ARCh: Kay’s Volunteering Story
Three years ago, after retiring from a career in HR, Kay was looking for a meaningful way to spend her time when she discovered ARCh (Assisted Reading for Children) – a charity that helps children across Oxfordshire develop a lifelong love of reading. Now in its 17th year and a 2024 grant recipient of the Didcot Powerhouse Fund, ARCh supports around 680 children per week through its network of over 280 active volunteers.
Drawn to ARCh by her passion for children, teaching, and the charity’s mission, Kay began volunteering and quickly saw the value of the one-to-one reading model. She was trained by ARCh to lead twice-weekly sessions tailored to each child’s needs. Each year, she is assigned four primary school children with varying reading levels and confidence.
Her sessions typically include 20 minutes of reading and 10 minutes of games or crafts. A personalised touch that Kay likes to incorporate is providing the children with stickers to decorate their own bookmarks giving them “a sense of ownership and control”.
While working with reluctant readers can be challenging, Kay has seen the power of focused, individualised attention. “In a classroom, that kind of personalised support is often missing. But with ARCh, you build a relationship that makes the children feel comfortable, identify what they’re interested in, and accordingly find books that align with their interest and spark that love for reading.” One child said, “I don’t like reading in class but with my reading helper it’s different somehow”. Over the course of a year, she has watched the children “flourish” and go from being hesitant and shy to confident and fluent readers. “Some start out not wanting to read at all, and by the end, they love it.” Analysis of feedback from schools receiving ARCh support indicates that, on average, pupils’ reading ages increased by 17.3 months, with a 98% improvement in reading confidence levels reported.
The impact of ARCh extends beyond just the children, but also the volunteers themselves. Volunteering helped Kay reconnect with her love for teaching and gave her the confidence to consider pursuing a teaching assistant qualification. She also praises the strong support volunteers receive from ARCh. There is a dedicated fieldworker you can contact for advice, initial training, recall training six months in, coffee mornings, and book exchanges. She encourages others to volunteer as “it is incredibly rewarding and opens your eyes to a world of a child”.
Would you like to inspire a love of reading?
If reading Kay’s story has sparked a desire to volunteer, get in touch with ARCh directly.