About 4,500 adults in Wellington and Taunton can’t read properly. Everyday life is much harder for them than the rest of us.

A small charity called Read Easy is just celebrating its fifth year working in these two towns and has helped some of these adults learn to cope with the digital age.

Volunteers work with people like this who struggle with everyday reading on a confidential, one-to-one basis.

But the local team is now in desperate need of new volunteers not just to work as coaches but as part of the management team which organises the project.

Read Easy UK is a fast-growing national charity which supports 37 affiliated groups across the country and is increasing all the time.

The stark reality is that 2.4 million adults in the UK cannot read while another 2.5 million struggle.

Acting team leader for the Taunton and Wellington group, Sheena Page, said: "On a practical level this means that even carrying out everyday tasks can be challenging, if not impossible.

"Many of our new readers have never been to the doctor because they are too embarrassed to have to read and fill in forms. Being unable to read and write is often associated with depression, isolation and even higher mortality.

"Sadly statutory provision by local authority adult education does not look likely to improve, with funding increasingly cut and very little opportunity for those at very early levels of reading."

Sheena points out that even where classes are available it is often extremely challenging for a potential reader to come forward for help in a classroom environment and again have to fill in forms and explain their situation. People who cannot read are often too nervous to join adult learning groups.

This is the motivation behind the Read Easy model, to provide free, accessible, confidential one-to-one coaching.

Normally coaching is done in two half-hour sessions a week in a neutral meeting place and until lockdowns was always face to face. Since the pandemic Read Easy has successfully managed to carry on some coaching online and will carry on doing so for those it suits.

But the team behind these one-to-one sessions needs a management team to cope with the necessary secretarial work, fundraising, networking with organisations which can refer possible clients, someone who understands data protection, literacy and dyslexia experts, and co-ordinators who work with the readers and their coaches.

The Taunton and Wellington group would like to hear from people who want to become part of what can be a life-changing situation and are willing to spend a few hours a week helping out.

Contact Sheena Page at [email protected] or on 07875 787886, or Alison Weekes at [email protected] or on 01823 681093.

They added: "Please come and meet us at a meeting to celebrate our fifth year of operating in Taunton and Wellington in the spring. We would love to meet you, just get in touch."