ARCh only works with primary schools in Oxfordshire. They provide a volunteer reading and mentoring service designed to build up a child’s self-esteem and improve their literacy skills over the course of a year.

Mentors work with three children, providing two one-to-one sessions per week for each child. The half-hour sessions are designed to give children a positive and enjoyable experience of reading and involve sharing books, games and conversation.

All Reading Mentors hold enhanced DBS disclosure and undertake a comprehensive two-day training programme that covers:

• Safeguarding.
• Building a mentoring relationship.
• The reading process.
• Techniques to increase a child’s reading confidence.
• Exploring a range of children’s books.
• The importance of games.

Cost: £450 per Reading Mentor (£150 per child per year).

About ARCh: ARCh is a literacy charity that has been going since 2008. It currently supports around 800 children in Oxfordshire primary schools and has around 150 trained Reading Mentors. In 2016 ARCh won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.