PASSION FOR LEARNING
Passion for Learning is a caring and inclusive organisation passionate about using fun and imagination to boost children’s confidence and self-esteem. Our volunteers help to provide children with bespoke opportunities and experiences that they need to become competent readers and enthusiastic learners and fulfil their potential both in school and in their futures.
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Our Story
Passion for Learning was founded in 2011 with the intention of recruiting adults from all walks of life who could bring their experiences, enthusiasm and skills to children struggling to read and learn. Many children simply do not have the benefit of the enriching experiences that make learning fun. Limited opportunities and little knowledge of the wonders of the world in which they live mean that too many young people lack ambition and aspiration. Understanding individual children’s motivations and the barriers that they have to overcome to learn and achieve is the starting point for the work that we do. Within the community at large there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of men and women who have the time and the inclination to enrich these children’s lives and open their eyes and doors to a brighter future. They help to introduce children to books that they want to read as well as games and activities that enable them to learn as they play.
In 2011 we started with just one school, six volunteers and 18 children. Our first volunteer meeting was held around one table. Just six years later we have over 130 volunteers working with over 400 children and our meetings have outgrown some of Chester’s larger venues.
What We Do
We recruit people from our schools’ own communities willing and able to give around 3 hours a week to work with the children. Once trained our volunteers work one to one with the same three children every week and for up to a year or even more. Each session and every relationship is unique. In addition to providing exciting books that the child wants to read and use, our sessions draw on the skills and interests of both the volunteer and the child. Whilst one child might be constructing a 3D jigsaw, another might be learning a new game or preparing a collage. The only thing that is common to every single session is the sense of fun and the commitment to giving each child the ‘special time’ that they value so much.
