Here you can keep up with the latest from Reading’s 1000+ voluntary organisations and other voluntary sector news from around the area.
Dementia Action Week 2021 #CureTheCareSystem
18 May 2021
Dementia Action Week is underway with activities open to anyone across Berkshire How organisations can support Dementia Action Week (DAW) – a checklist from The Alzheimer’s Society Help us call on the Government to provide quality social care, that is free and easy to access, no matter where you live. Sign and share the petition here. Encourage your members ...
Tom Holmes becomes Berkshire Youth charity ambassador
18 May 2021
Berkshire Youth are delighted to announce that popular 21-year-old Reading Football Club defender, Tom Holmes, is their new Charity Ambassador. The youth charity is certain that Tom Holmes will be a fantastic Charity Ambassador, helping to raise awareness of their important work with local young people. Tom brings with him heaps of enthusiasm and a ...
Food4Families Growing Careers – new courses starting in June
18 May 2021
Growing Careers – free 6 week courses starting in June Practical, hands-on introduction to what your could be doing if you got a job in horticulture. 1.5 hour sessions, based outdoors in local Reading community gardens seed sowing and propagation plant care soil health garden maintenance sustainable growing techniques see flyer below for dates, times and locations
The Weller Centre wins award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community
18 May 2021
Congratulations to The Weller Centre! The Weller Centre won Outstanding Contribution to the Community at the recent Thames Valley Business and Community Awards. Sarah Timmins DeGregory, RVA Development Officer, said: It’s fantastic that The Weller Centre is recognised for their tireless efforts on the Amersham Road Estate and for residents across Caversham. During, before and after lockdown, ...
Paul Hamlyn Foundation – Youth Fund
17 May 2021
The Youth Fund supports organisations whose main purpose is working with and for young people (aged 14-25) who face complex transitions to adulthood. Core funding grants up to £90,000 over three years Rolling application cycle – no deadline Through the Covid-19 crisis the Foundation have been made increasingly aware that inequality plays out in ways that connect and ...
Aviva Community Fund
17 May 2021
Building stronger, more resilient communities across the UK: that’s what Aviva are striving towards, and it’s how they want to continue to help small charities and community causes. Aviva have learnt that the causes that make the biggest impact are those that are given the opportunity to test innovative ideas and explore new sustainable strategies without ...
Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue – appeal for new premises
14 May 2021
Can you help Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue find a permanent Base of Operations? You will have heard of the RNLI, Mountain Rescue and possibly Cave Rescue. Lowland Rescue forms part of the fourth element within the UK Search and Rescue family, covering all the areas between Hill and High Water. We are Berkshire Lowland Search and ...
Learning Disabilities Annual Health Checks: Covid and beyond
12 May 2021
New video explaining about Annual Health Checks NHS Berkshire West CCG have issued a new video in which Dr Heather Howells, GP Clinical Lead for Mental Health and Learning Disabilities for Berkshire West CCG, talks about the Learning Disabilities Annual Health Check. The second half of the 15-minute video has actors from Talkback and West Berkshire Mencap ...
Kooth resources in Mental Health Awareness Week
12 May 2021
Kooth is the online counselling service for young people in our area Kooth is an integral component of Berkshire West’s mental health provision offering digital counselling and emotional wellbeing service for young people and young adults. The service is delivered by XenZone and jointly comissioned by Berkshire West CCG, Wokingham LA, West Berkshire LA and Brighter ...
Beating burnout: practical advice from Clore Social Leadership in The Wellbeing Toolkit
12 May 2021
Clore Social Leadership have created a free Wellbeing Toolkit for leaders and their teams The practical and resourceful toolkit helps leaders break down the wellbeing challenges facing themselves and their teams and provides quick access to high quality resources to inspire and assist them. These resources can be used individually, or put together to form the ...
Charities and reserves – Third Sector explores the approach
12 May 2021
In a recent article, Third Sector magazine considers the charity sector’s approach to building and maintaining financial reserves (following the decision in the Kids Company High Court Trial and how this sits within charity law). In the article, Caron Bradshaw from Charity Finance Group shares the following, which could be useful for Trustees currently assessing ...
Updated HMRC guidance: claiming gift aid on waived refunds and loan repayments
12 May 2021
HMRC have amended their guidance on which donations qualify for Gift Aid. This now includes waived refunds and loan waivers (which were previously excluded). There are certain requirements such as: there is a record of a formal waiver held by the charity all the other gift aid rules are met a gift aid declaration will need to be ...
Research project for adults with learning disabilities
11 May 2021
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are now recruiting to this research project The Research and Development Department at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are working with the University of Warwick to conduct a research study about the psychological treatment of anxiety among people who are older than 18 years and who have mild or moderate learning ...
NHS Blood and Transplant: Plasma Donation Appeal
11 May 2021
Appeal for men between the ages of 17 and 66 to consider donating their blood plasma The NHS Blood and Transplant service needs your help. In April, we began collecting blood plasma from donations to make vital antibody-based medicines and we urgently need more people to make donations. These medicines – called immunoglobulins will help thousands of ...
Sport in Mind launches self-help journal to address mental health issues
11 May 2021
For Mental Health Awareness Week (10-16 May), leading mental health and sports charity Sport in Mind has launched a new self-help journal for people struggling with mental health issues Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual campaign that helps educate and increase awareness about mental health issues and the fact that millions of people will struggle ...
Berkshire Vision activities calendar for May 2021
5 May 2021
Berkshire Vision’s May activities programme for people with sight loss across Berkshire Berkshire Vision support new referrals if you’re working with someone who would like to get involved. This month there are a combination of face to face and remote activities, including the ever-popular picnic and walks, along with rock climbing for the more adventurous. There are ...
Cyber security: how to keep your charity safe
5 May 2021
Why should we be thinking about cyber security? Charities of all sizes are increasingly more reliant on IT and this has increased further during the pandemic. Email, websites, video conferencing and social media all have a valuable place in our charities but without proper security measures they can also leave charities vulnerable to cyber attacks. Cyber ...
Meet Panda Phelan – Bounce Back 4 Kids Senior Support Worker
5 May 2021
Panda Phelan is the Senior Support Worker for Bounce Back 4 Kids (BB4K) which supports families affected by domestic abuse, once the perpetrator of the abuse has left the family home. She writes a monthly BB4K Positive Newsletter which you can sign up for here. Tell us about BB4K and your role… BB4K is a therapeutic support service ...
What does Reading mean to you? Help the Students’ Union design a community mural – deadline 7 May 2021
28 April 2021
Reading University Students’ Union Community Mural A new exciting community mural will be placed outside of the RUSU building. Submissions are open to staff, students and people living in Reading. The artwork is based on one question: ‘What does Reading mean to you?’ You do not need to be a skilled artist or have artistic knowledge to ...
Reading Prince’s Trust Team programme – starts 10 May 2021
28 April 2021
Adviza and The London Irish Foundation are now recruiting young people for the successful Prince’s Trust Team programme, starting in Reading on Monday 10 May 2021. The Prince’s Trust Team Programme is a course designed to re-engage young people aged 16–25 years: to help them gain confidence, develop a support network and build the skills ...