Bookmark Reading Volunteers directly support children who are at risk of leaving primary school unable to read well. Struggling to read can contribute to poor educational attainment, lower literacy in adulthood and has even been linked to a lower life expectancy. You can help ignite the joy of reading and change a child’s story.

In this volunteer role, you’ll have 30-minute one-to-one reading sessions on 2 days per week. This is across 6 weeks with a child aged between 5 and 11 years old. Each session will involve reading stories and playing literacy games on our secure online platform or face-to-face. You’ll book your reading programme through Bookmark’s Volunteer Hub and select sessions on days and times that work with your commitments.  

Volunteers tell us they find the role flexible, impactful and rewarding. More than 60% also say their own wellbeing has improved because of volunteering with Bookmark!

The role is also set up for you to bring your own personality into the sessions and get to know your reader’s interests. Volunteers report they enjoy providing the child one-to-one attention and being able to introduce a book, comic or poem for the first time that they love! 

Bookmark pays for your DBS checks, provides online training and offers volunteers ongoing support so that you can deliver fantastic and fun reading sessions, enabling all children to discover the joy of reading. 

Bookmark are proud to offer inclusive volunteering and work to deliver a greatly accessible volunteering role. Many of our reading programmes take place online, so there’s no need to travel or access a physical location to volunteer with Bookmark. Our application process and training are all completed online, and we have a helpful team at hand to offer support with technical or access requirements.

Bookmark is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community. We aim to create an environment in which all individuals can make best use of their skills, free from discrimination or harassment, and in which all decisions are based on merit.

To become a Bookmark Reading Volunteer, you should be: 

• 18 and over, and currently living in the UK.
   
• Able to provide enthusiasm, encouragement, empathy and patience.
   
• Free to commit to 30-minute one-to-one reading sessions on 2 days per week, across 6 weeks.
   
• Able to provide two references for your application (for safeguarding reasons).
   
• Prepared with access to a PC, laptop, Chromebook or iPad with a webcam and internet connection, and feel relatively comfortable using technology (for online reading programmes).

We do not currently have partner primary schools offering face-to-face reading sessions in Bradford. However, the majority of our reading programmes are online, so most of our volunteers do not volunteer at a primary school that is local to them. We have lots of university students across the UK who volunteer to read online with a child across England and Wales. This means you can read online with a pupil in a primary school in London, Birmingham, or Manchester, for example! This also allows our volunteer opportunity to be very flexible for students, as it means you can choose from a wider range of reading programmes with sessions that fit around your studies.

We work with over 200 partner primary schools across our network so there is no shortage of children waiting for a volunteer to read with them!