 Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is coming to a close! This weekend hundreds of volunteers will gather to pack bags of gifts for disadvantaged children in Reading. But there is still time to donate a gift to any of the donation points in and before 2nd December. Any gifts will be given to children on Christmas day, who otherwise won’t receive anything this year. This year 92 organisations have asked for presents this year for 2401 children, all of whom will go without any presents without the support of the toy appeal. Laura Windisch, Head of the Toy Project, said “Many people, when they think of buying a child a present at Christmas have in mind a young child, perhaps 4 or 7 years old. But his year, almost half the children we will be supporting are aged between 10 to 16. So gifts for those slightly older children – books, games, make up, sports equipment, arts and craft materials, vouchers, electronic items such as earphones – will be especially welcome if you are thinking of making a last minute donation to the Toys and Teens Appeal. Please if you can spare a gift, or you would rather donate to our Go Fund Me, anything you give no matter how small, will make a child’s Christmas so special. Thank you”.  The charity would also like to thank its kind supporters, who give to the appeal year after year, its donation points who tirelessly accept and organise gifts, as well as its sponsors: The Reading Chronicle, Caversham Vehicle Hire, Big Yellow Storage and The Masons.
The appeal is collecting donated new and nearly new toys from 34 donation drop off points up until 2nd December. The charity is also raising funds through a Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for children to open on Christmas day. Please if you would like to donate do so as soon as you can! To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points here. More details on what can be donated can be found here. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each year. Thank you  We are sorry to say that Vera Box has sadly passed away. Vera got involved in Reading Family Aid back in the 1970s at Katesgrove House and stayed as an active member until the last few years, even after her 90th birthday! She was the heart and soul of the charity and believed passionately in the importance of the work that we do. It was Vera that was the driving force behind getting us registered as an official charity with the Charity Commission in 1993. Wendy Howell, Chair of Reading Family Aid said "Vera was like a mother to us all when we joined the committee. Very welcoming. She always had a smile. She delighted in organising the Earley Green Fair as she had "connections" and always got us a good spot! I fondly remember her 90th birthday in my garden.  Ruth Perkins, Fundraising Manager said "Vera was the one that persuaded me to join the charity more than 20 years ago. She had a way of smiling at you that meant you had no choice but to go along with what she wanted! She was determined to get things done and was a firm believer in the idea that you had to keep busy otherwise you would decline. She certainly kept going, working not only with Reading Family Aid, but also with other groups and campaigns in her local area until she was into her 90's. We have missed her smiling face and can do attitude these last few years." Joe Wise who worked at the Reading Chronicle in the late 1990s/early 2000s said "Vera was such a lovely lady to work with over many years. When I was at the Reading Chronicle my annual assignment to promote the Christmas toy appeal was a real highlight of the year for me. She was always a delight and full of friendly humour.  Her funeral service is at Easthampstead Park Crematorium on Tuesday 5th December 2023 at 11:30am.
Vera's family are inviting people to make a donation in Vera's memory to Reading Family Aid at https://verabox.muchloved.com/ Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is back for another year, sponsored by The Chronicle. This year the appeal is accepting new and nearly new toys at 34 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day.  Ruth Perkins, Fundraising Manager for the charity said: “There are more and more families finding themselves in difficulties, families that prior to the cost of living going up so dramatically were manging just about and are now finding they can’t manage. There are many families every week becoming homeless being put up in B and Bs or hotels. It’s astonishing in a town like Reading which seems on the face of it quite an affluent place. In these families the kids go to school, they talk to their friends about what they hope to get for Christmas. These kids without all of the people that support us, they wouldn’t get anything. And that’s really tough to go back to school after the Christmas holidays and say I didn’t get anything for Christmas”.  The appeal could not happen without the support of countless local companies, whose staff go out of their way to help disadvantaged children enjoy Christmas. One such company is Roc Search, who have been supporting the appeal for an incredible seven years! Trevor Doran, Chief Growth Officer said: “Our partnership with Reading Family Aid over the last 7 years is something we are all incredibly proud of here at Roc Search – which is why we are once again supporting their efforts this year. Witnessing the profound impact their Toys & Teens Appeal has on countless disadvantaged children and families in the local community is truly inspiring. By supporting them in their efforts to collect these toys and donations, we are helping to create cherished Christmas memories for those in need. It’s an honour to be a part of. As a business we’ve been able to collect thousands of toys over the years thanks to the generosity of our employees, clients and friends. We encourage as many people as possible to get involved and help make this holiday season brighter for all!” The appeal has not yet reached its target for toy donations, and the charity is appealing to supporters and the public to please help this Christmas. Anything gift you give will make a huge difference to the happiness of a child this year. The Toys and Teens Appeal 2023 is collecting new and nearly new toys from donation drop off points, as well as using funds from the Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for children to open on Christmas day.
To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points below - click here for more details on what can be donated. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each year: Thank you During October half term (24th and 25th October), we organised an outing to Chessington and Thorpe Park for two groups of young people. Here are some of the thank-you's we received from this trip: "Just wanted to say a huge thank you, Darcy really enjoyed the day, it was a lovely experience for her, I enjoyed it too even though I didn't partake in any rides, she went on loads even on her own! We are definitely tired out and going to have a lay in this morning haha, it's amazing how knackering a day walking about in the crisp air can make you feel."  "Thank you Reading Family Aid for giving us this wonderful opportunity. Skylar had a lovely day thank you."  "Thank you so much for putting on these trips. I had 2 younger children on the Chessington trip and 3 secondary school children on the Thorpe Park trip. The kids have been wanting to go for years but as a family I could never afford to take them. Also the older children would find Chessington boring and the younger children would be scared at Thorpe Park so being able to allow all the children to do something suitable for their age range was amazing and we are forever grateful for the opportunity. Thank you from all of us."  "Our Children have not stopped talking about Thorpe Park and the amount of fun they had, from the journey to the rides to the mazes to the journey home it was such an amazing day and this was definitely the highlight of their October Half Term."   Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is back for another year, sponsored by The Chronicle. This year the appeal is accepting new and nearly new toys at 33 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day.
One recipient tells of the difference the charity made to her Christmas in 2021. On 15th December, a day when Laura, a Grandmother, should have been celebrating her birthday, instead she found herself in hospital fighting for her life. All of Reading woke to the horrific news - a major fire had erupted in the flats in Rowe Court (Tilehurst). Laura who lived on the top floor had to escape the burning building in the middle of the night by jumping out of her living room window. Laura said “I saw smoke around me and everything went dark, it was then I thought what am I going to do? I didn’t have long to get out of the window. There were flames coming out of the communal window, and I knew I couldn’t escape that way. I decided, and jumped out of the sitting room window. I landed hard on grass and mud. I managed with the last breath in my body to call out to ask people to help me”. Laura was rushed to ICU in a critical condition with suspected broken Pelvis, hip, Collar bone, severe back injuries and potential internal damage. Laura has 17 Grandchildren and one great grandchild and even though everybody was happy that Laura was recovering she herself felt extremely down. The fire had destroyed all of her possessions along with all her presents carefully wrapped to give to her family on Christmas day. Reading Family Aid heard of her situation and came to the rescue. “The charity gave me presents to give to my grandchildren at Christmas, I couldn’t believe it. To know there’s some goodness in the world after what happened, I was in a dark place and I was so grateful for their help. To not have to worry meant everything to me. I can’t pay them back but I want to spread the word. It breaks my heart that there are children who won’t receive presents without the charity”. The Toys and Teens Appeal 2023 will be collecting donated new and nearly new toys from donation drop off points, as well as using funds from the Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for disadvantaged children to open on Christmas day. To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points here. More details on what can be donated can be found here. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each yea. Thank you  Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is back for another year, sponsored by The Chronicle. This year the appeal is accepting new and nearly new toys at over 30 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day.
We spoke to Clare Deakin-Smith, the Club Experience Manager at The Club at Mapledurham, about why they have chosen to support Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal for 2023. “We’re a very family-oriented club. Children are a very important aspect to the whole club, including the restaurant, the swimming pool, and the outside areas. And there’s nothing nicer than a happy child! I’ve got four, they’ve all grown up and left home, but I know what it’s like to have happy children.” “I have always instilled in all my children that you have to look at people that aren’t as fortunate. And to be able to support that here, and just get everybody to open their eyes and their minds a little bit and go, ‘let’s help’. And it doesn’t take a lot as well. Because nobody’s asking for big boxes of £50 Lego or anything. It’s just things that young people will take a huge amount of pleasure in opening – everyone loves to open presents.” “I think as much help as anybody can help, with just giving little things at Christmas, it makes a huge difference just to put a smile on a child’s face, or a young adult’s face as well. Very important, because it is formative memories that they will carry through.” “It’s just about making people feel good about themselves, and just doing a little something, for a little person. And whether that person is 16 or 5, anything that we can do to help, or anything that other businesses can do to help, by contacting the people that use their business, it’s perfect.” If you’re a member, or live near to The Club at Mapledurham, do stop by and leave your donation on the table at reception. Each Christmas, the Toys and Teens Appeal helps ensure that children who would not otherwise receive a single present, have something to open on Christmas morning. Last year, over 3,000 children received a gift at Christmas, through the generous donations of supporters. To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points here. More details on what can be donated can be found here. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each year. Thank you  Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens appeal is back for another year, sponsored by The Chronicle. This year the appeal is accepting new and nearly new toys at 33 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day. Christmas is an exciting time for families in Reading, regardless of culture or religion. And the appeal supports thousands of children living in poverty from refugees to families struggling in poverty. Imagine feeling you have to leave your home, family, friends to protect yourself and your children. Maybe you are fleeing violence or persecution. You pay and take terrible risks to get to the UK and find that you've jumped from the frying pan into the fire. You're in a totally different culture, may not speak the language, have little or no money and, have little hope of providing what you hoped would be a better life for you and your children any time soon. Already traumatised from your experiences, you and your children will likely be placed in a one room in a budget hotel with no cooking facilities and be subject to a long wait whilst your fate is decided. Christmas is an exciting time for families in Reading, regardless of culture or religion. And the appeal supports thousands of children living in poverty from refugees to families struggling in poverty. Ruth Perkins, a volunteer at Reading Family Aid said, “This sadly isn’t a scenario we’ve asked readers to imagine. It’s a reality for many, many families living right here, in Reading in 2023. I visited such a family to deliver toys and was welcomed into the tiny flat. The floors were concrete. There were no curtains. There was no furniture. No fridge. No washing machine. The little boy had no toys at all - he was just playing with a cardboard box. The Mum wasn't expecting me. She was overwhelmed when I showed her the sack of toys I had brought and burst into tears. I wished I could have given her more. These people are living in desperate conditions. The last thing they should have to worry about is how they can afford a present for their child this Christmas”.  The Toys and Teens Appeal 2023 will be collecting donated new and nearly new toys from donation drop off points, as well as using funds from the Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for children to open on Christmas day.
To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points. More details on what can be donated can be found here. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each year. Thank you  On the 30th October RFA's Chair, Wendy Howell, was invited to a meeting of the Thames Valley Flower Club where she was presented with a cheque for £600 by their Chair, Leslie. Wendy talked about our work and thanked them very much for their support.
They have also been collecting toys for the Toys and Teens Appeal.  Huge thanks to Thames Valley Flower Club!  Last week during half term, Reading Golf Club juniors organised a competition with some of the Seniors and donated toys to our appeal. Alex Stronach (2nd from the right in the back row), the Junior Captain 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". Thanks a lot Alex!   COULD YOU TELL YOUR CHILD THEY WON’T BE GETTING ANY PRESENTS THIS CHRISTMAS? Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is back for another year, sponsored by The Chronicle. This year the appeal is accepting new and nearly new toys at 33 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day. Imagine you had to tell your children that they won’t be getting a toy from Santa this year. This will be the incredibly sad situation that many families find themselves in this Christmas without your help. More families than ever are being plunged into poverty with the cost-of-living crisis having far-reaching consequences.  As we all know times are tougher than in previous years and none more so for those already struggling to make ends meet. To put things into context, last year Reading Family Aid gave Christmas presents to a record number of 3,001 disadvantaged children. Although this might sound positive it was a sad reminder that the reason this number is higher than in the previous year of 2,558 is that more and more families are living in poverty. Sadly this number is expected to rise again this year. If proof were needed then we only have to find evidence for just how many families are living in poverty. The number of children aged between 0-15 years now living in low-income families in Reading, is 10,568*. That means over 1 in 4 children are living in poverty in Reading. In a typical school class of 30 children, on average 7 of them will be living in poverty.  This becomes particularly apparent at Christmas time when all they wish for are presents from Santa. Reading Family Aid volunteer Charlie McLean said "I have two young boys and I can't imagine their faces if I told them Father Christmas hadn't come this year. As a parent it's so incredibly sad to think of children that won't receive even a single present on Christmas day. For them to wonder what they did wrong, and why they don't deserve a visit from Santa. That's why I help with, and donate to, the Toys and Teens Appeal every year. In the hope that I can bring even a small amount of happiness to their lives this Christmas".
One of the teachers of school pupils supported by last year's appeal said "I just wanted to say a massive massive thank you for the children's gifts. Two of the boys told me that they were both really happy at home because mum got gifts for them. (your gifts) ‘Child 1’ said "I got a book, and a marble game"; Child 2 said "I got a magic book, a brain puzzle game and a football". They were both delighted and said it was "one of the best days ever". As a result of the conversation we realised the children actually have no toys at all at home. Thank you for your help". The Toys and Teens Appeal 2023 will be collecting donated new and nearly new toys from donation drop off points, as well as using funds from the Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for children to open on Christmas day. To support the campaign you can donate a gift to the drop off points - more details on what can be donated here. If you cannot donate a gift the campaign also has an online GoFundMe page to help buy new presents for age groups that receive less donations each year. Thank you * . (www.gov.uk/government/collections/children-in-low-income-families-local-area-statistics) |
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