Julia Clarke and dog Mungo helping kids improve literacy skills through Story Dogs

Julia Clarke and her patient labrador Mungo are volunteering their time at a Tasmanian primary school, where they assist children to improve their reading skills.

Story Dogs volunteer, Dr Julia Clarke, at her home in Margate with dog Mungo. Picture: Linda Higginson

Julia Clarke used to love her job and experienced a “happiness deficit” when she retired – but this void was soon filled by volunteering and the calming presence of her five-year-old labrador Mungo.

Dr Clarke, 75, previously worked in a senior cultural heritage role at the Port Arthur Historic Site and now visits Margate Primary School with Mungo in tow, helping kids improve their literacy skills.

Through the program Story Dogs, Mungo listens to children read to him and doesn’t charge a penny.

The experience has been an enriching one for Dr Clarke.

Story Dogs volunteer, Dr Julia Clarke, at her home in Margate with dog Mungo. Picture: Linda Higginson

“[I love] to watch that comfort develop [between Mungo and the children], where you come into the classroom to fetch them, and their little faces light up, and they leap up, and it’s just rewarding,” she said.

“I’ve got one little reader who really hasn’t started reading yet so I read to him. He’ll play with Mungo’s ears, stroke him – whatever he wants to do.”

Dr Clarke said placid Mungo occasionally succumbed to fatigue during story time.

“Sometimes he’ll interact with the children and at other times he’ll just go to sleep,” she said.

“I had one little reader last year who was very affronted when he went to sleep, saying ‘He’s not listening!’”

Now in her second year of volunteering for Story Dogs, Dr Clarke said she had observed noticeable improvements in children’s confidence and reading abilities after they had participated in the program.

About six million Australians volunteer through organisations across the country, while millions more volunteer informally in their communities.

Speaking ahead of National Volunteer Week (May 19-25), Volunteering Australia CEO Mark Pearce said it was “essential that we recognise and support new ways of giving, ensuring that everyone feels welcome and included in shaping a better future for all”.