating. If you can’t read, you aren’t able to go into a shop and read the ingredients on food or the instructions for medication,” she said.
As part of its programme, Read Easy NEW Devon holds graduation ceremonies for readers that reach Level 5, a basic literacy level. The typical cost to get someone to a level of basic literacy is currently £400. Costs include reading resources and workbooks, as well as training and travel expenses for reading coaches.
Reflecting on the rising costs the group faces, Joanna said: “We’re in a rural area so often a coach may have to drive 25 miles to a reading session. It’s a challenge because petrol prices are continuing to rise and public transport is a bit hit and miss in Devon.”
In a bid to help more adults learn to read and boost funding, Read Easy NEW Devon recently became a registered cause on easyfundraising.
When the group’s supporters sign up to easyfundraising and choose Read Easy North, East & West Devon as their cause, the retailers they shop with via the easyfundraising website or app – from M&S to Just Eat- will automatically donate a percentage of their purchase to the group without adding any extra expense to their bill.
In October, Read Easy NEW Devon entered easyfundraising’s eBay Big Giveaway competition and won £500 to buy essential reading resources.
Joanna said: “The money we raise through easyfundraising, goes straight to our readers. What we do is transformational. Free donations raised through easyfundraising will transform a life, signing up is just a no brainer.”
As well as finding adults to support and funding, Joanna says Read Easy NEW Devon is always on the lookout for volunteers. The group currently has 70 volunteers, each giving two to four hours of their time a week but is always looking for further help.
Volunteers join the organisation for several different reasons including keeping their professional skills fresh during a break from work or retirement, improving their employability or to feel part of their community. Aside from reading coaches, voluntary roles include coordinators who assess the learning needs and match coaches with readers and management team members.
Read Easy NEW Devon has raised more than £900 through supportive shoppers on easyfundraising. Support the work of the group with every online shop here.
To find out more about volunteering, email newdevonrecruiter@readeasy.org.uk or visit their website.
