BLOG: Bumper Summer but back to school
August has been a great month at New Beginnings Reading preparing. We’ve taken the chance of not running the All Night Cafe to get a few things done around the building, like having a shower put which will be invaluable for guests when we’re able to reopen.
Fresh vegetables donated from Nvidia
We helped over 25 families get ready to go back to school by providing school uniforms for free. We’ve also seen a steady stream of people using our clothing and toiletries service on a Tuesday evening. From 7th September people will be asked to come on Mondays from 6pm to 7pm for the clothing, toiletries and school uniform service. The Community Fridge will continue to run from Tuesday to Friday as usual.
Our volunteer Ellie getting school uniforms ready
The Community Fridge was featured on That’s Thames Valley TV where I paid tribute to the incredible volunteers who have seen the charity through the last six months. The Community Fridge has benefited from generous donations over the last few weeks for which we are forever thankful. They have kept guests well fed, with the fresh fruit and vegetables particularly welcomed by those wanting to cook hot healthy meals. A special thanks to the Lions Club of Reading for their continued support in picking up bumper loads of donations from neighbourhoods across Reading.
More welcome donations from the Lions Club of Reading
We’ve also been lucky enough to continue to be the sponsored charity for BJP Insurance Brokers Ltd - The Security Specialists who donated an incredible £420 from a horse racing event they held. Good luck to Andrew from us here on your 1 mile swim to raise money for New Beginnings Reading. To sponsor Andrew visit here.
BizSpace (UK) Ltd raised money for us from selling surplus furniture and Veg4Reading and Nvidia for supplying fresh, locally grown produce to the New Beginnings Reading Community Fridge Food Bank.
We’re looking to take on a Social Media and Marketing Volunteer to help with running our Facebook pages and website. The ideal person would have experience of producing creative and engaging content. More details can be found here.