“One of the Best Experiences of my Life:” Time to Read’s Impact in 2022

Wednesday, December 14th, 2022

As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and all the disruption to education that entailed, it is only now we can appreciate the true impact of the past two years. In Ireland, school children lost a total of 141 days of face-to-face instruction during the 2019/2020 academic year. This learning loss has been felt most keenly by those in marginalized and disadvantaged communities, and compensating for this loss will require measures that go beyond the pre-existing approaches adopted by schools.

This is a crucial time for children to recover from not only the impact on their education and literacy, but on their overall socialisation and well-being. The support of Ireland’s business community is needed now more than ever to achieve our mission: to help children grow their confidence, competence, and enthusiasm for reading with the help of volunteers who share their time, energy and passion for books.

After two years of online sessions due to Covid, we are delighted to be back in schools reading in person as part of our Time to Read programme. Time to Read is a high-impact literacy programme that supports children, aged seven- to eight-years-old, who struggle with reading. Since its pilot launch in 2010, over 3,600 children and 3,200 volunteers have participated in the Time to Read programme, and we are proud to announce we now have thirty-three partnerships up and running across Ireland. Currently, many of these partners are either choosing and reading books or perhaps planning workplace and library visits, with the shared goal of improving child literacy – and the positive impact of their contribution to the programme is undeniable.

The Impact of Time to Read

In our most recent evaluation report,  teachers and company volunteers were each asked to evaluate how the programme performed with regards to its objectives. Overall, 89% of teachers said they noticed a significant impact of the programme on individual children. One teacher described the positive impact Time to Read had on one of their students:

“One child was paired up with a higher ability boy to begin the programme as he was less confident in his own ability. Since doing Time to Read, he confidently offers to read aloud in class. Getting to experience the workplace visit was amazing for him too as he wouldn’t have many opportunities like this.”

Similarly, volunteers participating in the programme also noticed the positive influence on pupils:

“The programme really improved the children’s confidence and fluency in their reading… By chatting to the children about the books, we could also see them learn what kind of books they liked and discover more about themselves. Most of all it was great to see the children’s enjoyment of reading improve as the weeks went on”.

The  Report highlighted the positive impact Time to Read had, not only on students and teachers, but volunteers and companies as well. Companies found the programme provided a feel-good factor (96%), an opportunity to give back to the local community (79%), to support education locally (67%), and to expand the accessibility of their volunteering opportunities (63%).

Additionally, many volunteers also noticed improvements in their own communication (40%), self-awareness (40%) and interpersonal skills (37%). One volunteer, who described themselves as “normally a bit on the shyer side with strangers”, claimed “this program helped [them] to better [their] approach with new people of all ages”. According to another volunteer, Time to Read was “such an uplifting part of the week”; and yet another declared the programme “one of the best experiences of my life”.

If you want a great way to connect with your community, make new connections and have a life-long impact on a child’s love of reading, please get in contact.