In early January, Reading Family Aid were honoured to receive four invitations to a Queen's Garden Party. Two were for Ruth Perkins for her work with the charity (carried over from 2020 because of Covid) and two were as a result of receiving the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2021.
So, on the afternoon of May 18th four members of the Reading Family Aid committee made the journey up to the Palace to enjoy the hospitality of the Queen! The four attending were (from left to right) Ruth Perkins (past Chair), Charlie Mclean (Publicity Mgr), Wendy Howell (Vice Chair),  and Sheila Wright (Incoming Email Mgr).

It was a gloriously warm and sunny day and we made our way into the gardens to explore.

At 4PM Beefeaters arrived on the terrace, the Royal party emerged from the Palace and God Save the Queen was played. Unfortunately the Queen herself could not be there but Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Edward, Duke of Wessex and Sophie, Duchess of Wessex were there. They mingled with the crowds and talked to many people although sadly not to any of us!

Afterwards we meandered through the crowds ( there were about 7,000 people there!), enjoyed a cooling drink and finally made our way home after a wonderful afternoon in the Queen's back garden!

On Monday April 11th a coachload of families had a lovely day out at Odds Farm Park. Many of the children had never been on a farm or seen live animals before.

Homestart said: "Thank you, once again, for arranging such a lovely day out for our families yesterday. Everyone had such a wonderful time.".

On Sunday March 27th Glass Ensemble held a concert at St Barnabas Church in Emmer Green and the retiring collection was for Reading Family Aid.

Ruth Perkins spoke about the work of Reading Family Aid. It must have pulled at the audience's heart strings as £580 was raised in the retiring collection!

Our regular sponsors came on board: 
The Reading Chronicle published articles and our poster each week and on their website
Big Yellow Self Storage gave us two small rooms to store the donated toys
Caversham Vehicle Hire donated a large van for us to collect all the donations, take the to the Hall and to distribute them to the various organisations that had requested toys from us.
Berkshire Freemasons donated over £3,000 worth of toys to us
​

We organised a number of Pop-Up Donation Points around town during November at Big Yellow, Woodley Precinct and Tesco in Portman Road. Lower Earley Library were also accepting donations.

We divided the organisations we support into two groups - one would get the donated toys and  for other we would buy gifts on-line with the donated money. It was nerve-wracking wondering if we would have enough toys and money donated! We invited the organisations to give us firm details on numbers, ages and genders of the children.
The purchasing elves on the committee started buying first using last year's remaining funds. We had identified a toy/gift and a book for each age and gender and the organisations could choose to receive these items or request specific things - each child would receive roughly £20 worth of items. In all we spent over £23,000. Most chose the items we had pre-selected.

For those receiving donated toys, we brought all the items to our regular church hall on Sunday December 5th. Each items was checked and sorted into age suitability. 

The fund raiser raised just over £15,000 plus some other donations which came direct during the October to December period.
​Once all the sacks were distributed and all the money spent - the last purchase being on December 23rd! - we had provided toys and gifts to a record breaking 2558 children! That is an 83% increase on the previous year and a 25% increase on our previous record in 2019. Phew!​

Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal returns for Christmas 2021. Winners of The
Queen’s Award, Reading Family Aid, are asking their generous supporters from the local
community to donate money on their Go Fund Me appeal. This money will be used to buy
new Christmas presents for deprived children in Reading and delivered directly to the
organisations that help them.
Reading’s new Mayor, Rachel Eden, said “The Toys and Teens appeal is absolutely vital. At
Christmas it becomes even more important for children and families to feel special. Not
every child will get a present on Christmas day without this support. The emotional impact
of this appeal is that families know that if you’re in real financial difficulty, that someone out
there cares and wants your child to have a good Christmas too”.
“I’ve always loved supporting this appeal but supporting as Mayor is an honour. Anyone
who’s in a position to please donate. It can just be a couple of pounds and that put together
with other people’s can help a child. This year is even more important than other years, we
have a lot of Reading children that need support”.
Scroll down to see the full video with the Mayor.

Reading Family Aid’s goal is to try to raise enough money and collect enough toys and gifts
so that every Reading family has at least one present for each of their children. So if you
have any spare change, if you’re buying a present for your children, or instead of your daily
coffee, please spare a thought for those children living nearby who won’t receive a present this year.
Please donate here on our GoFundMe site. Every single pound that you donate will go
towards putting smiles on more faces of Reading's disadvantaged children.

Alternatively, bring toys to one of our last pop up donation point: 
Saturday 27 November 11:00 - 15:00 Tesco Extra, Portman Road, Reading RG30 1AW
Or donate at Lower Earley Library, Chalfont Close, Earley, Reading RG6 5HZ anytime until
December 4th during opening hours 09:30 - 17:00 (19:00 on Thursdays, 16:30 on Saturdays,
closed Wednesdays and Sundays).

The fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, after which the funds will be
used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to deprived
children across Reading. To donate, please visit the Go Fund Me crowdfunding page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Reading-Family-Aid-Toys-and-Teens-21

The Annual Christmas Toys & Teens Appeal Continues With Support from Local Companies  
 
This year, winners of The Queen’s Award, Reading Family Aid, are asking their generous supporters from the local community to donate money on their Go Fund Me appeal.  This money will be used to buy new Christmas presents for deprived children in Reading and delivered directly to the organisations that help them. 
 
Every year schools, organisations and local companies donate toys and money to the appeal.  One of these companies, Roc Search, has been supporting the Christmas appeal for many years.  Nathan Fenton, Marketing Manager at Roc Search said “The fact that thousands of children in Reading alone wake up on Christmas morning to find that Santa’s left them nothing is heart-breaking.  It’s a reminder of how lucky we are but more importantly it serves as an opportunity for us to make a difference in these children’s lives”.
 
Wendy Howell, Vice Chair of Reading Family Aid has seen first hand the impact this Christmas appeal has on people’s lives.  She said:
 
“Some years ago, when we were packing toys, I found a card enclosed with a gift. The card read:
 
"As a child, I knew my family struggled with day-to-day living & wondered what Christmas would be like with a little money? I was so happy on Christmas morning to find presents under our small tree! Sometime later I discovered that Reading Family Aid had provided those toys. I never forgot that. So now, as an adult, I want to repay them by donating a toy to pass on to another struggling family. Keep up the good work”.
 
I remember bursting into tears when I read this message. Once I composed myself, I read the card to the other volunteers, reminding them that it was the reason why we do what we do”.
 
In 2020, the Toys and Teens Appeal delivered gifts to over 1,400 disadvantaged children in time for Christmas.  This year, please consider donating to this cause and share the below crowdfunding page on your social media.  Anything you can give, no matter how small will make a huge difference to these families at Christmas time.  Thank you. 
This year Roc Search are collecting both toys and monetary donations for the Toys and Teens appeal. Please get in touch with the charity if your company would also like to arrange a toy collection for the appeal this year.   
 
 
 
 
Alternatively, bring toys to a pop-up donation point: Saturday 20 November 11:00 - 15:00 Woodley Town Centre Precinct, Headley Road, Woodley, Reading RG5 4JZ
Saturday 27 November 11:00 - 15:00 Tesco Extra, Portman Road, Reading RG30 1AWOr donate at Lower Earley Library, Chalfont Close, Earley, Reading RG6 5HZ anytime until December 4th during opening hours 09:30 - 17:00 (19:00 on Thursdays, 16:30 on Saturdays, closed Wednesdays and Sundays).
We have had requests for more than 2,500 children.  So far, we've raised about £4,000.  There's a long way to go!


The fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, after which the funds will be used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to deprived children across Reading. There will be no donation points open this year as we are sadly unable to accept any gifts to limit the spread of Covid-19.
 
To donate, please visit the Go Fund Me crowdfunding page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Reading-Family-Aid-Toys-and-Teens-21

Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal returns for Christmas 2021. Winners of The Queen’s Award, Reading Family Aid, are asking their generous supporters from the local community to donate money on their Go Fund Me appeal. This money will be used to buy new Christmas presents for deprived children in Reading and delivered directly to the organisations that help them. Kelvin Husbands runs Grassrootz a community club based in Coley, Reading that provides a safe place for children aged 7 – 16 to play after school that we supported with equipment and toys. He said "You don’t understand the importance and impact you’ll be having on that child’s life. It could make their Christmas. "
Read the full article below and watch the amazing video.​

 
£35. 
Imagine if, after paying your rent / mortgage and utilities, you had just £35 left for the week.  It's not much is it?  That's what one of our families has to live on - a mum with 3 growing children.  That's £1.25 a day each.

That's not even enough money for food, never mind clothes, shoes, school uniform, bus fares, phone, internet.  So days out and holidays are obviously unthinkable.  And of course Christmas presents are an impossible challenge.
 
And this family are by no means unique.  Reading seems such an affluent town.  But in fact it has some of the most deprived areas of the country.  More than 10,000 children living in the Reading area are living in poverty.  There are many reasons why they find themselves in this situation: the parents can't get work, they are one parent families and can’t afford child care so can't work, they might suffer from drug and alcohol abuse, illness and disability of the parents or the children; they may be refugees; they may be homeless; they may have suffered from an abusive partner and had to escape with nothing. 
 
Kelvin Husbands runs Grassrootz a community club based in Coley, Reading that provides a safe place for children aged 7 – 16 to play after school.  The club has been supported by Reading Family Aid in the past with toys for the children, and this year the charity is hoping to raise enough funds to give every member of the club a Christmas present. 
 
Kelvin said: “Sometimes we forget there are people that are less privileged than we are. I know from doing what we’re doing some people don’t like to ask for help. There’s a lot of people who don’t have much, they have very little. Having a gift to take home will make such a big difference to the children and young people we look after. You don’t understand the importance and impact you’ll be having on that child’s life. It could make their Christmas.   
 
Danielle Reid, a volunteer from Grassrootz said “Because of the wide range of children who come here some children may not get that at Christmas, they may not have presents. To leave our club with something, at least we know all the children have been given something at Christmas and they have something to cherish. So please if you could donate something for the children it would be most appreciated”.  
 
This is where Reading Family Aid and our massive Toys and Teens Appeal comes in. Our goal is to try to raise enough money and collect enough toys and gifts so that every Reading family has at least one present for each of their children. 
Next time you go out for a meal or a few drinks and spend around £35 spare a thought for the 2000 - 3000 families in Reading who are having to make that £35 last all week.
 
Or when you stop off at your favourite coffee shop for a latte or cappucino, think that many Reading people would have to make that money last for nearly two days.

Please donate here on our GoFundMe site.
Every single pound that you donate will go towards putting smiles on more faces of Reading's disadvantaged children.
 
Alternatively, bring toys to one of our pop-up donation points: Saturday 20 November 11:00 - 15:00 Woodley Town Centre Precinct, Headley Road, Woodley, Reading RG5 4JZ
Sunday 14 November 11:00 - 15:00 Big Yellow Self Storage, Rose Kiln Lane, Reading, RG2 0JZ
Saturday 27 November 11:00 - 15:00 Tesco Extra, Portman Road, Reading RG30 1AWOr donate at Lower Earley Library, Chalfont Close, Earley, Reading RG6 5HZ anytime until December 4th during opening hours 09:30 - 17:00 (19:00 on Thursdays, 16:30 on Saturdays, closed Wednesdays and Sundays).
We have had requests for more than 2,500 children.  So far, we've raised about £2500.  There's a long way to go!
The fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, after which the funds will be used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to deprived children across Reading. To donate, please visit the Go Fund Me crowdfunding page:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Reading-Family-Aid-Toys-and-Teens-21
​

Reading Family Aid’s Toys and Teens Appeal returns for Christmas 2021. However, due to Covid-19, the charity has made the difficult decision to run the project virtually again, like last year. 
 
Instead of collecting presents, winners of The Queen’s Award, Reading Family Aid, are asking their generous supporters from the local community to donate money on their Go Fund Me appeal rather than gifts.  This money will be used to buy new Christmas presents for deprived children in Reading and delivered directly to the organisations that help them.
 
Each year, the charity depends not only on the incredible support from the local community, but also on the tireless efforts of our volunteers. Our small army of volunteers work incredibly hard throughout the year, and believe it or not, we start to plan our Toys and Teens Appeals almost as soon as the years presents have been delivered.
 
One person who knows just how much these presents mean to these children is Ailsa Cottam, a Social Worker at Brighter Futures for Children.  Ailsa said: “A lot of the families we work with are living on a very low income with some on the edge of severe poverty, with the increasing price of living, Covid, and reductions in government benefits these families are at their most vulnerable. Reading Family Aid have brought happiness and hope to 100’s of vulnerable children at Christmas time and have worked tirelessly to ensure every child has a special gift and a smile on their face”. 
She continued: “One family I delivered Christmas presents to have recently fled domestic abuse and were living in a women’s refuge; the young family had to leave their belongings behind and relied heavily on the support from local charities to help them with essentials, food, milk, clothing etc. The children of this family were supported by Reading Family Aid who donated good quality gifts for them at Christmas time, the children were so happy and thankful to receive such wonderful gifts, it made a huge difference to the families moral who had been through overwhelming trauma.”
 
In 2020, the Toys and Teens Appeal delivered gifts to over 1,400 disadvantaged children in time for Christmas.  This year, please consider donating to this cause and share the below crowdfunding page on your social media.  Anything you can give, no matter how small will make a huge difference to these families at Christmas time.  Thank you. 
The fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, after which the funds will be used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to deprived children across Reading. To donate, please visit the Go Fund Me crowdfunding page:

This year there will be just three pop up stalls opening to accept new toy donations across Reading:
- Sunday 14 November 11:00 – 15:00 – Big Yellow Self Storage, Rose Kiln Lane, Reading, RG2 0JZ
- Saturday 20 November 11:00 – 15:00 – Woodley Town Centre Precinct, Headley Road, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4JZ
- Saturday 27 November 11:00 – 15:00 – Tesco Extra, Portman Road, Reading RG30 1AW
  
Or to print out a poster and for more information, please see the website: www.readingfamilyaid.org.

On Thursday October 7th, four of the Reading Family Aid committee went to the Town Hall in Reading to receive the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service from Mr James Puxley, the Lord Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire.
The purpose of the award is to recognise groups of individuals who give their time freely for the benefit of others and is the highest honour that can be bestowed on groups like us. We were nominated by the then Mayor, Cllr. Paul Woodward and we progressed through the various stages of assessment at the local and national levels to be finally approved by the Cabinet Office. The award states that we were honoured for "Putting smiles on the faces of children and  families in the Reading area".

 In his citation, Chris Barrett DL, Deputy Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire, said:
"RFAG has no paid staff and virtually no overheads. It does not receive a grant from the local authority. It relies on fundraising events, generous business partners, donations from members of the public and occasional applications to charitable trusts. 
COVID-19 has clearly challenged RFAG but it has maintained support for needy children.
This group of highly efficient and dedicated volunteers provides an exemplary service in circumstances which are often difficult and where the need is significant. Its practical and inclusive vision is inspirational. "

Reading’s Mayor Cllr David Stevens congratulated Reading Family Aid on receiving the Queen’s Award. He said “The fact that Reading Family Aid have won the award is impressive. The fact that that they clearly demonstrated what they are doing in the community, the value that they are adding, the professionalism, the energy, the quality of the training of the volunteers, outstanding volunteering. It’s quite an accolade …. I am absolutely delighted.”

Watch the video below of the Mayor commenting on Reading Family Aid winning the award.