1,000 signatures reached
To: Gillian Keegan MP Minister for Education
Why does the government allow adult illiteracy to ruin lives and cost the UK £37 billion a year?
Adult illiteracy costs the UK £37 billion a year, so why does the government leave it to charities to try to help with the problem? I am asking the government to agree to spend just a small fraction of that £37 billion on making more help available, publicising it, and encouraging people like me to take the help that is offered.
Why is this important?
Two years ago I was one of the nine million adults in the UK who can't read. I could not read my daughter's school report, and I could not read the manuals for the machines I service at work. Now with the help of a reading charity, Read Easy, and its volunteer coaches, I can read well, and write this petition. Now I can help my daughter with her homework, and I have been given more responsibility by my employer.
I have tried to encourage people by talking to newspapers, on the radio, and on TV. Now I am asking the Education Minister to ensure that the sort of assistance I was given will be available for all of those nine million people that want it.
If you are fortunate enough to find reading easy, you probably had no idea how many people in this country find it impossible. Please sign this petition to help me put pressure on the government to help those people, and hopefully make the changes to their lives that I've been lucky enough to have.
