Is your organisation looking for a volunteering opportunity that busy professionals can fit around their working day and makes a direct difference to children facing disadvantage?
2026 is the National Year of Reading – a once-in-a-generation campaign, led by the National Literacy Trust, to shift the nation’s reading culture. Literacy charity Chapter One is a lead delivery partner, and is asking Birmingham businesses whether they could help struggling young readers.
Chapter One’s Online Reading Volunteers Programme pairs employee volunteers with 5- to 8-year-old pupils who need extra reading support, for a weekly 30-minute session delivered online through the charity’s secure, bespoke platform. The sessions help to build both the skill and the will to read.
Following a successful launch in Birmingham in 2024, Chapter One now has a waiting list of schools wanting the programme. The more businesses that get involved, the more of those schools Chapter One can support.
Organisations support one or more teams of 10 volunteers, with training, support and enhanced DBS checks all handled by Chapter One. To find out more, contact Karen Price, Business Development Manager at karen.price@chapterone.org.
