The smell of school dinner - it just hits you,” remembers Jo Valentine of her first day working for Volunteer Reading Help (VRH) at Horsenden, a large, multi-cultural primary school in the London borough of Ealing. We’re sitting in what is wryly described as the “head’s hut”, where Ms Valentine is describing her work for this nationwide charity; as with many schools, Horsenden’s staff and pupils have outgrown its original buildings .

When VRH started in 1973, its aim was to support primary school children who had difficulties reading. It helped 21 that first year; 28 years later, Ms Valentine is one of 2,500 volunteers across 47 counties, including 12 London boroughs, helping 8,000 children - with a target of 10,000 by 2003.

Ten thousand may seem like a mammoth shoal of struggling readers but it’s just a drop in the ocean: the national skills task force recently found that one in five adults in England could not find a plumber in Yellow Pages because their literacy skills were below those of an 11-year-old.

Can VRH make a difference? Its own recent survey says it can. It found that 77 per cent of the children it supported “made significant or outstanding improvements” in reading, 82 per cent had “more confidence” and 70 per cent had “more motivation” to read. VRH’s own figures admittedly, but Ros Hancell, Horsenden’s deputy head, is an enthusiastic supporter. “It’s been wonderful. The volunteers meld in beautifully with the staff here. There’s a seamless join between what they’re doing and what we’re doing.”

Each VRH branch recruits local volunteers, who usually see three children, one to one, twice a week for 30 minutes each session, over the course of a year. They are overwhelmingly white, and most are middle-class, middle-aged women, a balance VRH national director Heather Brandon is keen to change. She would like to increase the cultural diversity of volunteers to match more closely the mix of the children, 24 per cent of whom are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

To help address this, the organisation is piloting a “social diversity programme” in which London regional manager Deepa Korea is trying to match volunteers to local ethnic profiles. But, as Ms Hancell says, “it’s not just a racial thing - we need to recruit more men and younger people”.

Volunteers get six hours’ training over three weeks in sessions led by VRH branch managers. They come back for a refresher session after a term so they can discuss problems and give feedback on the schools they’re in and the pupils they’re working with.

In the initial sessions, they work in pairs, and through exercises, role-play and discussion, look at a variety of approaches to reading, how to decipher texts, methods of learning, and how learning to read must feel to a struggling child. But Ealing branch organiser Estelle Jacobs stresses that volunteers do not teach children to read; they provide “relaxed adult help for children who lack confidence reading”.

Suzanne Bailey is deputy head of London Fields primary school in the London borough of Hackney, where, at the last count, 40 languages were spoken. Her advice on appealing to the British Asian and black population is to display photographs of volunteers from these communities in VRH literature so they feel included.

But for Iris Howe, a black VRH volunteer at the school, it’s about an adult giving a child undivided attention. She’s a volunteer because she wants to work with special needs children when her own four reach secondary school. “It’s spending time with them one to one that counts. They tell you what they’ve done the day before or if they’ve gone somewhere interesting. They get excited and act it out for you. You have to love children and not mind committing yourself in your spare time. It’s so rewarding seeing a child progress.”

The books that snare the attention of reluctant readers and transform them into confident broadcasters tend to be big, bright and interactive. “Children love paper engineering,” says Ms Howe. “Anything that pops up, with pockets or holes, is popular. Games within books are a fantastic way of engaging children’s attention.”

Do sensitive toes have to avoid being trodden on? Not at all, says Tania Borsig, key stage 1 co-ordinator and Year 1 teacher at Horsenden, who selects which pupils should see Ms Valentine and Nimi Taylor, the other volunteer. Rather than feel embarrassed about being singled out, the children relish it. “So many pupils have extra help. The children just tell their friends that Jo helps them with their reading and writing. The rest of the class would love to go out, too.”

Back in the “head’s hut”, seven-year-old Kishaanth Nesakumar and eight-year-old Kother Mahmoud sidle in shyly. Both nod their heads when asked if they enjoy their reading sessions, but blossom when asked about their favourite books. Kishaanth says: “I read more books at home - long story books, books on football.” He adds proudly: “I read on my own before bed.”

If Kishaanth is a football fan, Kother favours Harry Potter. She likes Hermione best. Her other favourite fictional heroine? Barbie. Well, Hermione may work magic but who can beat a 10-inch plastic doll with a predilection for pink? You can transform a little girl’s reading but you can’t transform her taste.

For more information on Volunteer Reading Help, tel: 020 7404 6204