BLOG: Busy week for the Community Fridge

It may be sunny here in the south of England, but at New Beginnings Reading, it’s raining donations! We’re still in awe about how the Reading and greater Berkshire community has come together to take care of each other during these unprecedented times. It’s been really inspirational to watch.

Here at New Beginnings, we’re looking forward to a time when we can reopen our After School Cafe and All Night Shelter, but we’re happy to report that in the meantime, our Community Fridge has been open and busy helping the local homeless and vulnerable populations. This week, we served close to 300 people.

Today we wanted to highlight some donations we’ve received over the past week. To start, we’re grateful to all of our wonderful volunteers, who are willing to come help out (at 2 metres apart!).

Meera and her team from Kreston Cowper and volunteers from Fink Street Food

The team at Lush in Reading donated 144 pieces of hand and body soap.

Aan-Sofie and Amelia with trustee Penny dropping off their donation.

Alex Mensah from Cross Country Trains donated crisps, nuts and Sprite drinks, pictured below.

We had another donation from Crumbs, who donated sauces, marshmallows, and salad dressings, pictured below.

Thomas Frank company donated airline food and fresh fruit, pictured below.

In addition to those donations, we also received sausages from Jennings Butchers, tasty meals from Fink Street Food, food from Holland and Barrett, an M&S delivery from Ben, and donations from Nvida and Cobbs Farm.

In all of this, we can’t forget the Lions Club of Reading, who have gone above and beyond during the pandemic to help those in need. This week, they donated an extra large donation of tins (four car loads!).

New Beginnings trustee Penny had this to say about the donations, “I was pleasantly surprised by the endless stream of donations we got in the space of the two hours I was at the Queens Arms yesterday!”

As you can see by these donations and volunteers, there are a lot of ways to help here at New Beginnings. For those who want to help without having to leave the house, you can donate money securely via our website.

As always, we’d like to thank everyone who helps us continue to do what we do for the community. We’re overwhelmed by your generosity. Be sure to follow our weekly round-up blogs to keep the inspiration going and get ideas for donations by checking out the hashtag #RDGtogether.