'I don’t give up on any child'

'I don’t give up on any child.’ Elisa is thinking about one of the children she’s worked with as a Learn to Love to Read volunteer.

A boy in year one, he was struggling with reading when Learn to Love to Read, and Elisa, got involved.

Lockdown hit, and added to the chances of the boy falling even further behind. Although Learn to Love to Read adapted its work so volunteering could continue online, Elisa began to fear that she wasn’t ‘making any progress’.

But rather than give up, she doubled down, reading with the boy not the usual once or twice a week, but every single day, using different materials, an online library, flashcards, making 3-letter words on a white board, getting help from the "wizards" on BBC Bitesize. A mixture of resources to keep the session fun and enjoyable.

And slowly they started to make progress. ‘I start to see it going in, you can see progress. A lot of letters he can sound out now.’

‘He’s still struggling but things are going in.

‘I find it very rewarding: I’m really glad I chose this volunteering.’