Register your interest now
Bookmark Reading Charity
We are on a mission to help children in London learn to read. On average, 8 children in a class leave primary school every year unable to read well, disproportionately effecting children growing up in poverty. By joining Bookmark, you can help a local child read better, feel more confident and start to love books! Develop your leadership skills this term, during flexible volunteering sessions…
Description

Each year, eight children in an average class will leave primary school unable to read well. These children will often struggle in school, and beyond. Many children have fallen even further behind with their reading after the devastating impact of Covid-19.  
 
 As a Bookmark volunteer, you could do something incredible and change a child’s story.  
 
You’ll help a 5-10 year-old learn to read, developing their skills and confidence. You will read together, play games, and see your reader progress, either through our secure online platform or in person at a local school. 
 
Our programme involves 30-minute sessions with the same child, twice a week, for six weeks. You book your programme through the Bookmark app and select sessions at times that work with your schedule.  

 

If you are interested in applying, please head to our website here: https://www.bookmarkreading.org/volunteer
 

Duties
  • Help children who struggle with their reading gain essential skills at a crucial age. This will prepare them to move up the school, ready to tackle new challenges without falling further behind. Three quarters of our volunteers noticed their reader become more confident with their reading. 

  • Make learning to read fun by bringing your own personality into the sessions and getting to know your reader’s interests. It’s amazing when you introduce a book, comic or poem for the first time that they love! 90% of teachers said that pupils enjoy reading more after our programme. 

  • Give a child one-to-one attention and be a role model. Teachers have told us that children really benefit from this dedicated time and found it boosted their self-esteem and confidence as well as their reading. You can read more about this in our Impact Report. 

Helping a child with their reading is also really fun and rewarding. Over 60% of our volunteers said their own wellbeing had improved because of volunteering with Bookmark. 

Training
After applying, you will complete online training to help you feel confident about volunteering. There is also lots of ongoing support from our Volunteers Team as well as various extra resources.

Time commitment

Our volunteering is split into 6-week programmes, each programme consisting of 12 half-hour sessions, which happen twice a week at the same times each week.

UCL Departments

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.