ARCh honours volunteers with over 100 years of combined service to children's literacy

ARCh has over 200 volunteers working across Oxfordshire and this July, they celebrated the longstanding service of some of its volunteers, who between them have dedicated over 100 years of service to the charity across Bicester, Kidlington and Oxford. The awards were presented by Deputy Lieutenant Robert Buckeldee in an afternoon of celebrations for volunteers across the organisation.

“Our annual summer meeting celebrates the end of the academic year, and is a chance for our volunteers to look back and recognise the impact that they have had,” said Emma Orton, Recruitment Officer for ARCh. “Our volunteers give so much to the children they support and so it’s lovely for us to be able to recognise their amazing work and celebrate it.”

The need for extra reading support in schools across Oxfordshire has increased dramatically since the pandemic, and ARCh is currently targeting recruiting 150 more volunteers over 2024. Emma said “We’ve got many schools on our waiting list asking us for more volunteers- if you’ve ever thought about volunteering, we’d love to hear from you to help us support as many children as we can.” ARCh also works with organisations and businesses who give staff volunteering time. If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering with ARCh, visit the website: archoxfordshire.org.uk/ or email [email protected] for more information.