5 December 2018
By Ginny Lunn, Beanstalk CEO
Today marks International Volunteer Day, which this year focuses on local community volunteers and the contribution they make building resilient communities.
Our trained volunteers support children in primary schools and early years settings with reading every week. They are an essential and valued part of our work at Beanstalk to address the literacy crisis in the UK and without them we simply couldn’t reach the number of children we do.
We want to say thank you to each and every one of them for their continued to commitment.
Our reading helpers come from all walks of life with their own individual reasons for volunteering. As a charity we have been supporting children for over 45 years, so more frequently we hear from people motivated to volunteer with us after having had their life positively impacted by a volunteer at some point.
One reading helper told us, “Mrs Goddard heavily impacted my reading ability, which has motivated me to become a reading helper today. Her impact was so significant I still remember her over 10 years later.”
This motivation to ‘give back’ and continue a pattern of change is incredibly powerful and can help ensure communities are stronger and more resilient in the future.
But we need more volunteers to help initiate this change, who can help transform lives by becoming a Beanstalk reading helper in their own communities.
If you can help, please fill out an online application form or call 0845 450 0307 to speak to our support team.