PUPILS, parents and staff at a school in Reading have provided a “car load” of groceries for a local homeless charity.
Attendees at Meadow Park Academy in Reading made donations to New Beginnings as they came together to celebrate Harvest Festival this year.
As part of the Harvest festivities, pupils wore autumnal colours to school instead of uniform, and brought in a food contribution for the charity, which provides support for the homeless in Reading.
The school also held a Harvest Festival assembly where the children put on a special performance for parents and carers.
The selection of donated groceries was collected by New Beginnings on Tuesday, October 7 and the charity expressed its gratitude to the Meadow Park community for its kindness.
Harvest Festival traditionally celebrates the gathering of crops and the sharing of produce; it is a time for children to reflect on the importance of food, the work that goes into growing it and the need to support those who may not have enough.
Karen Maggs from New Beginnings said: “An absolutely huge thank you to Meadow Park for their amazing Harvest Festival collection. It was a full carload, and we were absolutely blown away with the amount your school’s community collected.
“This will make a massive difference to those in our community and to those who need it most. We are thoroughly delighted you chose to support New Beginnings and look forward to being involved in the future.”
Kirsty Holehouse, Headteacher at Meadow Park Academy, said: “Our Harvest Festival celebrations were a great success and we would like to thank all our Meadow Park families for their support and generosity.
“We are very pleased to support the work of New Beginnings and we hope that, by helping those members of our local community who are in need, our pupils will develop strong moral values and become responsible members of society.”