Vicky Brighton, Author at Helen Arkell

National Lottery Community Fund Boosts Dyslexia Support for Disadvantaged Children and Adults

We’re delighted to share that Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity has been awarded £19,966 from The National Lottery Community Fund to support our project “Dyslexia Specialist Support for Disadvantaged People”.

Thanks to the nation’s National Lottery players, we’ll be able to provide one‑to‑one specialist support to disadvantaged children and adults who struggle with reading, writing and related learning difficulties — helping build skills, confidence and long‑term independence.

Head of Fundraising at Helen Arkell, Hazel Radnor, says: “This funding means we can reach even more people who urgently need specialist help but are unable to access it due to financial barriers.”

We can’t wait to get started and will share updates, stories and successes as the project unfolds.

💙 Thank you, National Lottery players!

By Vicky Brighton|2026-03-04T13:59:00+00:00March 4th, 2026|Fundraising news, Homepage featured, Latest news|Comments Off

Introducing ‘How to Help at Home’ – a workshop for parents

Do you want to feel confident supporting your child with dyslexia at home?

Join our face‑to‑face workshop with Claire Harvey, our Head of Education — packed with practical tips, easy strategies, and tools you can start using straight away.

📅 20 March 2026

🕙 10:00 AM

📍 Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DR

You’ll learn how dyslexia affects learning, how to boost reading, writing and spelling, and how to keep confidence high. Plus, you’ll meet other parents and have the chance to ask questions.

“What a fantastic course, the presenter was very inspiring, and I learnt a huge amount.” Previous attendee.

Don’t miss this empowering session designed to help you help your child thrive!

Book here.

By Vicky Brighton|2026-02-23T10:28:29+00:00February 23rd, 2026|Course news, Homepage featured, Latest news, Uncategorized|Comments Off

‘The Dyslexic Advantage’ Film – Educational Screenings to Purchase

The Dyslexic Advantage, a powerful documentary reframing dyslexia.

Following the success of the UK premiere screening of The Dyslexic Advantage earlier this month, we are now able to offer one-time educational screenings of the film to UK schools, colleges and organisations.

This inspiring new documentary challenges stereotypes and reveals some of the strengths of the dyslexic mind. The film explores how dyslexic thinking powers creativity, innovation, exploration, and human achievement.

The film also touches on many of the early social and emotional challenges that young people face when they are in school.

This short film is ideal for presentations at schools, colleges and organisations looking to broaden their understanding of dyslexia and the unique strengths of the dyslexic brain. The film could be shown to staff, parents or learners in your school, college or organisation. The film is 45 minutes long.

One attendee said,

“I found the film incredibly inspiring! So much food for thought!”

“It was brilliant and fascinating. I will be advocating that the film be used in the school I am currently working in”, another attendee said.

To arrange a viewing for a larger audience e.g. in a school setting, then please contact courses@helenarkell.org.uk

Founded by Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide, The Dyslexic Advantage is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting a strengths-based understanding of dyslexia.

Through research, media, and community programs, the organisation empowers individuals with dyslexia.

View a trailer here.

Learn more about purchasing an educational screening here.

By Vicky Brighton|2026-02-19T15:54:38+00:00February 19th, 2026|Course news, Homepage featured, Latest news|Comments Off

Farnham Literary Festival – Supporting Dyslexic Learners in the Classroom and at Home

We’re delighted to be part of this year’s Farnham Literary Festival!

Sign up to hear our in-person talk at Helen Arkell, ‘Supporting Dyslexic Learners in the Classroom and at Home’, presented by Claire Harvey, Head of Education at Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity and author of ‘Supporting Dyslexic Learners in the Classroom’ published by Sage Publications.

This talk will briefly touch on some of the reasons why dyslexic learners struggle with aspects of learning and will provide attendees with some simple, tried and tested practical suggestions, tips, resources and activities that could be used to help support dyslexic learners in the classroom and at home.

Suitable for both educators and parents.

Join us in Farnham on Sunday 8 March at 10:30am*. Just £15!

Book here

To learn more about the Festival and this talk, visit the Farnham Literary website.

*We’ll be offering 10% off Helen Arkell products/publications from our shop and Claire’s Little Guide for attendees on the day.

By Vicky Brighton|2026-02-10T13:57:11+00:00February 10th, 2026|Homepage featured, Latest news, Shop news|Comments Off

Touch Typing Half Term Course for Children

NEW FOR HALF TERM!

Introducing our NEW 3‑day half‑term course for children who’ve completed our Intro to Touch Typing (or equivalent).

Fun, multi‑sensory sessions to build speed, accuracy and confidence on the keyboard.

18–20 February 2026 9:30 am – 1 pm
Location: Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity
Subsidised places available – email courses@helenarkell.org.uk

Help your child build speed, accuracy and confidence with touch typing this half-term and get ahead with their skills!

Book here!

By Vicky Brighton|2026-02-06T13:43:01+00:00February 6th, 2026|Course news, Homepage featured, Latest news, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Nordomatic’s Southeastern Team Supports Helen Arkell as 2026 Charity of the Year

We are delighted to have been chosen as Nordomatic’s Charity of the Year for 2026.

We greatly appreciate this support and look forward to working collaboratively with their organisation to raise awareness and help more individuals with dyslexia throughout the year ahead.

Nordomatic is a long‑established leader in smart building technology and Building Management Systems (BMS), founded in 1967 and now operating across Europe. Often described as “The Brain of the Building,” Nordomatic combines deep technical expertise with innovative digital solutions to help organisations manage buildings more effectively. With a large team across more than 30 offices, they play a significant role in driving the transition to smarter, greener, and more efficient built environments.

We are delighted that their divisional team in London and the Southeast will be fundraising for us and thrilled to hear so many at Nordomatic love to take part in exciting challenges for charity.

This June some of the Nordomatic team will be taking part in the London to Brighton bike ride for Helen Arkell. If you are nearby, why not cheer them on as they cross the finish line near the Pier on Maderia Drive at Brighton Seafront on Sunday 21 June 2026.

We look forward to their support over the comihttps://www.londonbrightoncycle.co.uk/ng year from our new friends at Nordomatic.

If you’d like to help Nordomatic, a JustGiving fundraiser is available for donations to our cause: https://www.justgiving.com/page/nordomatic2026

Thank you!

By Vicky Brighton|2026-02-04T16:23:25+00:00February 4th, 2026|Fundraising news, Homepage featured, Latest news|Comments Off

The Dyslexic Advantage – a UK premier screening at Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity

🎬 Join us for the UK premiere of The Dyslexic Advantage – a powerful new short film reshaping how we understand dyslexia on Wednesday 4th Feb 2026.

Moving beyond the narrative of struggle, this inspiring film celebrates dyslexia as a strength, driving creativity, innovation, problem solving, and discovery.

Nearly 1 in 5 people think differently and this film shows why that matters.

🎤 Special Guest Q&A

We’re delighted to be joined by Fernette Eide, CEO of Dyslexic Advantage, Executive Producer of the film, and co author of the renowned book The Dyslexic Advantage.

Fernette will answer questions live after the screening.

🌍 Online event – attend from anywhere! Can’t watch live on the night? No problem.

Book your place and we’ll send you the recording later in the week.

👪 Who is this for?

✔️ Parents

✔️ Teachers and education professionals

Through science, animation, and powerful personal stories of innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs, the film also gently explores the social and emotional challenges young people can face in school and how understanding strengths can change outcomes.

The Dyslexic Advantage book is available to purchase in our shop: https://helenarkell.org.uk/product/the-dyslexic-advantage-new-edition/

👉 Book now to secure your place for this Spotlight session: https://helenarkell.org.uk/events/spotlight-the-dyslexic-advantage/

By Vicky Brighton|2026-01-21T10:01:01+00:00January 21st, 2026|Homepage featured, Latest news, Shop news, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Tesco Stronger Starts

We’re thrilled to be part of the Stronger Starts customer vote for Tesco in 2026!

This scheme gives community projects grants of up to £1,500.

Tesco customers can now vote in store in the Gerrards Cross, Ashford, Sunbury, Abingdon, Buckingham, Faringdon, Kidlington and Egham Tesco Stores.

There are a number of stores in each of these areas where you can vote.

During January to March this year every blue token is a vote to decide how much funding we get, so please support us next time you shop at Tesco!

Through the project we will provide specialist dyslexia training to teachers and teaching assistants in locals schools around these areas.

The training will support all the pupils in the school community and many more children over the course of each teacher’s career.

The stores where you can drop a blue token for Helen Arkell are:

Gerrards Cross

2267 Chalfont Express Express SL9 0NP
2564 Gerrards Cross Superstore SL9 8ER
5355 Chalfont St Peter Express Express SL9 9HE

Ashford

2047 Ashford Middlesex Extra Extra TW19 7PZ
5478 Ashford Express Express TW15 2UT

Sunbury

3220 Sunbury Extra TW16 7BB
6820 Ashford Staines Express Express TW15 1RP

Abingdon

2008 Abingdon Extra OX14 1TU
5429 Grove Wantage Express Express OX12 7JZ
6426 Abingdon Fitzharris Express Express OX14 1JH
6519 Abingdon Oxford Road Express Express OX14 2ED

Buckingham

2162 Buckingham Superstore MK18 1AB
5143 Market Hill Express Express MK18 1JX

Faringdon

4338 Faringdon Superstore Superstore SN7 7BP

Kidlington

2319 Witney Cogges Hill Express Express OX28 3XY
2488 Eynsham Express Express OX29 4EF
2499 Fettiplace Witney Express Express OX28 5AP
2788 Kidlington Superstore Superstore OX5 2DN
3339 Witney Valence Crescent Express Express OX28 5YP
3418 Witney Express Express OX28 4EJ

Egham

2454 Egham Superstore Superstore TW20 9EX
4690 Staines High Street Express Express TW18 4QB

We’ll be sharing stories of how our work helps in these areas very soon.

To learn more about Stronger Starts, visit the Tesco website here.

tescoplc.com/strongerstarts

By Vicky Brighton|2026-01-19T11:07:54+00:00January 19th, 2026|Fundraising news, Homepage featured, Latest news, Uncategorized|Comments Off

New Handwriting Spotlights – A 2-part series by the National Handwriting Association

We are delighted to bring you two new courses in January.

Many dyslexic learners struggle with handwriting, and this can have a number of negative impacts on learning. Finding out about the skills involved in handwriting, why some learners struggle, what research tells us about handwriting, and how to support learners with handwriting difficulties at home or in the classroom, is extremely valuable for both parents and education professionals.

The National Handwriting Association are experts in this field and we are delighted that they will come and share all their knowledge and expertise over these two new Spotlight Sessions with us in January.

The two spotlights, part 1 and part 2, are appropriate for parents and education professionals.

Part 1 on 14 January will explore Identifying the Need and Supporting Best Practice in Handwriting including:

What does handwriting typically look like in children with dyslexia and how does this differ from the handwriting of neurotypical children
What does current research tell us about handwriting difficulties and support options
What role does weak spelling have on the impact of handwriting
Practical strategies and top tips for supporting handwriting both at home and in the classroom

Part 2 on 19 January will explore the wider implications of handwriting including:

What does current research tell us about the wider implications of handwriting difficulties
What are the options for reasonable accommodations e.g. extra time/use of word processor
Practical strategies when handwriting difficulties persist into secondary school
What role do handwriting interventions have
When to consider touch typing

To find out more or make a booking please see our courses page.

By Vicky Brighton|2025-12-19T10:40:57+00:00December 19th, 2025|Course news, Homepage featured, Latest news|Comments Off

More Support for Adults with Undiagnosed Dyslexia Needed – BBC News

Adults struggling with undiagnosed dyslexia are facing challenges, from the high cost of assessments to the difficulty of navigating word-heavy online resources.

Amanda Lightowler, Specialist Tutor for Children and Adults at Helen Arkell comments in today’s article on BBC News that many people seeking answers are deterred by costs. For those already grappling with literacy barriers, even finding reliable information online can feel like an impossible task.

Read the full article here.

At Helen Arkell, we offer a range of dyslexia assessments for adults and children. A dyslexia assessment will help someone understand their strengths, and why they may be experiencing difficulties in their learning or day-to-day life.

For enquiries about all types of assessments including adult assessments, please see our dyslexia assessments page here.

By Vicky Brighton|2025-12-10T14:39:00+00:00December 10th, 2025|Homepage featured, Latest news, Uncategorized|Comments Off

About Vicky Brighton

The Dyslexic Advantage, a powerful documentary reframing dyslexia.

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