Here you can keep up with the latest from Reading’s 1000+ voluntary organisations and other voluntary sector news from around the area.
Get Berkshire Active Inclusion Forum
3 May 2022
Following a successful Inclusion Forum in March 2022, a lot has happened since! Our partners expressed an interest in meeting face-to-face to support further collaboration. GBA are inviting you to join our next forum, this is an opportunity for those working across Berkshire to come together, listen to presentations/keynote speakers on disability and long-term health conditions, ...
Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 – resources for young people
29 April 2022
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week will run from 9–15 May and the theme is the impact of loneliness and how we can tackle it. Recent research by the Mental Health Foundation has found many people have increasingly been suffering from feelings of isolation and loneliness and this can affect people of all ages. The campaign will ...
No5 Young People launches #5KinMay challenge!
29 April 2022
After the success of their 2021 campaign, No5 is back with their #5KinMay 2022 challenge No5 provides free and confidential counselling and mental health supporting for young people aged 11–25 who live, work or study in the ‘RG’ postcode area, and during last year’s lockdowns No5’s Young Ambassadors devised the #5KinMay challenge to help support people ...
Safe spaces for young people in the community
29 April 2022
The Safe Places and Signposting working group is looking at how it can set up and run safe places and activities, like youth clubs, for young people in Reading, utilising spaces within our communities. This work has been set up in response to the rising knife crime incidents locally in recent years and the feeling ...
Overcoming the barriers to participation – what stops people taking part in nature-based activities?
29 April 2022
Overcoming the barriers to participation – what stops people taking part in nature-based activities? On Wednesday 27 April, Reading Green Wellbeing Network (RGWN) hosted an event at MERL to share answers to this question and work out how to overcome barriers to participation in Reading. RGWN is a network of local community gardens, horticultural therapy groups and ...
Dementia Awareness Day – 10 May 2022
29 April 2022In collaboration with Reading Borough Council, The Caversham Golf Club, Caversham PCN, and Reading Voluntary Action, Warren & District Residents Association will be supporting: A Dementia Awareness Day at Maple Durham Pavilion and Playing Fields Tuesday 10 May 2022, 1pm–6pm (information stalls will close approx. 4pm) Everyone is welcome! Please drop in, take part in singing workshops; seated exercise, ...
Windrush Compensation Workshop – 14 May 2022
29 April 2022
Workshop to promote the Home Office Windrush Documentation and Compensation schemes to help anyone who arrived in the UK before 1989 and is settled here to obtain the correct documentation to live and work in the UK and or to obtain UK citizenship. If you have suffered loss as a result of the Home Office hostile ...
Making Every Contact Count: free training in Berkshire West
14 April 2022Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is an approach to behaviour change that uses the millions of day-to-day interactions that we have with people to support them in making positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing. It supports the delivery of consistent and concise healthy lifestyle information, enabling individuals to engage in conversations ...
Grow Wild Funding for Young People – deadline 25 April 2022
14 April 2022
Grow Wild is offering small grants for young people (aged 14 to 25 years) in the UK to deliver a creative project that celebrates UK native plants and fungi in exciting and engaging ways, and shares why UK native plants and/or fungi are so special. The project and funding are provided by Grow Wild, a national ...
Farmers’ Market seeks group to cook breakfasts
13 April 2022
Thames Valley Farmers’ Market Co-operative is keen to find a community group that would be willing to cook hot breakfasts at Reading Farmers’ Market as a regular fundraiser. The stall would be free of charge, they would waive the annual fee and they would also be willing to pay for a Level 2 food hygiene ...
Summer Internship Scheme is open for applications
13 April 2022Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is seeking motivated young people from ethnic backgrounds that are currently under-represented within the workforce, to take part in the Chairman’s Internship Scheme. As RBFRS continues to work towards an inclusive culture of equality and diversity, the Service wants to encourage people who may not have considered a career ...
Community Participatory Action Research showcase
8 April 2022
A showcase event for the Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR) project took place at MERL on Monday 4 April 2022 CPAR is a local partnership project investigating the impact of Covid-19 on health inequalities. The partnership between Reading Borough Council (RBC), Reading Community Learning Centre (RCLC), Reading Voluntary Action (RVA), the Alliance for Cohesion and Racial ...
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2023 – nominations open
8 April 2022
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK It was created in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation. It is the MBE for volunteer groups and is awarded for life. A list of past winners in Berkshire can be found here. The ...
Homes for Ukraine Scheme
7 April 2022
The first UK government-funded scheme linking sponsors with Ukrainian refugees has been launched. Phase One of the scheme opened for applications on 18 March 2022. The guidance is currently limited, but the main points of the Homes for Ukraine scheme are: ‘sponsors’ may offer a room in their own house or a separate house; the accommodation must ...
Reading Health Champions and Vaccine Fund – deadline extended to 8 April 2022
5 April 2022
Deadline Extended – the Reading Health Champions and Vaccine Fund now closes on 8 April 2022 You know your communities best Could your organisation benefit from a grant and help give a voice to Reading residents disproportionately affected by health inequalities? Reading Borough Council wants to support the activities of local charities, voluntary, community, faith, sport, art, cultural, ...
Reading Covid Support Fund – grants announced
1 April 2022
Reading Borough Council has announced the 26 voluntary and community sector organisations in Reading who will receive grants to support communities and residents through issues caused by the on going Covid pandemic. Successful applications to the Reading Covid Support Fund focused on four key areas, which are: Social isolation/mental health /emotional support Self-isolation support (not financial) targeting ...
Developing and Supporting Community Health Champions Network – EOI by 5pm 4 April 2022
1 April 2022Funding of £30,000 is available from RBC for developing and supporting a Community Health Champions Network Activity will need to start by 14 April 2022 and be completed by 31 July 2022. The key aims of the funding are to: Set up a support network for Community Health Champions that are hosted by the VCS, organising regular ...
Meet Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL)
31 March 2022
Voluntary and community organisations are invited to meet with GLL find out more about what they will be offering local people looking for health, wellbeing and fitness activities in Reading. Following the signing of the partnership contract with Reading Borough Council in 2021, GLL will now operate all of Reading’s four leisure centres on the Council’s ...
BBC Children in Need: Youth Social Action Fund – deadline 23 May 2022
31 March 2022
In partnership with the #iwill Fund and The Hunter Foundation, BBC Children in Need is delivering a £3 million fund to support organisations to embed youth social action across the UK. This fund will help to build children and young people’s confidence and skills, empowering them to take an active and leading role in developing solutions ...
Berkshire Community Foundation: Funds for Older People – deadline 14 April 2022
31 March 2022
Berkshire Community Foundation manages a number of funds which aim to support projects tackling issues affecting older people, such as isolation, disability or disadvantage. Who is eligible to apply? To be eligible to apply for a grant, your charity, community group or voluntary organisation must be improving the lives of disadvantaged people in Berkshire and fit the ...