Our Employment Service and Community Involvement Team have recently been working with the Literacy Hubs, based in Charles Dickens Ward, Portsmouth.
Literacy skills are essential to any child’s progression – they are the foundations of good communication, from speech to reading and writing. Some children in the city are falling behind and the Literacy Hubs provide much needed additional support outside the classroom.
The hub, based at the Omega Centre is called ‘The Pompey Pirates’ and is decorated as a pirate ship! Children join the ship as ‘young pirates’ and ‘crew mates’ work with them to help them to enjoy reading and stories. The children work toward writing their own stories and once complete, will be put together as a compilation of short stories. In 2020, they had a book published and sold through Pigeon Books ‘The Adventures of Captain Rogers’.
The lessons are coordinated and run by ex-teachers (‘Captains’!), but the project relies on volunteers. With around 120 children attending, and more on the waiting list (they are also hoping to expand the service to Gosport with additional funding), this voluntary role is essential to keep the project running. We were lucky enough to spend a little time helping out when we visited – it really is a very special place and the children’s enthusiasm and excitement to learn is infectious.