At Chapter One, we want to create a world where all children have the literacy skills needed to thrive. That’s why we provide one-to-one reading support at the time they need it most. But right now, too many are missing out.

Across the UK, schools are asking for more one-to-one reading support than there are volunteers to provide it. That means children who would benefit from dedicated, sustained support are not getting it - putting them at greater risk of falling behind.

This Volunteers' Week 2026, we've joined forces with Bookmark Reading Charity, Coram Beanstalk and Schoolreaders as part of The Literacy Link action network, to shine a light on the scale of the impact volunteers are already making - and the urgent need for more people to join them.

Last academic year, across the four Literacy Link charities, 9,832 trained volunteers delivered 464,895 hours of reading support, reaching 46,907 children across 2,566 primary schools.

That is thousands of dedicated people giving their time, week in, week out, to children who need them. But there are still thousands more children waiting - and with school budgets too stretched to hire additional support, the gap is not closing.

With 1 in 4 children leaving primary school unable to read well, and only 10% of pupils who fall behind at primary school going on to pass GCSE English and Maths, the stakes could not be higher. Early, one-to-one support is not a nice to have. It is essential.

At Chapter One, our flagship Online Reading Volunteers Programme connects trained corporate volunteers with children aged 5 to 8 for weekly 30-minute one-to-one reading sessions, delivered via laptop from the volunteer's workplace. These sustained, personalised relationships can be transformational.

When a child has the undivided attention of a trusted adult, week after week, something shifts. Reading stops being something they dread and starts being something they look forward to.

For many of the children we work with, that weekly session is the only time they receive dedicated, one-to-one reading time with an adult. The impact goes far beyond reading ability.

The data tells one story. The children tell another. When six-year-old Ayden* started Year 1 at Meadow Bank Community School in Bradford, reading felt impossible. He had social, emotional and mental health needs that made it particularly hard. He would keep his book closed, or look at it upside down.

His teacher enrolled him in our Online Reading Volunteers Programme, where he was paired with Sharon Cassidy, a corporate volunteer from Turner & Townsend. With the support of both his teacher and his volunteer, Ayden flourished. He began putting his hand up to read to the whole class. When asked how reading makes him feel, he chose a 'sunshine' sticker and said: "I feel like an angel."

*Ayden is not the child's real name.

The benefits of volunteering flow in both directions. When we surveyed our volunteers at the end of 2024–25, 96% said they would recommend volunteering with Chapter One to a friend. And across the four Literacy Link charities, around 80% of volunteers reported a greater sense of purpose or life satisfaction.

These figures are being released during the National Year of Reading, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift our national reading culture. There is a national drive to recruit 100,000 volunteers - and Chapter One has committed to recruiting 1,000 additional online reading volunteers as a lead delivery partner.

At Chapter One, our programme is designed specifically for corporate volunteers. Sessions take place during the working day, online, from the volunteer's workplace - just 30 minutes a week throughout the school year. We provide full training and ongoing support, and partners receive real-time reporting and end-of-year impact data.

If your organisation is looking for a way to make a meaningful, measurable difference this National Year of Reading, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in touch with Karen Price, our Business Development Manager, at karen.price@chapterone.org.

Chapter One works with Bookmark Reading Charity, Coram Beanstalk and Schoolreaders as part of The Literacy Link, an active network of 47 organisations working to improve collaboration and impact for charities supporting children's reading.