Reading Clinic Foundation Launches With $1M
[Updated with video] The Reading Clinic today announced the establishment of The Reading Clinic Foundation, which was launched with a generous gift of $1 million from Mrs. Elizabeth Kitson, founder of The Reading Clinic.
The Foundation has been set up to ensure the long-term continuity of the programmes and to provide financial assistance to families of children with learning difficulties who cannot afford fees for the specialised services offered by the Clinic.
The eventual goal of the Foundation is to provide the Clinic with $100,000 annually from investments to provide reading interventions to children whose families demonstrate financial need.
The Foundation is a charitable trust and current trustees are Kirkham Kitson and Miles Outerbridge, a long-time adviser to Mrs. Kitson and the Clinic. The role of the Investment Committee, which includes Jim Brock and Richard Krupp, will be to invest the funds so as to create a reliable income stream.
The Reading Clinic was established by Mrs. Kitson in 1968 in response to the needs of children, including her son, Richard, with reading disabilities. Working from the basement of her own home, Mrs. Kitson initially trained other parents to tutor each other’s children, regardless of their background.
Since then, the Clinic has developed as a purpose-built facility with an array of professional services designed to meet the needs of individuals with specific learning differences.
The Clinic annually provides more than 6,000 professional tutoring sessions for more than 120 children with learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy. In 2011-2012, the Clinic’s Core Reading Programme alone delivered more than 4,500 hours of tutoring to 79 reading students.
Dr. Julie Dunstan, Executive Director of The Reading Clinic, said: “Over the past 40 years, thousands of Bermudian children with learning disabilities have benefited directly from Mrs. Kitson’s extraordinary vision and determination. We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Mrs. Kitson not only for her generous gift today but also for the continued commitment and support of The Reading Clinic by the Kitson family.
“The Foundation will play a critical role in the financial sustainability of The Reading Clinic. Over the past 40 years we have been fortunate to receive financial support from the community, corporations, foundations, individuals and special events. We also raise approximately 25% of our revenue from earned income such as fees for service, rentals and investment income.
“We cannot take that support for granted, especially in today’s challenging economic climate. However, the demand and need for our services is increasing at a time when many families are finding it more difficult to afford the specialised help their children need.
“To maintain our current level of services we have increased our revenue target for the 2012-2013 operating year from $800,000 in 2011-2012 to $1,000,000. Income from the Foundation will help us ensure that no child who requires the Clinic’s services will be turned away.”
Wonderful My daughter loves to read. Just to see her face light up when she reads the story and is interested in the story and is laughing and wants to read more.
Great to have a place like this.
Wonderful news.
What an amazing gesture on Mrs. Kitson’s behalf. She is fabulous! Good luck to the Reading Clinic and all their students.
Thank you Kitsons!
Well done!! Bermudians are BERMUDIANS regardless of race class or creed!!! Thank you Mrs Kitson