{"id":2649,"date":"2016-03-18T09:42:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T09:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodvale.com\/?p=2649"},"modified":"2020-12-21T08:24:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T08:24:44","slug":"reading-made-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/reading-made-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading made easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the UK about one adult in six\u00a0 struggles with reading. But it\u2019s never too late to learn.
\nMargery Hookings<\/strong> has been to meet Vee Driscoll<\/strong> from Read Easy,<\/strong> Bridport\u2019s free community-based adult literacy scheme.<\/h4>\n

About 25 years ago in Bridport, a friend of mine and her date were enjoying an ice lolly when she asked him to tell her the joke on the stick.
\nIn those days, finishing a lolly and reading out the joke revealed on the stick was a traditional part of our lives.
\nTo her amazement, he refused to do it. It wasn\u2019t because he didn\u2019t want to. It was because he couldn\u2019t.
\nA quarter of a century on from my friend\u2019s scenario, there are still people who, for various reasons, can\u2019t read.
\n\u201cThey could have undiagnosed or unsupported dyslexia or a learning difficulty nobody has identified,\u201d says Vee Driscoll, co-ordinator for Read Easy Bridport.
\n\u201cOr they might have muddled through school and done the best they can. They could be from other countries, living and working here, speaking English but unable to read it. It might be a medical reason, such as hearing loss in childhood or perhaps a stroke.
\n\u201cIf you have poor reading skills it can be really isolating. When we enrol a reader we ask them a set of questions about how not being able to read has impacted on their life and, invariably, it will have had a negative effect.\u201d
\nAbout one adult in six in the UK today struggles with reading. But it\u2019s never too late to learn. Vee says that given the right support, anybody can learn to read quite quickly and easily if they want to\u2014and it doesn\u2019t mean going back to class.
\nRead Easy is a free, community-based adult literacy scheme set up in Dorset in 2010 by Ginny Williams-Ellis. It now operates across Dorset and East Devon as well as places further afield.
\nSays Vee: \u201cRead Easy provides all those who want to learn to read with a volunteer to help them, a special book to teach them and a comfortable place to meet at a time to suit them both. It\u2019s a free service and is suitable for any adult who either can\u2019t read or who lacks confidence with reading. It\u2019s a flexible, confidential, one-to-one scheme, so that you can learn quietly and comfortably at your own pace.
\n\u201cAfter our readers have completed the Read Easy course, they tell us they can text their friends more easily or read their post, or understand the notes that come back in their children\u2019s school bag. They say they will have a go at reading something rather than panic.
\n\u201cThings like shopping or going to a restaurant\u2014they can choose what they want rather than saying they\u2019ll have what the other person is having.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s all the little things that we take for granted. Relying on a family member to read things for you can sometimes cause problems and anxieties in the family unit. Being able to read gives people confidence, a belief in themselves and can really build up someone\u2019s self-esteem.\u201d
\nThe key to Read Easy\u2019s success is its simplicity.
\nSays Vee: \u201cWe train volunteers to prepare them for their role as a one-to-one coach and then pair them up with someone who wants to learn to read. Our reading pairs meet at least twice a week at an approved convenient local venue – where they have privacy to work without being overlooked, but where there is always someone else on the premises.\u201d
\nTogether, the pair works through the Yes We Can Read manual, with sessions lasting no more than half-an-hour at a time. In this way, working one-to-one at their own pace, new readers discover, step by step, how to build up the phonic sounds and blend them together to make whole words, slowly gaining confidence as they progress through the book.
\nSome adults learn at a faster rate than others. Vee says there are no hard and fast rules but on average the book can be completed in about nine to 12 months. Then, if they wish, readers can choose to progress to the Moving Ahead programme, again meeting up with a trained volunteer once a week for a 45-60 minute session. The Moving Ahead programme offers further supported reading alongside extra help with writing, spelling, form-filling or comprehension tasks as required.
\nEncouraging adults to improve their reading skills is a labour of love for Vee, who has spent a lifetime teaching English language and literacy in various locations including Brazil and Guernsey and in prisons and schools.
\n\u201cFor me, it\u2019s important that everyone has the opportunity to realise their potential,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve met some lovely people along the way and I feel it\u2019s important to maintain contact with ordinary people of all ages, especially those who are struggling in their lives.
\n\u201cI dread the day when my world shrinks and I lose that sort of contact, so volunteering for Read Easy helps to keep my feet firmly on the ground and that\u2019s what drives me. Also, I want to make a bit of a difference.\u201d
\nRead Easy relies on funding from various sources, mostly from charitable organisations.
\n\u201cWe have good funding at the moment which will enable us to enrol more readers,\u201d Vee says, \u201cand we have an excellent team of volunteer coaches who are trained and ready to help.\u00a0 But we\u2019re constantly trying to find new ways of reaching people who might benefit from the help we offer because they often stay hidden; people don\u2019t like to come forward and admit that reading is a problem. We say, don\u2019t worry, get in touch, because Read Easy can help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the UK about one adult in six\u00a0 struggles with reading. But it\u2019s never too late to learn. Margery Hookings has been to meet Vee Driscoll from Read Easy, Bridport\u2019s free community-based adult literacy scheme. About 25 years ago in Bridport, a friend of mine and her date were enjoying an ice lolly when she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-2649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-history-community","category-uncategorized","tag-margery-hookings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5531,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649\/revisions\/5531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}