Reading group needs help after Repair Shop man's documentary

Those getting help can have sessions in libraries, as well as online

A charity that helps adults to learn to read said it needed more volunteers to cope with rising demand.

Read Easy, which gives free one-to-one coaching, said more people had been coming forward for help following a recent BBC documentary featuring Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades.

He talked about learning to read at the age of 51.

Helen Beesley, the Gloucestershire charity's adviser for Devon, said those learning worked at "their own pace".

Read Easy, which has volunteers across England, said there were more than two million adults in the UK who are unable to read, or had limited ability.

In the documentary, Jay Blades visited Jacqueline Smith, 63, from Exeter, who has been learning to read over the past six months.

Jacqueline Smith, from Exeter, said she could "read to my granddaughter a bit" as a result of her progress

She said her dyslexia affected her ability at school and she "learnt to memorise everything", with help from her sister, to get by.

She said about her new learning: "I'm getting there. I get stuck on a few sounds, but I can read to my granddaughter a bit. If I get a word wrong, she'll say 'start again, grandmother!'.

"I wished I'd done it earlier when my kids were little."

Those getting help can have sessions in venues such as local libraries and also online, the charity said.

Helen Beesley said the confidential service worked "very much at the reader's own pace, with materials specifically developed to help adults learn to read".

She added that Jay Blades' interest in its work "did a great a job of getting across what a struggle it is, and he's really encouraged people to come forward for help, which is not always that easy to do".