Reading Helpers

Ginny Lunn is the CEO of literacy charity Beanstalk, and a former teacher. Beanstalk looks for people to spend time with children who are struggling with reading to help them find the fun in it.

“It’s about finding something to engage that child. Searching for their interests, bringing them out,” Ginny says.

Ginny tells us the Horrid Henry books are particularly popular, and that she once worked with a boy who was utterly absorbed by a quiz book. It gave him the chance to prove what he had learned and made a game of it. This creative approach, the ability to find the right subject, is key, as well as being able to work in a school, alongside teachers, to get the best from a child.

“We have around three thousand volunteers now and we’d like to get that up to eight thousand. We ask them to commit to three hours a week for a year,” she says.

They’ve had great feedback from those who have taken part.

“Eighty per cent of volunteers say they would recommend it to a friend, and ninety-one per cent said they would come back and do it again.” Sometimes the Beanstalk volunteer can be the most consistent adult in the children’s lives.

One of the biggest signs of the charity’s success, Ginny thinks, is when folk helped by the charity become volunteers themselves.

Visit www. beanstalkcharity. org.uk or call 020 7729 4087.