Read Easy Portsmouth, a charity providing free one-to-one reading sessions for adults who struggle with reading, welcomes Portsmouth Aspirations Week. Running from 17-21 January, part of the focus for Portsmouth City Council’s Aspirations Week is for adults to learn new skills, achieve qualifications, progress in their career or get back into work after a period of absence – all things that Read Easy Portsmouth can help with. The week is also an opportunity for those who aspire to volunteer and Read Easy Portsmouth is actively looking for more supporters, particularly to be trained as reading coaches.
It’s estimated that 2.4 million adults in England are unable, or barely able, to read. This can be for a variety of reasons but often people are embarrassed by it and are very good at hiding it. The free service from Read Easy Portsmouth is confidential and non-judgemental. Readers work one-on-one with a trained volunteer reading coach who takes things at the reader’s pace.
Being unable to read not only limits career opportunities but also puts the person at risk, including not being able to understand road signs and read household bills or medical information. Also, with so many services now moving online, not being able to read makes it more difficult to book appointments or access information. Adults who struggle to read are much more likely to experience long term unemployment.
Louise Bullivant, team leader for Read Easy Portsmouth, said; “It’s great that there’s a week dedicated to helping Portsmouth residents to learn new skills and think about what they want their future to look like. We would love to offer our support to any adults who can’t read or struggle with their reading. We know it can be daunting to make that first step, however our service is free, confidential and our coaches are patient and encouraging.
One of our readers told us that we’re helping him to achieve his dreams and goals in life and we’re keen to do the same for others. We’d also love to hear from anyone interested in volunteering with us or fundraising for us. You can find out more information by visiting the Portsmouth group page on readeasy.org.uk or finding us on Facebook @ReadEasyPortsmouth.”
Portsmouth Aspirations Week is a Portsmouth City Council initiative and is one of the ways that they’re supporting the Portsmouth City Vision and is part of their commitment to life-long learning.
