Blog Posts

TOYS & TEENS APPEAL 2017

1/2/2018

Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens Appeal has now finished for 2017, and we are over the moon to report that it’s been another hugely successful year!

Thanks to the immense generosity of the people of Reading, this year we were able to give gifts to 1,400 children from 600 local families, helping to make their Christmases a little happier.

We had 31 public donation points situated all over the Reading area, collecting toys from the general public during the period 19 October – 4 December.

In addition to this, a record number of businesses, offices, schools, faith and social groups organised their own collections. All in all we estimate we received over 10,000 quality toy donations and filled well over 700 sacks full of toys!

With the help of 135 volunteers (including the Mayor!) and a team of 15 van men to collect, sort and pack up the toys, we were able to ensure the gifts were delivered to families, via their social workers, health visitors etc. in time for Christmas.

Reading Family Aid Chair, Wendy Howell commented: “We were absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of the people of Reading this year. Thanks to the support of each and every individual, company, school, faith and social group who donated to the Toys & Teens appeal we were able to provide over 1,400 local children with quality gifts in time for Christmas. We are also hugely thankful for the support of our sponsors, to all of the many Donation Points for taking in the toy donations, and to the many many volunteers, whose help during the toy packing week was absolutely essential. We wish everyone a very Happy Christmas!”

EARLEY GREEN FAIR

30/8/2017

Thank you to everyone who supported the Reading Family Aid stall at Earley Green Fair earlier this month. Despite the thunder and rain we had really good turn out and managed to make £853.34! Fantastic!

THANK YOU BERKSHIRE FREEMASONS!

30/7/2017

Huge thanks to David Jarvis - the Provincial Almoner from The Berkshire Freemasons - for attending our AGM last week.

The Berkshire Freemasons have been huge supporters of our Toy Project and it was really interesting to find out from David what Freemasonry was all about, and in particular the charitable work that they undertake.

The Freemasons goal is to relieve poverty and distress in the community, through cash donations for specific projects or to individuals. Money is raised solely from the donations of its members.
David surprised us all by presenting our Chair Wendy Howell with a cheque for £1,780 for our 2018 Camp Mohawk Outing!

Thank you to all the Berkshire Freemasons! This incredibly generous donation will make such a difference to so many local families living in poverty.

toys and teens appeal launches 20th october

12/10/2016

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

donation from winnersh parish council

5/10/2016

Following some successful fundraising at the Winnersh Summer Fete in July (see our previous blog post), we would like to thank Winnersh Parish Council for their generous donation of £500. The cheque was presented to Wendy Howell, RFA Chair by John Southgate, Vice-Chair of the council.

earley green fair raises £800

20/8/2016

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!

nominated for two 'pride of reading' awards!

16/7/2016

We are thrilled to have been nominated for two Pride of Reading awards this year. Reading Family Aid has been nominated as 2016 Charity of the Year and Sallie and Ruth have been nominated as Community Champions.

Thank you to Heather Key for nominating us for these awards. Heather works at Interserve and has been volunteering for Reading Family Aid for several years.

Read more about the Pride of Reading award nominations.

RFA RAISE OVER £300 at winnersh summer fete

10/7/2016

On 18th June, Reading Family Aid were one of 2 charities to benefit from the Winnersh Summer Fete.

We had our own stall to promote the charity. The weather was kind and plenty of people supported our Tombola, Lucky Bags, Bran Tub & Lollipop Game.

We raised over £300 from our stalls and hope for a similar amount from the fete itself.

Thanks go to Lorraine, a committee member, for suggesting us to the fete committee. Also to Sallie, Wendy & Lorraine for manning the stalls.

camp mohawk 2016

6/7/2016

June 2nd 2016 dawned with grey skies as we set of for the annual day trip to Camp Mohawk. We were expecting about 100 people to join us for a day in the country and there isn’t much indoor space on the site, so we were all keeping our fingers crossed that the skies would clear, and indeed they did!

Cookie the Clown entertained the children with his magic show and balloon animals, and Jaime created many tigers, lions, butterflies, princesses, spider men, and other colourful characters with her lovely professional face painting.

Each year we have Farms2Ewe bring a variety of animals which can be held stroked and groomed, from goats and ponies to chicks and rabbits.

The swimming pool is always popular, it is heated, and swimming in the open in the countryside is a different experience to visiting an indoor pool.

A lot of tired families travelled home at the end of the day having enjoyed a relaxing day and it didn’t rain!

paul runs the london marathon to raise money for reading family aid

6/7/2016

On 24th April this year one of our committee members, Paul Cooper ran the London Marathon to raise money for Reading Family Aid.

Paul has been on the committee for about 18 months and helps maintain our website, manage our social media pages and support our publicity efforts. He's also a keen runner.

"I took up running about 6 or 7 years ago to get fit," explains Paul. "I found I really enjoyed it, and I started entering races to give myself a purpose and keep me motivated. In the last few years I have run a few half-marathons, but this was my first full marathon."

"It was really tough, but also an amazing experience. The support from the crowds is incredible, especially as I took everyone's advice and had my name printed on my shirt. Hearing hundreds of spectators calling out my name and cheering me on down the Embankment really carried me home over the last few miles."

So far Paul has raised a fantastic £2,412.97, but he's slightly short of his target and there is still time to sponsor him by visiting his fundraising page.

Paul says "I was overwhelmed by all the support I received. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! I know what a difference it will make to Reading Family Aid."

"I really enjoyed running the marathon - in fact I have entered the ballot for next year and if I'm lucky enough to get a place I will be trying to beat my fundraising total and my time!"

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