As part of the Rochdale Better Reading Partnership initiative launched by the local training and enterprise council, Wincanton Logistics staff are volunteering as mentors to help children improve their concentration and reading skills. In the pilot project, 10 primary schools volunteered for inclusion and each appointed a link teacher. Children were chosen for mentoring on the basis of having a slightly below average reading age. At Ashfield Valley Primary School, four reading partners supported 12 pupils for three sessions a week for 10 weeks. Tested at the start and end of the project, the children’s reading age rose by an average of eight months.

* Graph of rise in reading age at Ashfield Valley Primary, Rochdale - not available on the database.