New project targets adult readers (From Oxford Mail)

New project targets adult readers

7:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News

A NEW adult literacy project is to be set up in one of Oxford’s most deprived areas.

Read Easy UK is looking to establish new groups in the city, with Blackbird Leys its first target.

According to the Oxfordshire Learning Partnership about one in four adults on the estate have poor literacy and almost one in three have poor numeracy.

The scheme, which needs to be run by a local management committee, trains local volunteers as coaches.

They are then paired up with people who struggle to read.

Coaches and new readers meet for 30 minutes each session, a couple of times a week, and work together at their own pace through a special reading manual.

The manual is designed to make it easy for anyone to teach someone else to read and takes about six months to a year to complete.

Former prison literacy tutor Ginny Williams-Ellis runs Read Easy UK, which is a not-for-profit organisation. She said: “Setting up the group should not be complicated, if there is enough local support in Blackbird Leys.

“We have been amazed by the progress people have made once they have settled down quietly and worked one-to-one with their own reading coaches.

“Learning to read can be truly life-changing.”

Anyone interested in setting up a new group can contact Mrs Williams-Ellis on 01386 700883 or by email at ginny@readeasy.org.uk

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