A CHARITY that helps spread some festive cheer is the latest group to receive a covid grant from the John Sykes Foundation.
Earlier this month, Reading Family Aid were visited by John Sykes, founder and chair of trustees of the foundation. He presented trustee Ruth Perkins and project manager Laura Windisch, with a cheque of £1,000 to provide Christmas presents for children aged up to 16.
Also in attendance was Deputy Mayor of Reading Debs Edwards and Karl Nixon from Big Yellow Storage.
This year, the charity has received almost 3,000 referrals for gifts, as parents struggle to keep houses warm and feed their children.
This is an increase of nearly 500 children on last year, and requests are still being received by social workers, health visitors, and other charities.
Ms Perkins said: “We at Reading Family Aid were overwhelmed to receive a phone call last week from the John Sykes Foundation with the amazing news that we had been awarded £1,000 to buy toys.
“There is evidently increasing levels of poverty in Reading which already has some of the most deprived areas in the country.”
“One of the organisations Reading Family Aid supports said that they are having increasing numbers of children coming to their youth clubs hungry – toys at Christmas are going to be way down their parents’ priority lists.”
She said that last year Reading Family Aid provided toys to more than 2,500 Reading children who otherwise would have received no presents.
“Supporting our appeal is more important than ever,” she continued.
“Receiving this funding will allow us to put smiles on many more children’s faces and give them a wonderful Christmas to remember.”
Cllr Edwards echoed the call.
“Parents are really struggling, Reading is supposed to be quite a wealthy place but it has got such big pockets of deprivation and we have got many parents who are really worried – trying to keep their jobs and keep their house warm, feed their children – and sometimes Christmas is just a cracker and a sandwich,” she said.
“I am just so proud that John Sykes has concentrated on Reading, we really need this.”
And Mr Sykes said the Foundation was delighted to donate £1,000 from its Covid-19 Relief Fund towards Reading Family Aid’s appeal.
“Every child should feel the excitement of waking up to gifts under the tree, however we know for some families that after a tough couple of years, they are struggling to even get by day-to-day, and for some it’s a question of putting food on the table or affording presents,” he said.
“It was a pleasure to meet with Ruth, Laura, and other members of the charity, and I was touched to learn that all of the wonderful team are volunteers who make it their mission that in Reading, every child, without exception, wakes up to a present from Father Christmas.”
For more information on Reading Family Aid, or for drop off points and the GoFundMe page, log on to: https://www.readingfamilyaid.org/
If you work or belong to a local Charity or Organisation and would like to know more or apply for one of the John Sykes Foundation’s grants, visit: www.johnsykesfoundation.org
