In the Easter holidays, we were able to team up with some of our partner organisations to offer some families a day out at Odds Farm Park in High Wycombe. Odds Farm is an "Approved Farm Park" which provides a unique opportunity for children to learn, have fun and engage with chickens, sheep, goats and more, including some rarer breeds. It may have rained for most of the day but that didn’t dampen any spirits! We are grateful to the Englefield Charitable Trust for providing the funds for this lovely day out. We received some wonderful feedback from the children and their parents/carers: "Thank you so much for a fantastic day – the children absolutely loved it." "We loved feeding the animals. The piglets were so cute!" "Thank you so much, it means so much to us. We haven’t had the easiest few months. Thank you again it was a great adventure for both of us." Some of the families were referred by Fifi''s Vision which provides support to families with additional needs. Their representative said "Firstly I need to say a Big Thank you to Reading Family Aid as they so kindly and generously gifted Fifi's Vision CIC an Odds Farm trip over the Easter holidays. I was able to take families from our weekly groups on a coach to Odds Farm where we all had an amazing day even with the rain. Days out aren't always accessible for many reasons but with Fifi's Vision peer support and Reading Family Aid gifting such an amazing opportunity many families from Fifi's Vision were able to join us and benefit from the family day out giving all much needed respite and family bonding. Thank you again Reading Family Aid". Laura Windisch, Reading Family Aid's 'Toys and Teens' Manager, was recently awarded the University of Reading's Alumni and Supporter Volunteer of the Year. She started volunteering as an undergraduate, helping to man the university Nightline listening service for students who needed someone to talk to. After graduating in French and German, Laura worked at the university for many years in various administration roles before leaving to take up a role in admissions at Oxford Brookes. In 2019 she retired as Head of Admissions and, looking for a voluntary role, found that Reading Family Aid were looking for a project manager to manage the 'Toys and Teens' project. Her skills matched what we were looking for and she joined us that Autumn. During the Covid pandemic she also volunteered in the university medical centre booking students in for their covid vaccinations and she helped Activate Learning College in Bracknell to process testing their students for COVID-19 before they could return to school. For Laura, it’s as simple as being able to help others that drives her passion for volunteering. She explained: “I know it sounds corny, but I genuinely do enjoy helping others. If someone can do something with my help, that they otherwise couldn’t have, then it’s worth it.” It is that feeling that she endorses to those considering volunteering. Laura said: “If you’re thinking about volunteering, you’re thinking about it for a reason and you should do it! You’ll make new friends, have new experiences and you will feel good about yourself- what’s not to love? “My advice would be to try and find a role that suits your skills, whether that’s cooking, listening, planning, driving or gardening. If you find a role that uses your skills then you’ll be able to make the biggest difference and find it more fulfilling.” It is this wealth of dedication to helping others that won Laura the 2024 Celebration of Volunteering Alumni and Supporters Award on 25 April. On hearing that she had won, Laura said: “I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, it was just amazing. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends at Age UK and Reading Family Aid – they were really proud.” Earlier this month Reading Family Aid were excited to hear from Reading Voluntary Action that they had been awarded their "Safe and Sound" quality mark for charity governance. This means that any organisation that may be thinking of getting involved with us in any way can be assured that the relationship will be dealt with in a professional way and that any donations made, any activities undertaken or toys and gifts received will have been managed safely and securely. This quality mark was awarded after going through a rigorous process of assessment of our constitution, policies, processes and procedures by reviewing our Constitution and Governance and Admin handbooks, interviewing our team members and recommending improvements where necessary. While the initial assessment was very favourable, we did make changes to our constitution, added some new policies and procedures and enhanced some existing ones, particularly in the area of safeguarding, to make them more rigorous. Reading Voluntary Action is a brilliant organisation that exists to promote and support the individuals and groups who make up our diverse voluntary and community sector. They work to:
Reading Family Aid is delighted to have partnered with Refugee Support Group again this year to provide a donation of Easter eggs for the children they support.
Maria Baker from Refugee Support Group said “The gift of the Easter eggs was met with much excitement and joy. Refugee and asylum seeking children from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan, Ukraine and other countries were able to celebrate a traditional custom in safety with their friends and family. Smiles were plentiful.” Earlier this month we received a generous donation of toys from Kids in Mind. Kids in Mind receive a huge number of toys from Cash for Kids which they distribute around the UK. Huge thanks to Gordon, a trustee of Kids in Mind, for delivering and unloading the van, it was a pleasure to meet him.
On Friday evening, March 1st, Reading Family Aid was astonished to receive a cheque for £12,225 from Reading Golf Club. Together with an enormous amount of toys donated to our 2023 'Toys and Teens' appeal, it forms the biggest contribution ever made from one organisation in one year to Reading Family Aid. We are immeasurably grateful and thank the members of Reading Golf Club with all our hearts, on behalf of the hundreds of children who will benefit . In January last year we were contacted by Reading Golf Club's Ladies Vice Captain, Hilary Rusby, asking for information about Reading Family Aid. She and the Club Vice Captain, Cathy Jones, were looking for a local charity to support during their Captains' Year from April 2023. Once they heard all about the work that we do, they decided to support us for the year. They organised several events which were specifically to raise funds for us and also other events where they also included a raffle, cake stall etc. The golf and fundraising year started with the Captains Drive off where members paid to guess the combined lengths of the drives of Cathy, Hilary and Alex Stronach, the Junior Captain. At about 4.30AM on Wednesday June 21st Jason Macbeth,a member of Reading Golf Club, set out on a marathon mission to complete 100 holes in a day - that's that's about 5.5 rounds, walking about 20 miles and hitting the ball over 500 times. He succeeded in his mission at around 9PM that evening after having only two short breaks during the day. He was accompanied in this marathon by the equally amazing, Hilary Rusby, who completed an astonishing 65 holes. Club members sponsored Jason and he raised over £2,000! On August 12th Reading Golf Club, held their Charity Day. Members paid to play in a competition, holes are sponsored by local businesses and individuals and other funds were raised through a tombola and cake stall. Around £7,000 was raised on this one day. As well as donating money, the members also very generously donated most;y new toys to our Toys and Teens Appeal last Christmas. Some of the donations came from an event organised by Alex, Junior Captain. Cathy and Hilary held their 'Swansong Dinner' on Friday 1st March where they presented Ruth Perkins, Fundraising Manager for Reading Family Aid, with the enormous (in both senses of the word!) cheque for an astonishing £12,225. Cathy and Hilary summed up their year and said some very nice things about the work of Reading Family Aid. Ruth thanked everyone for supporting Cathy and Hilary in their fundraising efforts and for helping to put so many smiles on the faces of disadvantaged children in Reading.
We discussed the extraordinary photograph of the Reading skyline on the wall. He explained that it is a montage of a number of photographs because if you look closely you can see that some buildings are not really in the correct position! The evening closed with a vote of thanks from Wendy Howell, Chair. She thanked Cllr Page not only for hosting a lovely evening and his hospitality but also for his support of the Toys and Teens Appeal and his recognition of the work we do. The evening and this recognition was much appreciated and the by the whole team.
In January the Reading Family Aid team enjoyed a meal at Quattro Restaurant to celebrate a very successful 2023 Toys and Teens Appeal. Thank you to Quattro’s for hosting us and serving up such delicious food! And thank you again to everyone who donated or supported our Toys and Teens Appeal in any way - it has made such a difference to local families. (The meal was paid for using our personal money - you can rest assured that every penny donated to Reading Family Aid goes to the children and families who need it )
On 2nd January we took 100 family members from Homestart Reading, Homestart Wokingham, Alana House, The Weller Centre and Reading Children’s Centres. Everyone had a great time. Then, on the following day another 40 Alafia, Christ the King school and Fifi’s Vision attended the relaxed performance. Here is some of the lovely feedback we have received: From Fifi’s Vision “Everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves. It was perfect family time and respite especially as Christmas can be an overwhelming and lonely time for many who are isolated and face barriers participating in festive traditions.” One Mum said: “ wonderful for my daughter to see the Panto. The atmosphere was very friendly” And another mum from Alafia said “Big thankyou to Alafia and Reading Family Aid for providing the tickets for my family. We all had a good time and quality time together as a family”. It has been another successful year for the Toys and Teens Appeal! On Sunday 2nd December we began to clear the anonymous church hall in Reading ready for a busy week ahead of collecting all the toys which have been donated over the last few months. After a difficult 2022 for Reading Family Aid's Toys and Teens, this year reminded the community how important the appeal is to children living in Reading. 668 sacks were filled to go to 2480 children throughout Reading and surrounding areas. This is thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, the many, many individuals from Reading (and beyond), clubs, societies, places of worship and businesses. Because of so many people's kind donations and funding we provided each child with at least four presents each. As well as donations of presents, many individuals contributed money to our GoFundMe page. Currently we have received over £3000 in donations, which our RFA volunteers used to shop for toys or gifts, particularly for the older age groups who are less likely to be bought presents, which ensures each child has a few toys or gifts to open on Christmas Day. If you haven't got round to donating yet there is still time - our GoFundMe is open for donations until Dec 24th - please follow the link here. Just to mention a few organisations:
Reading Golf Club who organised a huge collection from their members and the Junior Captain, Alex, organised a collection amongst themselves. Alex said "“The Juniors heard about Reading Family Aid when it became the Club charity at Reading Golf Club earlier this year and I thought we could help raise awareness of the situation of young people who will not be as lucky as us this Christmas by holding a Junior Competition at The Caversham. Fourteen juniors took part along with senior members and we were all happy to be able to help the Toys Appeal with our donations‘“.
and some of the schools and churches who organised their own collections .... Thank you! Without the kindness and generosity of collections, donations and volunteering from individuals, businesses, churches, schools and community groups, to numerous to mention, the Appeal wouldn't have been half as successful as it was. We must also thank all the organisations who donated tables for us to use throughout the week: St Barnabas Church Hall in Emmer Green, Our Lady and St. Anne's Church in Caversham, Caversham Hall and 89th Scout Group. As well as the amazing Church Hall where we do all the work each year (you know who you are!), and donate the use of the hall for the whole week. Thank you! Checking, sorting and packing the toys and gifts would not be possible without all of our amazing volunteers, many of whom turn up year after year to help. Thank you to all of you! A huge thank you also goes to all the van drivers who collected and returned the tables, collected all the donations from the donation points, and the companies, school and places of worship who had in-house collections. They also delivered the 668 packed sacks to 95 requesting organisations, travelling all over the Reading area. So the Toys and Teens Appeal comes to an end for another year.
It was another successful year, putting more smiles on children's faces across Reading. Thanks to everyone's help - see you in 2024! GoFundMe link. |
Our blogThis is where we share our news and inspiring stories of how people have supported us. Read previous newsletters here.
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