 Reading Family Aid was at Tesco on Portman Road last Saturday receiving toys, gift and money donations from the generous Tesco shoppers.  Three car fulls of toys and gifts were donated as well as almost £200 in cash. Brilliant result. BUT we have nearly 3,000 children on our list so we need as any toys and gift as Reading can muster! Tell all your friends and family! Donate soon - Donation Points close in 11 days!
 John Skyes Foundation released the following press release this week announcing their donation. Reading Family Aid which has been established for over 50 years is the latest charity to receive a Covid-19 Relief Fund grant from the John Sykes Foundation. The charity, which run the annual Toys and Teens Appeal fundraiser, were visited by John Sykes, Founder and Chair of Trustees, who presented a cheque of £1,000 to provide toys for Children up to 16 in the Reading area, to Ruth Perkins, Trustee and Laura Windisch, Project Manager, both from Reading Family Aid. Also in attendance was Deputy Mayor of Reading Debs Edwards and Karl Nixon from Big Yellow Storage.  The Toys and Teens Appeal invites local people to donate toys or funds via the GoFundMe page to help make Christmas more special for those children set to receive nothing this festive season. This year, almost 3,000 referrals for gifts have been registered with the group, as parents struggle to keep houses warm and feed their children, up approximately by 500 on last year, and requests are still being received by social workers, health visitors, and other charities. Ruth Perkins added, “We at Reading Family Aid were overwhelmed to receive a phone call last week from the John Sykes Foundation with the amazing news that we had been awarded £1,000 to buy toys for this year's Toys and Teens Appeal. There is evidently increasing levels of poverty in Reading which already has some of the most deprived areas in the country.” “One of the organisations Reading Family Aid supports said that they are having increasing numbers of children coming to their youth clubs hungry. Toys at Christmas are going to be way down their parents' priority lists. Last year Reading Family Aid provided toys to over 2,500 Reading children who otherwise would have received no presents. This year we are anticipating an increased number of requests.” “Supporting our Toys and Teens Appeal is more important than ever. Receiving this funding will allow us to put smiles on many more children's faces and give them a wonderful Christmas to remember.”  Deputy Mayor of Reading Councillor Debs Edwards said, “Parents are really struggling, Reading is supposed to be quite a wealthy place but it has got such big pockets of deprivation and we have got many parents who are really worried - trying to keep their jobs and keep their house warm, feed their children - and sometimes Christmas is just a cracker and a sandwich.” She continued, “I am just so proud that John Sykes has concentrated on Reading, we really need this.”  John Sykes commented, “We are delighted to donate £1,000 from our Covid-19 Relief Fund towards Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal. Every child should feel the excitement of waking up to gifts under the tree, however we know for some families that after a tough couple of years, they are struggling to even get by day-to-day, and for some it's a question of putting food on the table or affording presents.”
“It was a pleasure to meet with Ruth, Laura, and other members of the charity, and I was touched to learn that all of the wonderful team are volunteers who make it their mission that in Reading, every child, without exception, wakes up to a present from Father Christmas.” For more information on Reading Family Aid, or for drop off points and the GoFundMe page please visit https://www.readingfamilyaid.org/ If you work or belong to a local Charity or Organisation and would like to know more or apply for one of the John Sykes Foundation’s grants, please visit www.johnsykesfoundation.org  This morning John Sykes from the John Sykes Foundation presented Reading Family Aid with a cheque for £1,000 for toys for this year's Toys and Teens Appeal. Established in 2014 by John Sykes, the John Sykes Foundation is a UK registered charity which has been established to improve the lives and well-being of individuals and communities within the town of Reading where there is an element of disadvantage.
This will allow Reading Family Aid to buy many more toys for the nearly 3,000 children that have been referred so far. On behalf of these children we'd like to say a Big Thankyou to the John Sykes Foundation. John was accompanied by Cllr. Debs Edwards, Reading's Deputy Mayor who has been a long time supporter of Reading Family Aid. Also a big thankyou to Big Yellow, one of our main sponsors, for hosting the photo shoot.  Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens Appeal continues for 2022, sponsored by The Chronicle, Reading. The charity is requesting its generous supporters donate new and nearly new toys at 28 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to under-privileged children in Reading and the surrounding area, who otherwise wouldn’t receive a present this Christmas. The appeal has gathered support over the years from incredibly kind donators ranging from schools, churches and individuals to companies. One of these is Roc Search, with their HQ in Reading, who for the past 5 years have encouraged all 100 of their employees to take part.  “At Roc Search we’ve always actively done everything we can to support the local community, including our support for Reading Family Aid over the years through their toys and teens appeal. The work they do is absolutely incredible and we’ve seen first-hand the impact the charity have had on the lives of disadvantaged families across Reading. “Every year we’ve set ourselves up as a dedicated donation point for the Toys and Teens appeal, putting up a huge Christmas-themed collection station right in the entrance of our office. This way it is visible to our employees every time they come to and from the office. The idea of a child potentially not receiving anything from Santa at Christmas is something that strikes a chord very single person here at Roc, many of whom have families of their own” “Without the work that charities like Reading Family Aid do, thousands of children would wake up to nothing on Christmas morning. The work they do makes such a huge impact on the lives of so many families, and we feel very proud to be doing our part by supporting their efforts.”  If you work for a company based in Reading or the surrounding areas, please consider setting up a toy collection in your office, or donating to one of the 28 donation points across Reading. Any donations you can give will make a huge difference to a little person’s life this Christmas.
Please visit our Toy Donations page for details of how to donate toys and to find out what we can (and can't) use. We are also running a GoFundMe appeal again. The money raised buys new presents for age groups that aren’t provided for, typically teenagers, batteries for toys and is an easier way to donate for those that can’t access our donation points or don’t know what to buy. Thank you.  Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens Appeal continues for 2022, sponsored by The Chronicle, Reading. The charity is requesting its generous supporters donate new and nearly new toys at 28 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be distributed to under-privileged children in Reading and the surrounding area, who otherwise wouldn’t receive a present this Christmas. Through social workers, schools and organisations, Reading Family Aid are able to identify children who are the most in need of support from the Toys and Teens Appeal each year. One such group is Grassrootz, a collection of volunteers who run youth clubs for underprivileged children in Reading. The group was set up by Kelvin Husbands, when he noticed there was no provision for young people after school. To keep these young people out of gangs and give them somewhere to go, Kelvin has now set up three clubs across Reading. He said “The cost of living crisis has really affected some of our young people. We have noticed lots of children coming to the club hungrier than before. We have bread and spreads available in case a child is hungry but in recent weeks we are going through double the amount of loaves”. When talking about the Toys and Teens Appeal Kelvin said “This appeal is important, especially this year with the cost of living rising. Christmas is an extremely difficult time and whilst most of us look forward to this time of year, lots of families feel under an awful amount of stress and pressure. The expectations and demands on families are huge and this is an additional pressure that some of them feel really guilty about as they can’t give their children the Christmas they would like to. Last year, after receiving presents from this appeal, the children we support said it was the best Christmas they’d ever had”.  If you can spare it, please consider donating a new or nearly new toy to the appeal this year. You can drop gifts off at any of the 28 donation points. Or, if you can’t donate a toy, please consider donating to the GoFundMe appeal. The money raised buys new presents for age groups that aren’t provided for. Please help a child have a happy Christmas this year. Thank you.
Please visit our Toy Donations page for details of how to donate toys and to find out what we can (and can't) use.  On a sunny but chilly late October day Reading Family Aid had a stall in Henley market place to publicise the addition of the Christchurch Centre on Reading Road in Henley to our list of Donation Points for the Toys and Teens appeal.  With the help of volunteers Celia and Jo, leaflets were handed out and the word was spread.
Connor Roughneen, Founder and Managing Director of Roc Search, and his team have launched their in-house toy appeal and have joined the growing list of Toys and Teens Public Donation Points in Reading. They have been supporting Reading Family Aid for many years and their staff twist the arms of their friends, family and colleagues in other branches around the world to donate to the appeal. Ruth from the RFA committee went along to help to launch the appeal and tell the staff about Reading Family Aid and why the Toys and Teens Appeal is so important to Reading's disadvantaged families.  Last year they filled a transit van with their huge pile of donations and this year they are aiming to go bigger and better. Their donations box is the biggest cardboard box ever seen!
 Reading Family Aid were awarded £1,000 by Tesco Community Grants towards buying toys for this year's Toys and Teens Appeal. Sallie from our committee has been busily choosing and buying a range of toys for teenagers, babies and specialist items for children on the autistic spectrum.  These toys will be added to the hopefully huge number of toys that are currently being donated at the nearly 30 donation points around Reading.
 Skipton Building Society in Reading are running a Community Giving Scheme where they are donating £1000 split between three local charities or not-for-profit community groups who make a huge difference in their area. Reading Family Aid is one of the three chosen by the staff in Reading. Customers who visit the branch before Dec 9th will be given the option to vote for their favourite charity or community group. The more votes the bigger share of the £1000 we will get! 
 Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens Appeal is BACK for 2022, sponsored by The Chronicle, Reading. The charity is requesting generous supporters to donate new and nearly new toys at 28 donation points across Reading and the surrounding areas. These toys and gifts will be organised by hundreds of volunteers and distributed to under-privileged children in Reading and the surrounding area, who otherwise wouldn’t receive a present this Christmas. Sadly, this year is set to be one of the busiest for the appeal, as more families than ever before have reached out for help this Christmas. One family who received gifts from the Toys and Teens Appeal know only too well how much this support means to families in need. In December, on a day when Grandmother, Sarah* should have been celebrating her birthday, she instead found herself in hospital fighting for her life. A fire broke out in her flat in Reading, and she was forced to jump out of a window to escape the blaze. She was left in ICU in a critical condition with a suspected broken Pelvis, hip, Collar bone, severe back injuries and potential internal damage. In the fire Sarah lost all of her possessions, including all the Christmas presents she’d saved to buy for her grandchildren. The Toys and Teens Appeal came to Sarah’s aid, and helped to give her gifts to give to her grandchildren at Christmas time. Her daughter said “Mentally my mum was really struggling and couldn’t shake the thought that there was somebody so evil that they would set light to a block of flats and endanger the lives of everybody living in the building. This linked to the fact my Mum wasn’t able to give any presents to her Grandchildren who are her world, was really affecting her mental health. We as a family owe so much to Reading Family Aid. Their supporters’ generosity helped us through a very dark time in our lives. For my mum, seeing her grandchildren happy gave her a reason to fight even harder in her recovery”. Sarah said “I owe so much to Reading Family Aid, they helped me when I was at my lowest physically, financially and mentally. I had nowhere to live, lost everything I owned, didn’t know the severity of my injuries, if I would walk again. My children and Grandchildren are everything to me and the thought of everything being destroyed was really getting me down. I would like to say thank you to everybody at Reading Family Aid and all the people who have donated you will never know how much you have done for me and my family”. * Name changed  This year, please help us to support families like Sarah’s and those who, due to the cost of living crisis, cannot afford presents this Christmas. If you work in Reading, please consider setting up a workplace giving box and donating a toy each per staff member, or if your children attend local schools setting up a school donation point. Every toy makes a huge difference to the children supported by the appeal.
If you can’t donate a toy, please consider donating to the charity’s GoFundMe appeal. The money raised buys new presents for age groups that aren’t provided for. Visit the charity’s Toy Donations page for details of how to donate toys and to find out what toys can and can’t be used, and to download posters. Please consider donating to our cause this year. Thank you. |
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