An MP has called on residents to give up a few hours each week to help schoolchildren improve their literacy.

On a recent visit to Wootey Infants School in Alton, Damian Hinds, the MP for East Hampshire, joined a session with year 1 and 2 pupils run by the charity Schoolreaders.

Mr Hinds said: “We cannot overestimate the benefits of reading to and with children. We know that reading is the gateway to learning, and with reading comes curiosity about the world around us and endless avenues to explore.

“Just a few hours each week can make an enormous difference to a child’s confidence levels, not to mention their reading ability and, importantly, their enjoyment of reading.

“I’m asking people to consider giving a short time each week to become a school reader. Every single volunteer will make a huge difference to a child’s life.”

Schoolreaders, which has been running for 10 years, encourages adults of all ages to volunteer to read with a child at a local school every week.

Tracey Thomas, deputy headteacher at Wootey Infants School, said: “By offering extra help, our volunteers assist in closing the gap between pupils who are falling behind their peers, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“They have enabled us to create a supportive environment where every child leaves our school being able to read - and with a love of reading.”

Hampshire Schoolreaders ambassador, Sarah Barclay, said she was “astonished and amazed” at what progress a weekly session can have.

She said: “Confidence rises, reading improves and a sense of their own relationship with books and reading develops in front of your very eyes...it is the best way of contributing to my local community I can think of.

“And the children love it! Hands shoot up to be first in the reading group for any particular week. They really seem to love the extra attention and the praise that so often comes when they read. They are all, in their different ways, so clearly brimming with potential.”

Alison Bosence, a Schoolreaders volunteer at Wootey Infants School, said: “I feel really strongly about the importance of reading, and realise that not everyone finds it easy to learn, for all sorts of reasons. Giving children that extra opportunity to read with an adult on a regular basis can really transform how they feel about reading.

“The real joy I get is when those who have found it so difficult suddenly 'get it' and gain in confidence”.

To apply to become a school reader, please visit: www.schoolreaders.org