Volunteers' Week Showcase - Adult and Family Learning Literacies Project

Our third Volunteers' Week Showcase: Adult and Family Learning Services

Adult and Family Learning run a variety of Literacies Group to support adults with literacy issues. Some adults need extra help within the group and we utilise trained volunteers to help with this.

Renfrewshire’s Adult Literacy Project has relied on volunteers since it began. 

We have group sessions for people to come along to improve their literacy skills, however, some of them need more help then others and that is where the volunteers come in. They will sit with the learner and talk them through the areas they find difficult.  It helps remove the stigma that literacy learners often experience in asking for help. The Volunteer Project has grown in that we run a bespoke training course for volunteers which they do whilst on a placement with our service.       

The volunteers get a real sense of achievement from working together with our learners and helping them improve their literacy which in turn increases their confidence and self-esteem. The volunteers also get to experience interacting with a wide range of people and age groups they may not have otherwise encountered which has opened their minds and expanded their life experience. 

Some of our learners have actually gone on to volunteer with the project themselves. One is facilitating a drop-in group to combat loneliness and two are about to start walking groups for the local community to participate in.    

Find out more: https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/3577/Adult-and-Family-Learning