Help2read
Charity in Cape Town

help2read - A South African Child Literacy NGO help2read recruits, trains and supports adult volunteers to help primary school children to learn to love books and become confident readers. forever. Improving lives.

We are a group of passionate, fun-loving bookworms erasing illiteracy in South Africa’s disadvantaged communities, one literacy lesson at a time. Since our first one-on-one reading session in 2006, we’ve worked in over 200 schools and reached 12,700 children through our literacy programmes. Our team is comprised of wonderful volunteers, Literacy Tutors, and full-time staff, all dedicated to helping children gain the gift of literacy. With a BSocSci degree from the University of Cape Town, Mandy began her career working with children as a social worker in the UK and later at Child Welfare in Cape Town. She joined help2read in 2007, and has been involved in various aspects of the organisation, from Support Worker, to Programme Coordinator, Regional Manager and now Operations Director. Leani van Zyl has a BA in Health & Social Sciences from UNISA and began her career in Sales and Marketing before moving to honour her passion for service and people by working as a counsellor for Lifeline and Childline in the Western Cape. She has been with help2read since 2009, beginning as a Support Worker before taking on the role of Programme Coordinator for the Western Cape in 2013 and subsequently moving to head up the external partnerships and programmes portfolio in She provides training, manages Volunteer Reading Helpers and Literacy Tutor programmes and offers key support to the Relationship Coordinators. Vastrohiette holds an Honours degree in Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and has extensive experience in both the NPO and school sectors in the area of Psychology. Melody joined the help2read team in 2009 after working for 15 years in the private sector as an administrator. Melody initially worked as a help2read Support Worker, but later became the Training & Resources Coordinator. She now serves as our Literacy Tutor Relationship Coordinator, working with our Literacy Tutors across the Western Cape. Melody has a diploma in Administration and has completed a short course in Community Development. With a BA in Psychology and History from Rhodes University and a BA honours in Psychological Counselling from UNISA, Nikki is a life coach for children that is passionate about childhood development. Having joined the help2read team in early 2017, Nikki works with external partnerships, in the training programme and in the development of the help2read programme into the Helderberg and Overberg regions. With over 10 years of experience in administration and grant management, Kristen joined the help2read team as an Administrative Assistant for the Western Cape region. She now provides key administrative support to our Partnerships Programme as well as our Fundraising department based both in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Chantelle is the Administrative Coordinator in the Western Cape. She’s passionate about her work at help2read and is inspired by the positive impact she can have on others. Trained as an Educator, Heather has extensive experience in the education sector in South Africa. She has taught in various primary and high schools, and lectured at multiple tertiary institutions. With a certificate in Early Childhood Development, Nosipho is passionate about education and the connection between having fun and effective learning. After working in the corporate sector for over 9 years, Thuli decided it was time to explore her passion for education and development. Thuli loves interacting with like-minded people who believe everyone has a part to play in educating our young people.