On Thursday night it was the Mayor's Civic Carol Service at St Mary's Minster Church. As one of the Mayor's Charities this year we, along with his other charities, were invited to do a reading. Wendy volunteered to do this for us. The Toys and Teens Appeal is now over for 2019. In total we collected and distributed toys to over 2,000 children. Sadly, that’s an increase of 300 children since last year, which shows how important this appeal is for Reading families at Christmas time. Over 15,000 new and nearly new toys were donated by the incredibly generous community including individuals and companies, churches and other and organisations: The Berkshire Freemasons, ROC Search, Logicalis, WorkDay, Deloitte, Clarify, Verizon, Dell, Dynamic Family Chiropractic, Reading Farmers Market, SAP Concur, Wellington Country Park, Throgmartin, BDO, Stewarts Coaches and so many more. Over the course of a week the toys were collected from the many donation points across Reading, including Big Yellow Storage, in vans kindly lent to us for free by Caversham Vehicle Hire. The toys arrived at our hall, and were packed with the help of our incredible volunteers, some of whom have been packing toys for us for 10 years! Thanks to BDO, PWC, RBS, Throgmorten, Huntswood, Dell, SAP Concur and the many other companies and individuals that helped over the week. And thanks to Maiden Earley Rotary Club for sponsoring the food and drink that kept our volunteers going during the week The toys have now been delivered to the people who requested toys on behalf of the families with whom they work: Social Workers, Health Visitors, Schools, Churches and other Charities who will deliver them to their families. We’re sure these gifts will put a smile on the faces of all the children this Christmas. Lastly, a huge thank you to our main sponsors: The Reading Chronicle, Big Yellow Storage, The Berkshire Freemasons and Caversham Vehicle Hire. This appeal couldn’t happen without you.
But the Toy Appeal is not the only thing Reading Family Aid do each year. We also take deprived children to the Pantomime and on a Summer Outing to a theme park, the seaside or another lovely location. To do this we need sponsorship and funding. Our charity is completely non-profit and we get no regular funding, and all our committee and volunteers work for free meaning any money you donate goes straight to giving these children a wonderful experience and putting smiles on their faces. If you can spare any donation, please go to our DONATE NOW page, or if you are a member of a company please get in touch as we’d love to be one of your chosen charities this year. Thank you! |
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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