ABSTRACT
Adult illiteracy in England and Wales had attracted the attention of researchers in the early 1970s. The British Association of Settlements included voluntary organisations such as Cambridge House and the Liverpool University Settlement—which was already providing literacy tuition for adults, using volunteers for one-to-one teaching. The referral service was set up, after great difficulty over finance, by the creation of the Adult Literacy Support Services Fund, with a major grant from the Ford Foundation and smaller amounts from other major sources. In the original plans the target population was visualised as illiterate adults, barely able to read or write beyond a few words. Broadcasts were used primarily as means of recruitment to tuition and of enlarging public awareness. The British Broadcasting Corporation undertook a substantial programme of consultation and piloting in the creation of ‘On The Move’. The procedures adopted by Adult Literacy Resource Agency in their creation of materials were very similar.
