Become a Reading Volunteer

ESCAL (Every Sheffield Child Articulate and Literate) Volunteering is part of the Virtual School for Children Looked After within Sheffield City Council. As part of our commitment to the education of Children Looked After, we recruit Reading Volunteers to offer one to one support in literacy, helping to make a positive impact on the confidence and self-esteem of our children in care.

Following on from the pandemic, we are pleased to share that we again have active Reading Volunteers supporting our children in school on a one-to-one basis: 76 incredible volunteers are currently active throughout the city, making a huge impact on over 260 children and young people. Just an hour per week makes so much difference to our young people!

Our children have shared some lovely feedback about their time with Reading Volunteers, with comments such as “you make it seem easier” and “I can understand the story better”, sentiments commonly echoed by the students.

This activity is useful for children’s education and wellbeing and volunteers find this very rewarding. “I can help children to stop feeling scared about reading being hard, and instead have fun as they notice that every day they are getting better and better,” says Glenn Mead, ESCAL Reading Volunteer at Anns Grove Primary School.

There remains a substantial number of schools in the city which would still benefit from support, especially in specific areas of Sheffield including S5, S13, S9 and S36. If you are interested in becoming a Reading Volunteer or know any friends or family who would like to support, we would love to hear from you! You will be invited to a central training session, linked up with a local school and have a free enhanced DBS check in preparation of your volunteering.

Bear in mind:

If you want to become a Reading Volunteer, you should consider some points:

• You must be over 18 years old to volunteerhowever, there is no maximum age!

• You must be able to speak and read English to support a child in school

• You must commit to at least an hour of your time a week to a local school

• We ask that you support a school for a minimum of 10 weeks for the commitment to children you are supporting

• All volunteers will require a specific DBS check - this is free of charge and will be carried out during a central, face to face training session

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