Are You Reading This?
MO HEARD
Imagine someone in a restaurant who cannot read being asked what they’d like to order. If you can’t read the menu, what do you do? “I’ll have what he’s having” might be the only way out of embarrassment.
For adults who struggle to read, navigating everyday life can be difficult. Being unable to read can be a shameful secret. Life without literacy skills is limiting and distressing. Imagine not being able to read your child a bedtime story or understand the instructions for assembling a flat pack. How do you make sense of signs and directions? How can you follow a recipe on your phone? Think of the consequences of not being able to fill in a form for a job application.
2.4 million adults in England alone cannot read at all or can barely read. This is a shocking statistic for any literate person to hear, and they might find it difficult to conceive of not having this basic skill. Literacy opens the mind to the world, to communication and understanding. Achieving one’s full potential without being able to read is surely an impossibility.
Read Easy is a national charity which provides a confidential reading coaching programme for adults. It is volunteer-led and provides one-to-one assistance. The East Sussex local group serves Rye, Battle, Hastings and St Leonards, as well as Bexhill, Eastbourne and surrounding areas.
Our local group is currently looking for volunteers for its management team to assist with publicity, fundraising and other activities. We particularly need help in seeking out and inviting referrals from agencies, such as Citizens Advice, who may be in touch with people who would like help in learning to read.
Being part of an adult’s reading journey is rewarding and inspiring for all our volunteers, and the work can be transformative. Everyone deserves the chance to achieve their life goals, however small, and being able to read is the foundation for that opportunity.
Anyone interested in Read Easy and our volunteer opportunities can find out more at: readeasy.org.uk/groups/read-easy-east-sussex
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