How did we get started for last Christmas?It all started in July last year when the Committee met to discuss how we would run the Toys And Teens Project for 2021. With Covid still rife we wanted to minimise the risk to our committee and volunteers and not have the usual hoards of people in the Hall doing the sorting and packing. So we reluctantly decided to do mainly as we did for 2020 and have an appeal for money to buy toys but also to accept some toy donations. In 2020, we raised over £30,000 and provided toys for 1401 children so we were hoping to do something similar in 2021. We did have around £6,000 left over and also some toys in storage that had arrived too late for 2021 Christmas. We surveyed all the organisations that we support and asked them how many children they thought they would be requesting toys for and were astonished when we added up all the estimates and it came to 2,500!! Eeek! So we knew our money appeal and our toy appeal had to go the extra mile. Our Sponsors 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 The Appeal
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 were very glad of the warmth inside at Tesco in Portman Road on a very cold and snowy day. People came in their hoards with a large selection of toys and books, including the Tesco staff who donated a number of crate-fulls of toys.
Dealing with the RequestsWe 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.  Bags were then packed with about 10 items in each suitable for a small spread of ages and both genders. These bags were then split between the receiving organisations and they decided which child would get what.  This work was done almost entirely by committee members although we did have to ask a couple of our regular volunteers if they could come and help one of the days - there were so many toys! We also had a couple of volunteer van-men to collect the toys and distribute the packed sacks. The Final TotalsThe 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! So huge thanks to everyone that donated money or toys, to our sponsors and to the committee and volunteers that came to help.
There were 2558 extra smiles on children's faces that Christmas morning - Santa had not forgotten them.  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 “30% of children in the U.K. are currently living in poverty”[1] – a shocking statistic that highlights the increasing plight of thousands of children in this country. In our town, the figures are equally astonishing with 28.6% and 27.3% of children classified as living in poverty in Reading West and Reading East respectively. This equates to over 15,000 locally affected children.
The negative impacts of poverty on children are wide reaching and indicate that this is an issue that affects every aspect of their lives. These children are at a greater risk of mental and physical health problems. They more frequently express a sense of hopelessness about their future. At school, they are more likely to go hungry or be punished for missing items of school uniform that their parents are simply unable to afford. They are more likely to be victims of bullying and to feel as though they are unsafe.[2] Christmas for many families is a time for celebration, giving and happiness but for those living in poverty, it is often a time of worry, stress and guilt. Jeanie Herbert is a Manager at Alana House. The organisation helps to distribute toys from the charity’s Christmas appeal to families in need. She said “The additional cost of Christmas looms large and some parents see in advance that they will struggle to provide for their children. Families are suffering behind closed doors. Some are struggling to feed their children. Parents have faced ongoing stress and children will have also felt the impact of this. For people to help with the toy project and bring some normality to families this Christmas in a very strange year, would be a huge blessing to many”. In 2019 Reading Family Aid delivered presents to over 2,000 children, an increase of 300 on the previous year. Given the significant financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on many, we are expecting more children than ever before to need your help. As well as donating, the charity would be incredibly grateful if you considered holding a fundraising event. You could organise a ‘mufti day’ at school or the office, a pyjama day for your ‘Zoom’ meetings, or share our 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. Our fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, at which point the fund will be used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to underprivileged children across Reading. We’d also like to give a big thank you to our sponsors: Berkshire Freemasons, Big Yellow, Caversham Vehicle Hire. To donate, please visit our Go Fund Me crowdfunding page. You can also print out a poster here. References: [1] www.endchildpoverty.org [2] www.childrenssociety.org.uk The Toys and Teens Appeal continues!
The Christmas Toys and Teens Appeal, organised by Reading Family Aid, will be slightly different this year due to the pandemic. In order to protect volunteers, and supporters, the charity has decided not to open up donation points this year. In its place the charity has set up a fundraising page and is asking you to donate money instead of gifts. This money will then be used to buy new Christmas presents for disadvantaged children in Reading, which will be delivered directly to the organisations that help them. The appeal hopes to be back to normal in future years so if you can hold onto those new and nearly new gifts they will be greatly appreciated then, but for this year the need for your support is as great (if not greater) than ever. Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on families across the UK. The IPPR predicts the virus will plunge 1.1 million more people in the UK below the poverty line by the end of the year, including a further 200,000 children. [1] In the last two weeks of March, the number of households with children helped by the Trussell Trust’s food banks increased by 122% in the UK.[2] Devastatingly, Covid-19 has plunged many more Reading families into poverty. A woman who received toys for her children from the project last year wrote to the charity recently to say: “This year has been a difficult year for everyone with many ups and downs. I started the year positive with a job (and happy). But then lockdown hit and I was yet again left unemployed. Depression settled in as I have struggled to find money to feed my three children, which is even harder than normal as I have been benefit capped and am £600 a month worse off than before. I'm taking one day at a time at the minute. I am hoping that Reading Family Aid will be able to help me again this year. Without the charity’s help, I would really struggle to make Christmas special for my children. Each year they continue to help less fortunate families, so thank you and please continue to give hope”. But the Toys and Teens Appeal is here to help. Sponsored by The Reading Chronicle and organised by Reading Family Aid, the charity is raising funds this year to buy new presents to give to disadvantaged Reading families at Christmas time. Your generosity has helped us to get gifts to families in need for 50 years and still has the power to make such a big impact on the Christmases of those we can reach. Last year the Office Manager of a local school, after receiving a delivery of toys for families in need, said: “We were completely overwhelmed when the parcels were dropped off. Seeing the generosity of people and knowing the impact the gifts will make and the burden lifted off our families at this time of year brought tears to our eyes. The looks of surprise, relief and thankfulness on the parents’ faces when they collected the toys for their children were overwhelming. Thank you.” As well as donating, the charity would be incredibly grateful if you considered holding a fundraising event. You could organise a ‘mufti day’ at school or the office, a heroes and heroines day at your child’s nursery, print out our poster and stick it in your window or share our 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. Our fundraising page will remain open until 4th December, at which point the fund will be used to buy presents that will be sent directly to organisations and distributed to underprivileged children across Reading. We’d also like to give a big thank you to our sponsors: Berkshire Freemasons, Big Yellow, Caversham Vehicle Hire. To donate, please visit our Go Fund Me crowdfunding page. You can also print out a poster here. References: [1] https://www.ippr.org/news-and-media/press-releases/1-1-million-more-people-face-poverty-at-end-of-2020-as-a-result-of-coronavirus-pandemic-finds-ippr [2] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/01/uk-food-banks-face-record-demand-in-coronavirus-crisis The Annual Christmas Toys & Teens Appeal is back – but in a new guise! In order to protect our volunteers due to Covid-19, we have decided not to run the toy project as usual this year. Instead of collecting presents, we are asking you, our generous supporters, to donate money instead of 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. In the first three weeks of UK ‘lockdown’ it’s estimated a quarter of all households in the UK had lost either a substantial part, or all of their earned income as a result of Covid-19. Devastatingly, this has plunged many more Reading families into poverty. Out of the organisations we support, nearly all are asking for more presents this year as families struggle to cope, relying on food banks and having to choose between heating or a gift for their children at Christmas. But the Toys and Teens Appeal is here to help. Sponsored by The Reading Chronicle and organised by Reading Family Aid, we are raising funds this year to buy new presents suitable for ages 0 – 16, to give to disadvantaged Reading families at Christmas time.  The project was launched today by the Mayor of Reading, Cllr. David Stevens. He said “It’s my pleasure to support the Reading Family Aid Toys appeal 2020 and I’d encourage everyone to take part and show how generous our community can be. Although it may be surprising and upsetting to think that we have children in Reading who are living in poverty, we can all do this small thing to help put a smile on the faces of those young people who may not get any Christmas presents if it weren’t for this appeal”. The appeal has a profound effect on families and children who receive these gifts each year. One such recipient, Paige, remembers the difference the appeal made to her when she was younger. “My mum was a single parent, she scrimped and scraped and did the very best she could for us in the circumstances she was facing. One year, we were living in a women’s and children’s haven after moving out from [my mum’s] abusive partner. We received a Christmas box and some nice toiletries/pjs etc. It was the gesture more than anything that meant the most”. She explains “Whilst presents are not the be all and end all at Christmas, to a child they mean a great deal. Nobody wants to be that child that goes back to school after the Christmas holidays and has to listen to their friends talk about all the presents they received, whilst they didn't. Imagine seeing your own children with nothing to open on Christmas morning. For those with little else, this Christmas present could be everything.”  In 2019, the Toys and Teens Appeal delivered gifts to over 2,000 disadvantaged children from 895 families in time for Christmas. This year, please consider donating to our cause. You could organise a ‘mufti day’ at school or the office, or share our 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. Our 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 our Go Fund Me crowdfunding page. You can also print out a poster here to help us promote our appeal. 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! Next week sees the launch of the 2016 Reading Family Aid Toys & Teens Appeal. This annual appeal brings a little hope and happiness to local families living in desperate need, at a time of year when many feel lost and forgotten about.
The charity’s Toys & Teens Appeal collects and redistributes new or as new toys at Christmas to disadvantaged families who have been nominated by social workers and support organisations across the Reading area. All toys are generously donated by individuals, businesses, schools, churches etc. and dropped at local donation points; from Theale to Twyford and from Winnersh & Emmer Green to Shinfield. The donation points will open on Thursday 20th October and remain open until Sunday 4th December, after which scores of volunteers will sort, pack & deliver over 10,000 donated items to their grateful recipients. None of this would be possible without the support of local volunteers and businesses such as Big Yellow who provide free storage facilities and Rabbits who provide vans to deliver all of the gifts. In 2015, Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens Appeal delivered gifts to 1,500 disadvantaged children from over 600 families, and with the help of the local community it aims to extend its reach even further this year. More information on how you can support Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal, including where to donate, can be found on our website or follow us on twitter @RdgFamilyAid or Facebook. If you would like to get involved with volunteering, please contact us at info@ReadingFamilyAid.org August 6th, the day of Earley Green Fair unusually dawned with clear blue sky and sun forecast for the whole day. Hurrah! We were unloading the cars by 8.15 and an hour later we were all set to go with a good selection of toys, children's and adult books, adult jigsaws, bric-a-brac, children's clothes and a fantastic Tombola.  Our supporter, Seve Mardell, set up his display of delicious jams, marmalade and chutneys.  Business started early with brisk trade particularly on the toys, jigsaws, jams and books. Many people had a go on the Tombola and went away with brilliant prizes, although not always with what they had their eye on - although that often brought them back for another try! The sun shone, it got warmer and warmer, and the ice cream van did brisk trade with us taking it turns to seek a rest in the shade.  A great day with over £800 being raised with the money going towards this year's Toys and Teens. Huge thanks to everyone that visited us!  This year has been one of our most successful appeals ever. Thanks to everyone who donated and contributed their time! With your help we were able to deliver gifts to 1,500 children in the Reading area. Here's a review of how everything came together during the week of collecting, sorting and distributing the toys. Sunday It all starts on Sunday afternoon when we take over St Luke's church hall and set up all the tables. It's important everything is ready for when the toys start arriving on Monday morning.  Monday On Monday morning the toys start arriving in the vans and the tables fill up quickly. That's not surprising given that we had 31 public donation points and 19 private collections this year, generating a record 13 van loads of donations! Items are sorted as they arrive and are then taken to the designated tables so it's easier to select appropriate toys for each child later. Lorraine is filling Christmas stockings that were made for the appeal by Sallie's quilting club.  Tuesday This is one of our busiest days as donations continue to arrive at the hall and the tables are overflowing. It's time for our volunteers to collect a bag from the nerve centre in the office. Each bag is pre-labelled with some information about the child (or children) who will receive the gifts, and volunteers go round the tables choosing gifts that best match the information we have about each child. One hundred and seventeen volunteers helped out in the hall this year, and filled 728 bags between them. Sarah Hacker, the Mayor of Reading, even paid us a visit and packed a bag of toys for a 5 year old girl.  Wednesday Mark Hepplethwaite and his colleague from the Masons arrived this morning with a another large delivery of toys - where to put them all?! The record number of donations this year kept everyone busier than ever, but meant that we could be generous with the gifts. Thursday As the week draws to a close we are focussed on finishing packing all the labelled bags and distributing them to the charities and social workers who will wrap and deliver them to the families in time for Christmas.  Friday It's finally time to start packing up the hall, and the final bags are distributed in the vans. This year we had a team of 14 van drivers who drove a total of 600 miles to collect the donations and deliver the packed bags. And so the appeal has finished for another year. We have received so many lovely messages from the organisations who received the gifts. Here are just a few of them: “I would like to say a huge thank you to Reading Family Aid for all the wonderful gifts that were donated to our families, they have been gratefully received. It really is heartwarming to see how generous people have been.” – Community Nursing Secretary, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust "I just want to say a big thank you to you and the team for all the wonderful toys we received to bless our CAP families this Christmas. They have now all been wrapped and delivered and the excitement and appreciation that was evident when we delivered them was a delight to behold. We know there will be some very happy children on Christmas Day." – Liz, CAP UK Thank you everyone! Your hard work and generosity have made a real difference to the lives of many children in Reading.
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