HELPING READ EASY PRESTON WITH TRAINING AND SERVICES

£1,500 has been contributed to Read Easy Preston, a charity dedicated to assisting adults that have difficulties reading.

David Wilson Homes donated £1,500 to Read Easy Preston, a charity dedicated to helping adults with learning difficulties

Established in March 2021, Read Easy Preston is run entirely by volunteers and provides free, one-to-one training to adults who can’t read but want to learn. Local volunteers are trained to become reading coaches and are paired with adult learners.

The donation from the North West Community Fund scheme has been used to fund the initial training of volunteers to increase the number of volunteers available, provide more in-depth training to the charity’s established reading coaches and purchase reading resources.

Catherine Gallagher, Fundraising Officer at Read Easy Preston, said: “Learning to read isn’t a linear journey – most adults hit bumps along the way – so we provide our coaches with lots of extra resources to accompany the reading books. These range from flashcards, word and letter games, and whiteboards and marker pens, to extra resources such as coloured overlays to help our dyslexic readers.

“When you are unable to read, working, learning, shopping, filling in forms and helping your children with homework all become a struggle. Literacy difficulties are linked to lower levels of confidence, social engagement and life expectancy, higher reoffending rates in the prison system and more dependency on public services.

“Our learner readers are already showing more confidence and greater social skills. They are applying for jobs and driving tests, and are enjoying reading to their children and grandchildren. So, the rewards are great.”

The charity has carried out an incredible service throughout Preston and the surrounding area, and now has a waiting list of adults that are looking to learn how to read. Our donation can help train new reading coaches and limit the wait time for the beneficiaries.

Catherine continued: “We are delighted to receive this donation to help us continue our work teaching local adults to read. Without funding we simply couldn’t operate. Seeing the transformative effect that learning to read has on our local adults, and the volunteers who help them, is a source of great pride.

“We know that everyone is short of time but if anyone in the Preston area can spare any time to join Read Easy Preston we would be delighted to welcome new members to the team!”

Claire Jarvis, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes North West, said: “The work Read Easy Preston carries out to enrich the lives of adults by teaching them how to read is admirable, as it provides much-needed support for the charity’s beneficiaries in many walks of life.”

For more information on how to support the charity, visit the website at Read Easy Preston.