Rotarians have donated $10,000 to an organisation dedicated to helping young people overcome learning difficulties and the money was matched by a reinsurance company.

The Reading Clinic, which has helped students since 1968, received the donation from the Hamilton Rotary Club at its meeting on Tuesday.

Three Rotarians gave $10,000 to the clinic after Montpelier Re offered to match the donation.

Dr. Julie Dunstan, The Reading Clinic's executive director, said: "It was just an incredibly generous response.

"I was completely overwhelmed and very excited. It means we can help more children and it means we can spend our resources on directly working with children and do not have to spend more time going out and doing things like fund-raising."

The Reading Clinic provides a 'structured multi-sensory phonetic approach to teaching, reading and spelling'.

The services are also very intensive, meaning students can be at the office three, four or five times a week for an hour long session.

According to Dr. Dunstan, children with learning difficulties like dyslexia are often intelligent but have trouble "breaking the codes" of language.

They have trouble deciphering words like 'yo-yo', 'my' and 'candy' where the 'y' sound changes from word to word.

Fluent readers know these 'rules' instinctively when they read, but people with disabilities have to be taught to understand.

Dr. Dunstan who became executive director on September 1, has been affiliated with the charity for almost 20 years and said she was passionate about the cause. She said: "I would like to continue the wonderful work that is already happening at The Reading Clinic and just be able to gradually expand our services to meet a greater need that we know is out there."

The clinic plans to have more outreach programmes in schools and educate teachers on signs of dyslexia, such as difficulty rhyming or figuring out sounds the letters make.

Children with learning difficulties are also prone to memorising passages instead of reading them, she said.

The Reading Clinic's core reading programme worked with 79 students last year, who on average improved by more than one grade level.

When it came to increased decoding, improvements of 1.6 grade levels was seen.

This success was possible through early-childhood screening and one-on-one tutoring sessions, which cater to the needs of each child.

According to Dr. Dunstan approximately 40 percent of children they serve have both dyslexia and Attention Definite Disorder (ADD) these students are often given short assignments, broken up into small, digestible chunks so they can manage new information.

Though the donations from Rotary and Montpellier Re will help The Reading Clinic run its programmes, Dr. Dunstan admits the charity, like others, accepts all kind of support.

She said: "Right now every charity in Bermuda is in a position to say we would very much welcome any support from the community.

"And I would just very much like to thank everyone who has supported the Reading Clinic for the past 41 years."