Connect Reading

🎄 Thinking about getting your organisation involved in The Giving Tree this Christmas?

It’s nearly October, which means our Connect Reading Christmas elves are getting busy!

The Giving Tree brings local businesses together with Connect Reading member charities and schools, who ask the people they support what they’d like for Christmas.

Those specific requests become Giving Tree tags, which we provide to participating businesses. Your team can take a tag and buy the requested gift, with collection or delivery arranged through your charity partner.

The Giving Tree isn’t about guessing what someone might like or simply buying everyone socks just for the sake of it. It’s about knowing exactly what someone has asked for and making that specific wish happen.

Although, if anyone is wondering what to get The Giving Tree's Head Elf, Lorraine, we’re reliably informed that socks are needed. 😂

Sometimes socks ARE the answer! And that’s the beauty of The Giving Tree - you ask, you find out what someone really wants, and you can make that particular Christmas wish happen.

For businesses, it’s a chance to get your team involved, support a local charity and give gifts that you know have been specifically requested by local people.

The Giving Tree is always a popular part of Reading’s Christmas calendar, so if you're thinking about getting your business involved this year, now is a good time to find out more.

🎄 Giving Tree Information Session

📅 Thursday 1 October 2026
🕧 12.30–1.15pm
💻 Google Meet

We'll talk through how the Giving Tree works for businesses, what taking part involves and how you'll be matched with a local charity or school, with plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

👉 REGISTER NOW: https://connectreading.org.uk/events-2/

Whether you're thinking about taking part for the first time or getting involved again this year, we'd love to see you at the session.

Know another Reading business that should be part of the Giving Tree? Tag them below or share this post with them. 🎄

AMPLIFIED | FROM OUR NETWORK

Free training for Connect Reading members during ADHD Awareness Month this October.

We're sharing this opportunity from one of our members, Reading ADHD Group, which is offering free sessions delivered by Jamie Gordon to Connect Reading members during ADHD Awareness Month this October.

We think it sounds like a great practical session to help businesses better understand ADHD and create a more supportive workplace for neurodiverse employees.

Here's what they say:

"A workplace presentation on the rise of ADHD, what it is, what gets misunderstood, and what to do if someone on your team tells you they have it."

The 15-minute presentation, plus Q&A, covers:
- What is ADHD, including busting myths, misconceptions and media narratives
- The rise in ADHD and why self-identification matters - why so many more people now recognise it, and why not everyone will have a formal diagnosis
- Executive function: what executive functions are, how they affect performance and how to support people experiencing executive dysfunction
- What to do if someone on your team tells you they have ADHD, including what reasonable adjustments are, how to ask questions and how to negotiate

The presentation can be delivered on Teams or in person and is free to Connect Reading members.

Interested in finding out more or making a booking? Email [email protected]

🧡

Back to School is expensive.

For families with children starting or returning to secondary school, September brings a fresh wave of costs – uniform, PE kit, shoes, bags and equipment, often at a size and price point well above primary school.

Our Summer Giving Appeal doesn’t stop when the bags of essentials do. We’re now extending the appeal to help secondary school families across Reading meet some of those costs.

£10 provides a supermarket voucher for a family who needs it, distributed through our partner charities.

If you’d like to support a local family, you can donate here:

👉 https://donate.givetap.co.uk/f/connect-reading/summergiving

Or, if your business would like to buy vouchers directly, get in touch with us.

AMPLIFIED 📣 | FROM OUR NETWORK

We saw this really worthwhile opportunity from one of our lovely members, -Start Reading, and wanted to help get the word out. Giving a little time each week to support a local family can be such a worthwhile thing to do, and we thought this was well worth putting in front of our network. 🧡

Could you help a local family through challenging times?

Home-Start Reading is looking for home-visiting volunteers to join its friendly team. The next training course starts at the end of September, and the commitment is around two hours a week.

If you're looking for a new challenge and would like to support a family, contact Marion on 07483 113681 or Julie on 07483 113679 to find out more.

Know someone who might be interested? Please pass this on – we'd love to help Home-Start reach as many potential volunteers as possible.

🧡

Do you know what we love most about Summer Giving? 🧡

Hearing where the Bags of Hope end up - and knowing they're reaching people who really need them.

We've had some really lovely feedback from people who've received the bags, and we've loved hearing the different ways they've helped.

One little comment really stayed with us, shared through Together for Mental Wellbeing:

"It was very helpful and improved my mood. It was the highlight of my day."

Such a simple thing. But what an impact it can have. 🧡

Honestly, that made our day too.

Because you never really know what a small act of kindness might mean to someone. A bag of everyday essentials might not sound like a big thing. But when you're having a difficult time, having something useful at home - or simply knowing that someone thought of you - can mean an awful lot.

And this is what we love about Connect Reading.

Businesses give. People give their time. Charities help make sure that generosity gets to where it's needed.

This summer, that meant around 150 Bags of Hope, packed with more than 1,000 everyday essentials, making their way out into our community.

And it’s the same lovely idea behind our Giving Tree. 🎄🧡

Different time of year. Different kind of giving. Same thing at heart:

people looking out for people.

If your business would like to get involved with this year's Giving Tree, we'd love to hear from you.

And now we're curious - what's a little thing that made your day recently? 🧡

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Another huge thank you to the lovely Coca-Cola Europacific Partners apprentices, who gave their time, got stuck in and kept smiling through a heatwave! 🥵🧡 And to all of our wonderful charity partners who help make sure that generosity reaches the people who need it.

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Good Things Happen When We Connect. 🧡

More than 1,000 everyday essentials. Around 150 Bags of Hope. One incredible community effort. 🧡

Last week, apprentices from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners joined us at De Vere Wokefield Estate for a volunteering morning organised with Winning Events Ltd as part of our Summer Giving Appeal.

The morning was about much more than packing bags. Volunteers heard first-hand from local charities about the people these donations would support, before packing around 150 Bags of Hope with more than 1,000 everyday essentials. Many also added handwritten messages of encouragement for the people who will receive them.

The bags are now with local charities across Reading, ready to support individuals and families throughout the summer.

A huge thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and helped make Summer Giving 2026 possible. Together, you've shown what's possible when our community comes together.

🧡 Could your organisation be part of something like this? We're already looking ahead to the Giving Tree and Summer Giving 2027. If you'd like to become a Connect Reading member or create meaningful volunteering opportunities for your team, we'd love to hear from you.

With thanks to Sharon Blyfield OBE, Lucinda Winning, Sam Elliot, Winning Events Ltd, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, De Vere Wokefield Estate, and our charity partners: Sadaka, Faith Christian Group, DigitAll, Chapter2, Launchpad Reading, Dingley's Promise, Children Heard and Seen, EHSL Supported Housing Charity, Home-Start Reading, Together for Mental Wellbeing and The Cowshed.

What can happen when two Connect Reading members come together?

Quite a lot, as it turns out!

Last week, PepsiCo teamed up with Chiltern Edge School for a volunteering day that transformed the school's hall and outdoor spaces - creating improvements that will benefit staff, students and the wider community for years to come.

It was fantastic to see the PepsiCo team throwing themselves into every job with such enthusiasm (and plenty of paint rollers!).

Afterwards, Amelia Marden, Operations Manager at Chiltern Edge School, sent us this lovely feedback:

"...The whole process has felt very easy from start to finish and as a school we were all amazed at how much you all managed to accomplish!
..we all felt that team were a joy to have on site; everyone was friendly, positive and engaged. The work you have done will really make a difference to all the staff, students and community who use the hall."

A huge thank you to everyone from PepsiCo and Chiltern Edge School who made the day such a success. We're incredibly proud to have organisations like these as part of our network.

If you'd like your organisation to be part of more good news stories like this, we'd love to help make the right connections. Get in touch to find out more about becoming a Connect Reading member.

🧡 Good Things Happen When We Connect.

🎁✨ Giving Tree 2025 – A Record Breaking Year! ✨🎁

Wow, Reading – you’ve outdone yourselves this Christmas! 💫

Together we’ve achieved something incredible:
🎁 2,611 specifically wished‑for gifts donated
❤️ 30 recipient schools & charities supported
🌟 28 superstar volunteers
🤝 21 local businesses
🙌 And a huge shout‑out to the team and shoppers at , who almost doubled last year’s collection with a stonking 1,414 gifts!

All those gifts are now with local charities, ready to bring joy just in time for Christmas. 🎄

We’re so proud to wrap up this record‑breaking campaign – thank you, Reading, for making this year truly magical. 💝

Together for Mental Wellbeing works alongside people on their journey towards better mental wellbeing and independent lives. Their Giving Tree gifts are being provided by Egnyte and The Oracle's public Giving Tree.

The Kennet Federation of Southcote Primary School and Katesgrove Primary is collecting gifts for families who access their food banks and pastoral support services. This year their Christmas wishes are being fulfilled by the Giving Tree at the University of Reading