Read Easy with Telford Centre’s Free Book Swap Stop
To celebrate the 1st year anniversary of the Book Swap Stop at Telford Centre, the team have partnered up with Read Easy Telford and Shropshire East to provide free book marks to visitors, and to help raise awareness of the reading support services available via the local charity.
Customers can pop along to the Book Swap Stop at Telford Centre to swap their pre read books for free and collect their free book mark.
In partnership with the Swap Stop, Read Easy provides free reading support for adults who would like to learn to read in a confidential and safe environment.
It is recognised that there are 2.4 million adults in England alone, over 7% of the working age population, who can barely read or cannot read at all. Read Easy UK’s trained team of volunteer coaches, have helped 1500+ adults learn to read since the charity was established in 2011.
Coaching is provided through a highly effective, phonics-based reading programme called Turning Pages, published by the charity Shannon Trust. An adult reading journey usually takes two years as a minimum and on completion, learners will have acquired the skills they need to move on to further reading and learning. The Turning Pages programme also includes 45 graded reading books, written especially for adults.
Although coaching is completely free and confidential for the Reader, and volunteers give their time freely, it costs the group around £300 to set up each reading pair. This covers books, manuals, resources, volunteer expenses, and online training. Read Easy Telford and Shropshire East are a self-funded group, relying entirely on grants, donations, and community fundraising events to continue offering this life-changing support.
Teresa, a volunteer Reading Coach, shared her experience:
“This has by far been the most rewarding role I've done. My reader was referred by the Job Centre and has progressed so much—from lacking confidence to being excited about earning his certificate and showing it to his job coach. He’s never missed a session, always turns up early, and works so hard. Seeing his face light up when we read the word ‘congratulations’ together was a real highlight. It reminded him of his mum and a Cliff Richard song she loved. It’s these moments that show just how powerful reading can be.”
Anyone who would like to help support the Easy Read charity can make a donation at the Swap Stop, with all proceeds raised helping to fund the resources used across the reading programme.
Katie Broome, Marketing Manager at Telford Centre said: “We are very pleased to partner up with Read Easy Telford and Shropshire East and to help raise awareness of the fantastic services they have available. Book reading is a fantastic form of escapism, and we have seen the popularity of the Book Swap Stop here grow significantly over the past year. We’re very happy to support Ready Easy in encouraging adults who may be struggling with their reading to access the services available and to help them unlock the magic of reading”.
