Working with local partners to accelerate change

With 28% of children leaving primary school unable to read at the expected standard, Coventry has a high need for additional literacy support.

To expand their existing partnerships with local schools, Coventry Building Society reached out to us to deliver weekly, one-to-one reading for children at risk of falling behind. In addition to supporting schools with our reading programme, they also wanted to engage their teams with a meaningful and high-impact volunteering experience that would benefit both volunteers and young readers.

At the start of 2022, we launched our partnership, which saw funding from Coventry Building Society onboard five schools to our programme. Throughout the year, Bookmark and Coventry Building Society volunteers made an incredible impact, delivering online reading support to 44 children to improve their reading skills, confidence and enjoyment. We also delivered The Story Corner magazines and Bookmark Boxes for Ukraine for hundreds of children at the schools to enjoy.

Across 56 programmes, delivered by a mix of Bookmark and Coventry Building Society volunteers, 287 hours of extra reading time was delivered by 66 volunteers last year alone. The impact of this support was evident not just in the improving attainment, but in the conversations we had with children. One child even depicted her reading sessions as her favourite place to read!

In 2022/23, Bookmark and Coventry Building Society are aiming to reach even more local children by bringing our programme to a sixth school, while continuing to support existing partner schools and their pupils.

Leanne Stanley, Senior Community Specialist at Coventry Building Society, said: “In a world of hybrid working, Bookmark gave us the solution to offer quality volunteering opportunities for our colleagues. Volunteering via an online platform has meant that colleagues from across the organisation have been able to get involved with our partnered schools in Coventry, regardless of their location.”

“287 hours of extra reading time was delivered by 66 volunteers last year alone”