After moving to working part time, I wanted to spend time helping others. I already had some involvement in education and had seen how many adults and children are unable to read in Nottingham.

Read Easy was just in the process of being set up by a former colleague. This proved a perfect opportunity for me to not only train to become a coach, but also to join the founding team to help establish Read Easy Nottingham in the area. I have not looked back.

At first, I was anxious about whether I would be able to teach. I had never done anything like this before and I had no idea whether I would be able to help someone else. I need not have worried. The training I received from Read Easy UK gave me the confidence to ‘give it a go’. I was paired up with Joanne, a mother of 2 primary school children. Joanne really wanted to be able to read with her children and to help them with their schoolwork. We were both learning at the same time, me to teach and she, to improve her reading.

All our learning has had to be online due to COVID. We have been using Zoom, and again, we had to learn together.

It has been a real joy to work with Joanne. We were both nervous and honest with each other about having to learn together about our new roles. Joanna has not only made great progress but we have all had some real laughs along the way. We haven’t always got things right first time, but it has been a really rewarding experience.