AN EDUCATION ambassador is appealing for more volunteers to help children struggling with literacy across Dorset.

Rosie Cunningham, Schoolreaders ambassador for Dorset, said she is concerned about the damage left by the Covid-19 pandemic on children's literacy skills.

The charity said every week the charity provides 1,200 volunteers for one-on-one reading support session to over 12,000 children across the UK.

She said: "It's concerning our primary school children struggling with literacy and we need help to find volunteers in Dorset.

"One in four children leave primary school unable to read well and Covid-19 lockdown has made the situation worse. Over three terms, 14 per cent of schools estimated that on average their pupils made six months additional progress in reading as a result of the Schoolreaders intervention.

"Schoolreaders is desperate for volunteers in Dorset, particularly in the Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth areas.

"We have a large number of primary schools signed up and need to recruit volunteers to visit those schools. There are 191 primary schools in Dorset of which 36 per cent have signed up for Schoolreaders and Dorset currently has 135 volunteers."

The charity helps improves childhood literacy in the UK by placing volunteers in primary schools.

For more information, visit: www.schoolreaders.org