We use books to fuel children’s natural love of stories, fire their imaginations, and encourage their appreciation of reading. Our unique home-based service means we are there in person or online, finding the most appropriate books for every child we visit and building a relationship with the whole family. Our projects not only improve literacy and confidence in children, but also increase family wellbeing and bonding through the joy of sharing stories. Our volunteers encourage both parents and children to read for pleasure together from a young age. This kind of tailored support enables us to help prepare children for school and broaden their opportunities in life.
With one in four 11-year-olds leaving primary school unable to read or write properly, we recruit and train home and online reading volunteers to go into some of the most disadvantaged areas in London to help introduce young children (aged 0-11 years) to the pleasure of reading.
Doorstep Library exists to help as many of these vulnerable families as we can. We believe in the power of words to take children places, not just in their imagination, but in their lives. We want to see a world where all children can thrive in homes in which books are celebrated and a love of reading is embraced.
You don't have to have any previous volunteer experience or experience working you children. We ask that you are:
- Able to make a regular weekly commitment during school term time as a Regular Volunteer or to commit to volunteering every 3 weeks if you are a Stand-in Volunteer
- Enjoy spending time with children and believe in education for all
- Have comfortable fluency in English
- Be non-judgemental and respectful of a varity of lifestyles and children's learning
- Be compliant with our safeguarding procedures, complete an Enhanced DBS and Child Barred List check and provide two references
There a lot of literacy projects out there but Doorstep Library is different.
- Our mission is to instil a love of reading for pleasure rather than focusing on purely on attainment. It's not only to improve children's future life chances but to ensure all children are enjoying reading as part of their childhood.
- We go directly into the home, bringing the reading directly to them whether in person or virtually.
- And lastly, we encourage the whole family to get involved in the session and provide additional support for parents as we build relationships with them over time.
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Our Opportunities
We need KCL students who have a passion for reading to join our volunteer team and support the number of families in London we have on our books waiting to be paired with a Reading Volunteer.
We need KCL students with a passion for reading to join our volunteer team and support the number of families, over Zoom, who we have on our books waiting to be paired with a Reading Volunteer.
