Clever 30-minute scheme takes huge pressure off parents - and kids love it too

Clever 30-minute scheme takes huge pressure off parents - and kids love it too Juggling full-time work, dinner, and bedtime leaves millions of parents feeling guilty over not reading enough with their child - but a simple 30-minute workplace scheme is transforming shy children's confidence Between finishing work, cooking dinner, and negotiating bedtime, finding a moment to sit down with a book can feel almost impossible for exhausted parents and children. "No parent is purposefully not reading to their child,” says mum Amanda, whose six-year-old son was struggling with his confidence before joining an innovative scheme that pairs working adults with primary pupils for 30-minute weekly reading sessions. "When I was younger, my mum didn't have to work, so we could do this quite naturally at 3pm, whereas now we're trying to cram it in between 5pm and 7pm.” It is a squeeze familiar to millions of households - and backed by new research revealing that 64% of British parents manage less than an hour of reading a week with their young children, falling just short of the recommended 70 minutes needed for a child's development. Yet the statistics by literacy charity Chapter One shows it is not through a lack of trying, with an overwhelming 86% of parents saying they would like to read more with their child. The findings come amid wider concerns over early-years literacy. While overall reading enjoyment among children and teenagers has ticked up to 36.1% - the first rise in five years, according to the National Literacy Trust - enjoyment among children aged five to eight has slipped to 61.6%, driven by a fall among young boys. Meanwhile, the gap in reading enjoyment between pupils on free school meals and their peers continues to widen, prompting warnings that progress remains far slower for poorer children during 2026’s National Year of Reading. Now, the charity is calling on employers to step up, with two-thirds of working adults (67%) saying they would volunteer to read with a child during the working week if backed by their company. Through Chapter One, volunteer staff can take 30 minutes out of their workday each week to listen to primary pupils read remotely. The scheme tackles eases the burden on households like Amanda’s, whose six-year-old son was paired with Atos volunteer Stuart Michie. Speaking about how the scheme has helped her six-year-old, Amanda said: "He is a very able child. There's never been any doubt in his ability to read, but he doesn't believe in himself at all. I think in a classroom setting, he felt really pressured to read in front of other people." "Prior to Chapter One, if he didn't understand the word, he'd get really upset about it and he'd go really closed. But after this process, he now knows that if he doesn't understand it, that's absolutely fine. She added: "The programme does fill a void that our current lifestyles have created. It's fantastic that it can be filled during his school hours as well. It's not an extra pressure - it's something that's just naturally fallen within his curriculum and he's really enjoyed doing it. "He used to come home and tell us that they'd been telling each other jokes. He hadn't even realised what he was doing, he just really enjoyed that process." For Stuart, Vice President for Health at Atos, the half-hour session offers respite from corporate life. "It gives you a circuit breaker," he told the Mirror. Typically in back-to-back calls from 7:30am to 6:30pm outside of the programme, he added: "You step away from tough finance meetings or demanding work problems, and suddenly your sole focus is helping a young child develop - it's only 30 minutes." "Selfishly, it gives you a huge buzz. Being able to read isn't just a life skill that helps you get on at school and in work - it also teaches you how to relax." Emma Bell, CEO of Chapter One, said: "Parents want to spend more time reading one-to-one with their children, but the reality of busy family life can make regular reading time difficult to find. "Businesses have a valuable role to play. By giving employees the flexibility to volunteer, they can help children access trusted adults and give their people the chance to make a meaningful difference beyond work. When a child begins to believe that they can read, that confidence can stay with them long after the book is closed.” - Find out where Chapter One works here