Arena staff are to help primary school children in Peterborough with their reading to help them fulfil their potential.
Staff at global events group Arena will volunteer their time and tutor young readers at schools in Peterborough.
Ten employees from across the UK will read remotely with local schoolchildren for 30 minutes a week via the TutorMate platform over the course of the current academic year.
Many disadvantaged children don’t regularly read with adults in their homes, and schools were already struggling before the pandemic to find the numbers of reading volunteers they needed to support the efforts of overstretched teachers.
Ross Robertson, Managing Director of Arena Structures, based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, is one of the 10 Arena colleagues who will be tutoring the 5 to 7-year-olds in Peterborough schools.
He said: “We’re delighted to be working with TutorMate to help these children with their reading.
“Our Structures division is located very near to these schools and it’s important for us to give back to the local community. I’m proud of how many colleagues have stepped forward to volunteer their time.
“Reading is an essential tool for the development of young children and will help them fulfil their future potential.”
TutorMate, which supports over 2,000 struggling young readers in deprived areas of the UK, is an online, remote reading support solution for 5-7-year-olds who are struggling with reading. It is the core programme of Innovations for Learning (IfL), a UK registered charity, established in the UK in 2018, which believes in the power of literacy to transform lives.
Emma Bell, Executive Director of IfL, said: “We are delighted that Arena has agreed to support us this year.
“The need for TutorMate is greater than ever as the cost-of-living pressures on families compound the problems of the pandemic. Those who struggle with reading are falling even further behind and will benefit enormously from this additional reading practice with their own personal 1:1 reading volunteer”
