Every adult that wants to learn to read, can!
Many of us have been very fortunate when it comes to reading and as adults, it is certainly something we take for granted. However, many adults are deeply embarrassed and ashamed by the fact that they struggle significantly with reading. They often harbour bad memories of school and would avoid returning to a classroom setting at all costs, where old feelings of failure could potentially be reawakened.
The ‘Skills for Life Survey’ (Dept. BIS, 2011) identified that 2.4 million adults in England alone can barely read or cannot read at all. In Basingstoke and the local area, it is estimated that over 7,000 adults struggle to read and need support to improve their reading skills.
Ginny William-Ellis MBE spent many years as a literacy tutor and was responsible for running the Shannon Trust’s prisoner-to-prisoner reading programme. Through this, she saw how a confidential, individual approach could encourage people to come forward for support and successfully learn to read. Ginny also became aware of the number of adults who struggle with even the most basic level of reading, not just in prisons, but across the population at large. As a result, she realised that there was much more work to do and so in 2010, she founded the very first Read Easy group. Today there are over 100 local groups set up and run by volunteers under the Read Easy banner. Read Easy Basingstoke was set up in July 2019.
Read Easy since then has continued tirelessly to help adults to transform their lives by learning to read and strongly believes that ‘every adult that wants to learn to read, can’. Read Easy groups at a local level achieve this by training volunteers to provide personalised, one-to-one reading coaching that is free and confidential, both in-person and online. Due to an expansion in Management Team members and volunteers, Read Easy Basingstoke wants to help more adults gain greater agency and autonomy over their own lives through better reading skills. If you know someone who could benefit from our services or would like to volunteer, we would love to hear from you.
