Andrea Johnson, Group Policy Servicing Senior Specialist at our Silver Partner Unum, is in her third year of volunteering with Chapter One. We caught up with Andrea to find out more about her experience of being a Chapter One online reading volunteer.

What motivated you to begin volunteer reading with Chapter One?
This is my third year of volunteering. I started because I had recently left the teaching profession – I was finding I really missed moments like the ones you get when you hear a child read. I was also aware that I have transferable skills which have come in useful when helping a child read. Chapter One gave me the outlet for all of this.

During a session, the world stops and you’re in a little bubble, just you and the child. It’s lovely. And when the ‘lightbulb moments’ happen, when a child recognises a word that they’ve been struggling on, or when, at the end of the year, you reflect on just how far your child has progressed, it’s a magical thing, it really is.

I usually schedule my sessions for Mondays, which are busy days in the office. My laptop and I go and find a room for our session; people always say they know what I’ve been doing because I come back with a smile on my face. It is the highlight of the week for me!

What are the benefits (if any) of volunteer reading with this child for you personally?
I love being able to concentrate on a single child and focus on their progress, I get a real buzz from hearing their confidence with reading grow. You know that schools are stretched where extra support for children with reading is concerned, so to be able to provide reading help to any child is brilliant.

Can you tell us about the Chapter One child you’ve been reading with this year?
I read with a little girl called Sofia, who I’ve seen grow in confidence massively. She has moved up three levels this year, which is a huge jump. She loves working through the flashcards – the unicorn and dog praise buttons make a lot of appearances during them! We also look for stories about animals as Sofia loves telling me about her dog.

I also think that a big part of the experience on both sides are the little chats you have, where you find out about what’s going on in their lives in and out of school – it’s all part of a trust relationship which develops over time. From her initial shyness, Sofia loves to share what’s going on in school with me. She also has definite opinions about how her reading time should go – sometimes there’s quite a bit of negotiation! But her progress has been amazing and I’m so proud of her.

What aspects of the Chapter One Online Reading Volunteers Programme have been most beneficial to your pupil?
The flashcards have worked really well for us this year. We usually try and do a few lists each session, talking about the meaning of the words as we go. I tend to use the whiteboard in conjunction with them, so we can think about building sentences using one or two of the words to help with context. Sofia enjoys this – I encourage building silly sentences!

Have there been any standout moments for you?
When Sofia read the word ‘wheel’ for the first time – and we both ended up singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’! That was fun.

When we started this year, Sofia struggled with confidence – I was reading a page and she was reading it back to me; a special moment was when she read a whole story by herself, with no prompting from me.

What would you say to someone thinking of signing up to volunteer with Chapter One?
That it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do during the working week. It’s fulfilling watching the child you hear read grow in confidence and ability. You get all the training and support you need to work with a child, and you will always feel that the time spent has been worthwhile.

How can companies get involved in Chapter One?

Chapter One’s virtual, time-efficient, flexible model for volunteering will enhance your company’s employee value proposition, whilst fulfilling CSR or social value commitments around education, social mobility and inclusion. Employees can:

- volunteer online directly from their desks with no travel

- make a direct impact on the lives of children from disadvantaged communities

- support local communities across the UK

- improve their own well-being by helping others

- reconnect with your company’s social purpose

If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you! You’ll find out who we currently work with on our partners’ page. You can contact us here or email sarah.taylor@chapterone.org.