This page is designed to advise Referral Agencies about our work, and assist them in nominating Students or Volunteers.

These links will take you to the appropriate heading on this page:-

What is a Referral Agency?

Referral Agencies are defined by us as organisations or individuals who wish to nominate or refer potential Students or Volunteers.

They range from social workers to occupational therapists; vicars to librarians; doctors to family and friends; voluntary organisations to volunteer placement organisations; and adult institutes to sister adult literacy organisations.

The majority of Referral Agents come from within the "caring professions".

About 10% of the time, the referral agent is the individual student or volunteer.

Amity – Scope of Work

Amity was established in 1974. For the last twenty-six years, we have provided one-to-one literacy tuition for adults with special learning difficulties, using volunteers, whom we train, in a Club setting. Particular emphasis is placed on our policy of social support, which creates greater personal confidence in the student, and enhances their ability to take charge of their own lives.

We currently operate three clubs in South-East London, UK, in postal districts SE2, SE24, and SW16. We do not charge for tuition, although we do ask for a donation towards the costs of refreshments during the evening.

Amity does not undertake tuition in English as a Second Language, nor does it cater for school age children. The make up of individual club’s do however, reflect the ethnic mix of the communities we serve, and the age span ranges from late teenager to pensioner.

Our policy of one-to-one tuition means that we are often able to help those students who are not suited to group work, whose attention span is short or who demand attention.

The Referral Process for Students

In the first instance referrals should be made either to our Founding Organiser, Gladys Glascoe, or Joint Secretary, Caroline Knapp. They will discuss the needs and background of the student, their literacy problems and aspirations and make arrangements for an early visit.

Whenever possible, the Referral Agent is encouraged to accompany the student on their first visit. The initial visit to a Club can be a considerable worry for the student; it is hard enough to for them to take courage in their hands to confess their literacy problems to strangers, but to do so in a room full of strangers without so much as one familiar face is daunting indeed. It is only later, when the strangers are no longer strangers, and the new student realises that half the people in the room have the same problems they have, that the head goes up, confidence returns and the student realises they are not visibly labelled illiterate.

Initially, the student is encouraged to attend for a four-week period. This gives us the opportunity to assess, try out different volunteer matches, and the student the chance to test us. At the end of four weeks we both take stock, and if both sides agree we ask for a commitment of twelve months.

The Referral Process for Volunteers

The has much in common with the students, perhaps the only major difference is that normally, the Referral Agent does not need to accompany the Volunteer to the initial session.  Either use the contact arrangements set out below, or use the volunteer's electronic application form.

Awareness of Amity

Turnover in Referral Agencies means that it is important for Amity to maintain its visibility with Referral Agencies on a regular basis. This is done by advertising, mail shots, leaflets, posters, logging on registers of local voluntary organisations, personal contact and most recently, this web site.

So, if you haven't heard from us recently, the chances are that you will again soon.

Information for Educational, Social, Medical and Allied Services

Click on this link to see the text of this Amity leaflet which has been reformatted for the web site.

Contact Arrangements

To submit a nomination for a student, please use the nomination form, or contact Gladys Glascoe our Founding Organiser direct by:-

Telephone

0044 (0)1227 711 012

FAX

0044 (0)1227 711 012 (Call first)

Postal address

61 Cedar Road
Sturry
Canterbury
Kent
CT2 OJG

United Kingdom

E-mail

General Information: philipglascoe@amity.org.uk

 

Alternatively, contact our Secretary, Betty Cooper by:-

 

Telephone

0044 (0)1227 265 642

E-mail

General Information: betty.cooper@madasafish.com

If you need to know more about our work, please let us know, via the feedback form.