Former teacher helping children to read at 91

Diana Iddles, 91, has delivered more than 230 reading sessions from her Wolverhampton front room

A 91-year-old former teacher is helping children develop their literacy skills from her living room - and said it was "a privilege and a gift".

Diana Iddles has five pupils she reads with over an online platform aimed at helping children progress with reading following lockdown.

The volunteering work had filled a "huge hole" in her life after the death of her husband, she said.

"It's made life worth living, I've got some purpose and it's so rewarding."

The Bookmark Reading Charity matches trained volunteers with primary school children struggling with their reading.

It uses technology introduced during the coronavirus pandemic to help tackle a "desperate need" for its services.

The kit allows Mrs Iddles to host sessions from her home in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.

Angie, nine, has been working with the volunteer for over 40 sessions

In an average state school class, eight children leave primary school unable to read well, said the charity.

The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis had disproportionately affected pupils from more disadvantaged communities, added its chief executive Graihagh Crawshaw.

It currently has about 2,000 volunteers working with about 200 schools across the country, but is calling for more people to come forward due to the high demand from schools.

Despite a career as a teacher Mrs Iddles said she had previously only taught three people to read - her younger sister, as well as her own daughter and son.

"So when I considered signing up to the charity I thought, well I've done it three times before, I wonder whether I could do it again?"

"I went to school unable to read because my parents had been told that they must not teach me," she said.

"And I can vividly remember the first bit of reading that I did I decided then and there I was going to be a teacher. I was five," she added.

Bookmark Reading Charity chief executive Graihagh Crawshaw is keen to sign up more volunteers

She first signed up as a volunteer in 2021, and has since delivered more than 230 reading sessions.

There was "such a black hole after my husband died," she said. "I had to try and fill my time with something instead of spending all my time moping."

The children receive the sessions via an online platform over the course of six weeks.

"The first child I helped seemed to enjoy the sessions, and so after the six weeks came to an end I thought I could help another child, and then another child and then another," explained Mrs Iddles.

"It makes me feel I really am doing some good, and it's worth me still being in this world."

One of her pupils, Angie, moved to the UK from Central America three years ago, unable to speak English.

Mrs Iddles received special permission to carry on working with her after the initial six weeks and the pair have now done more than 40 sessions.

The pupil, who attends Langley Primary School in Oldbury, said Mrs Iddles was a "great teacher, I do really like her," adding she gave the lessons "10 out of 10".

The nine-year-old, said they liked to read books about space and the environment together.

"I really do get as much enjoyment out of the sessions as the children, and in some ways more," added Mrs Iddles.

The children receive two half-hour sessions via an online platform each week

The charity does offer face-to-face teaching, but the online element was now about 80% of its work, said Ms Crawshaw, adding there was a "desperate need" for its services from schools across the country.

It was only able to meet about 60% of demand from school partners last autumn "and I would love for next September to feel very different," she said.

Deputy head at the Oldbury school, Cath Waterworth, said for the children on the programme to receive an hour of one-to-one reading each week was "phenomenal".

"It has enabled us to provide what we need which is children building a relationship with the volunteers and having time dedicated to them and nobody else."

Victoria Ash manages to juggle a full-time job with volunteering

Full-time worker Victoria Ash also signed up to work with the charity in 2021.

The 27-year-old associate investment manager from London said she had been "spurred on by Covid" to do voluntary work.

"I was a bit nervous at first as I've not had much experience with children," she explained.

"I don't really think twice now, sometimes I've just come off a work call and running straight into the teaching thing. I don't think about it any more, it just becomes part of the norm."

She said the volunteering work was "something different than just working in a corporate environment".

"It's rewarding to know that doing an hour a week is benefitting a child that they wouldn't potentially get the reading help within the school because they don't have the resources."