Here you can keep up with the latest from Reading’s 1000+ voluntary organisations and other voluntary sector news from around the area.
Life Changers – Therapeutic Gardening
20 March 2025Thrive, the gardening for health charity, runs Life Changers, a free, four-month gardening programme for those living with a life-changing illness or injury to enable them to improve their health and wellbeing. Whether recovering from a stroke, cancer or surgery, or living with a long-term condition like diabetes, multiple sclerosis or Long Covid, people experiencing ...
Improving Physical Activity in Reading – Can you help us?
13 March 2025Get Berkshire Active, along with other partners, are working with colleagues at Reading Borough Council to improve the physical activity landscape in Reading. We have formed a Physical Activity Action Group and are working in a whole systems way to determine the barriers currently preventing Reading residents from being as active as they’d like. We ...
Get involved with the Reading Windrush Parade and Festival
13 March 2025Reading Caribbean Nation CIC (RCN) is a local Reading organisation incorporated in 2024 to organise the Reading Windrush Parade and Festival (formerly Reading Carnival). As the organizers of the Reading Windrush Parade and Festival, a widely recognized community-wide event, RCN already has strong relationships with numerous community groups. Many of these groups are represented on the ...
World Social Work Day – 18 March 2025
13 March 2025RBC’s Directorate of Communities and Adult Social Care are holding a joint event with Brighter Futures for Children on World Social Work Day – 18 March 2025. This is a day that Social Workers around the world we celebrate the amazing work that we do. We would be honoured if you could join us in our ...
Bite-size Volunteer Management – “Keeping it Legal” – May 2025
12 March 2025
Do you manage volunteers in your role in one of Reading’s diverse voluntary and community sector organisations? You may be a volunteer yourself, or a paid member of staff, or even a volunteer Trustee/Committee member. RVA is running bitesize training for those who manage volunteers. These sessions are designed to give you an introduction/ refresher into ...
Promote your National Volunteers’ Week (2–8 June 2025) activities
12 March 2025
As we approach National Volunteers’ Week (2–8 June 2025), we would love to hear about your plans and activities. Volunteers’ Week is a fantastic opportunity to highlight the impact of your work and to engage with the wider community. Whether you are organising events or launching new initiatives, we would like to promote your efforts. Please share ...
Introduction to social prescribing at RVA: 19 June (on ZOOM)
11 March 2025
Find out about RVA’s social prescribing service. RVA will be running these sessions twice a year for local community groups, charities, NHS and local authority sector colleagues. This session will include: what social prescribing is (and isn’t!) how it works at RVA and how people access it how we measure its impact how we work in partnership with local sercvices ...
Reading Volunteer Fair – June 14 2025 – Register your interest in having a stall now!
11 March 2025
**Registration is now closed, email volunteering@rva.org.uk to be added to a waiting list** We are delighted to confirm that we will be hosting a Volunteer Fair at Reading Biscuit Factory on Saturday, June 14. Coming hot on the heels of Volunteers’ Week, the fair will be an opportunity to engage with members of the public looking for ...
Reading Borough Council seeks to commission community element of ‘VCS Front Door Model’
27 February 2025
Reading Borough Council (RBC) are inviting the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to be involved in discussions about the next phase of the ‘VCS Front Door model’ (previously known as ‘Improving the First Point of Contact with Adult Social Care’). How to get involved They will hold a session to discuss a draft list of ‘Essentials and Desirables’ ...
BBC Radio Berkshire Make a Difference Awards nominations open!
27 February 2025
The BBC Radio Berkshire Make a Difference Awards are back for 2025! For the fourth year, BBC Radio Berkshire wants to celebrate and say thank you to people living in our villages and towns who make where we live a better place. Every day we hear stories of people doing incredible things for each other and their ...
Recognition for local mental health charity
20 February 2025
We are thrilled to share that that Together for Mental Wellbeing has been nominated for the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2025 in the Mental Health Safety Improvement Award category. Additionally, they have also been shortlisted for the Thames Valley Awards 2025 in the following categories, Outstanding Contribution to The Community Award and Charity of the Year. These ...
Empower people with us as an RVA Trustee!
20 February 2025
We are looking for three new Trustees to join our Board What does RVA do? Reading Voluntary Action (RVA) supports and helps voluntary and community groups to start up and thrive, matches volunteers to great opportunities and works together with organisations across Reading to improve the lives of local people. RVA is aiming to better reflect the ...
Small Groups’ Forum April 2025 – Top tips on safeguarding, DBS and hear from funders!
14 February 2025
Are you are small community group in Reading? Come along to our next Small Groups’ Forum on Tuesday 29 April 2025, 10am – 12noon to hear about support, funding and networking for smaller groups like yours. The session is informal, friendly and catered specifically for smaller groups as we know the challenges and support you ...
Run for a cause at the Reading Half Marathon on 23 March 2025
13 February 2025Are you up for a challenge that changes lives? Join us in running the Reading Half Marathon and make a real impact by raising funds for Reading Community Learning Centre (RCLC) and Prostate Cancer Research! Start: 23 March 2025 at 10.15am End: 23 March 2025 at 2.15pm Location: Madejski Stadium, Reading Distance: 13.1 miles Why run for us? By lacing up your ...
Complete Reading’s Trustee Survey 2025 – Closes 12 March 2025
5 February 2025
Trusteeship and the challenges around recruiting and retaining trustees is often a subject that comes up within our RVA Advice Service. With this in mind and in order to get a fuller picture of the state of the local Reading voluntary sector in relation to trusteeship, we invite you to complete our Trustee Survey 2025. This ...
Formal bidding process opens – Cintra Park Pavilions and management of open space – Deadline 5pm on 4 April 2025
5 February 2025Reading Borough Council have now commenced the 8-week bidding process for the release of the Courage Pavilions on a leasehold basis. This is being released to the local Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) through the Third Sector process. Deadline: Local VCS organisations are invited to submit their subject to planning proposals by 5pm on Friday 4 April ...
Formal bidding process opens – Courage Park Pavilions and management of open space – Deadline 5pm on 4 April 2025
5 February 2025Reading Borough Council have now commenced the 8-week bidding process for the release of the Courage Pavilions on a leasehold basis. This is being released to the local Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) through the Third Sector process. Deadline: Local VCS organisations are invited to submit their subject to planning proposals by 5pm on Friday 4 April ...
RVA AGM 25 February 2025
5 February 2025Please join us for our AGM and thank you lunch! Booking is via Eventbrite – Book a space We will be thanking all our staff, volunteers, partners and all of you working together to make Reading a fabulous place to live. It will be an opportunity to hear our plans for the year and ask questions. Come along and ...
Languages spoken in Reading – one-minute survey
28 January 2025
The Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) at the University of Reading wants to find out what languages people in Reading speak. Please complete this one-minute survey (even if you only speak English) and the results will be shared at a public event to celebrate International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2025 (you can sign up to receive more ...
Befriending Forum: 25 March
24 January 2025
The role of technology in supporting people facing loneliness and social isolation. We will be exploring local and national technology resources aimed at supporting people in their own homes, who may be facing loneliness and social isolation. Speakers include: Tech-Enabled Care with David Richardson from Reading Borough Council (come along and meet Percy and the other Companion Pets!) REMAP ...