There are many children in Oxfordshire who have trouble reading.

Local charity ARCh (Assisted Reading for Children) was set up in 2008 to help such children and now has around 240 inspirational reading helpers. But more are needed.

An ARCh volunteer is assigned to a local primary school which they visit twice a week for an hour and a half during the school day. The school selects three children for each volunteer to work with. The children are chosen for a variety of reasons; their reading ability may be below expected, they may lack confidence, may not share reading at home, English may be an additional language for them, or it might be that they just need some individual attention.

Whatever the reasons, all children benefit tremendously from ARCh’s continuing support throughout the entire year. The charity supplies volunteers with books and games to use with the children; these are carefully chosen with the individual children’s interests and abilities in mind, to provide just the right material to inspire even the most reluctant readers.

Volunteers get to know their children well over the weeks and months, chatting with them and building supportive, mentoring relationships. They become special friends in school.

The experience is a positive one for volunteers too. An ARCh volunteer said: “This last year of volunteering has been such a rich experience for me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It has been a real privilege to watch my three pupils grow and develop.”

Schools report wonderful results from ARCh’s work; last year 99% of pupils displayed improved confidence in reading, while 95% showed improved attitude towards reading.

One class teacher said: “Annie has had a significant positive impact on this little girl's outlook on reading. Annie has fostered a love of books with this child to the point of where, every spare second of the school day, this little girl can be found reading!”

ARCh is appealing for more volunteers to join the charity, particularly in Oxford, Thame, Bicester, Banbury and Carterton. The organisation provides initial and ongoing training and support. For more details please visit the website www.archoxfordshire.org.uk or telephone the ARCh office on 01869 320380.