Roughly 500,000 Irish adults have problems with reading and writing and many need individual help to catch up. One of the places they can go to for help is the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), which trains adults to work as tutors on its literacy programmes.

It currently has about 2,500 tutors on its books and more are needed. Tutors work voluntarily and a 20hour training programme is provided. The time commitment after training is approximately two hours a week.

No special qualifications are needed to become a tutor. Tutors simply need to have a good level of reading and writing skills and an interest in helping someone to overcome a problem that can often be a major stumbling block to getting a job or living life to the full. The agency provides learning resources and teaching materials. If you are interested in volunteering some time to NALA, contact 75 Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1 (tel: (01) 855 4332; email: nala@iol.ie)