Fresh pencils and notebooks, the sounds of school bells… Back-to-school season is just around the corner! Here at New Beginnings Reading, we want to help families make this time of year a bit less stressful by offering a School Uniform Pop-up Shop. This service is for families in need of extra financial support.

What is it?

This is a service to pick up free, pre-owned school uniforms. We have a large selection of school trousers, summer dresses, school skirts, some branded school wear, shirts and polo tops. We also have a selection of children’s clothing, footwear and coats to choose from.

When is it?

The pop-up shop will be open the first two Wednesdays of August (the 5th and 13th) from 6-7pm.

Where is it?

The Queens Arms (24 Great Knollys Street)

How can I help donate?

We’ll take donations during these times as well, but one of the best and easiest ways to donate is through this secure link on our website - https://www.newbeginningsreading.org/donate

What else should I know?

Social distancing will be observed at the pop-up shops. You can also participate in our Community Fridge during these hours at the same location.

To find out more about why this is essential service for struggling families, see our article in In Your Area.

A generous member of the community donating to New Beginnings Reading

The summer holidays are here and we’re off to a flying start. This summer we’re able to offer those families who need it free school uniform for children returning to school in September.

For those who need this extra bit of help, you can stop by The Queen’s Arms from 6-7pm for the first two Wednesdays in August to pick up free school uniforms.

On top of that, every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm, we’re able to offer Children's meals at the Queens Arms. Big thanks again for the continued support from NFU Mutual Reading for commissioning FINK Street Food who are providing nutritious meals for children throughout the summer holidays.

We advertised this service on BBC Radio Berkshire’s Make a Difference segment which shares details of the help and support organisations and individuals in Reading are making to help those who are struggling.

Our guests were able to pick up supplies this week from LUSH Reading who not only donated their lovely smelling soaps but also went to the trouble of making sure volunteers were taken care of as well. Wonderful smelling gift sets were donated for our volunteers.

Other donations were received from:

• Costco in Reading

• Wokingham Food Bank

• Morrisons in Bracknell

• 200 meals from St Annes School

• Eggs from Lidl

  Thanks to all of you - it really makes a difference to what we are able to offer guests.

Our tireless volunteer Ellie making vegetarian cooked meals for guests to takeaway

We’re so pleased to see long supporters of New Beginnings Reading A Bit of Stick are back in business. Since March they have been donating unsold food to New Beginnings Reading’s Community Fridge and we are so grateful for their generosity.

Donations from LUSH Reading keeping us clean and smelling fresh.

Matt Rodda MP with volunteers at the Queen’s Arms.

We were pleased to welcome the Member of Parliament for Reading East Matt Rodda to the Queen’s Arms this week who was visiting the Community Fridge Food Bank. Matt got stuck in alongside our volunteers, preparing food parcels, serving and speaking to guests about their experiences.

Parmesan from Zizi

We are so lucky to be supported by so many kind and generous people. This week has been a bumper week for donations so a massive shout out to all those who took the time to drop off donations - thank you so much for keeping the work we do going and providing for the Community Fridge Food Bank!

Special thanks to….

• the Neighbourly Community Fund who are giving us a grant of £400

• the crew at Nandos for donating chicken

• Cobbs Farm Shop for the weekly food box

• South West Trains for this massive donation of crisps and jaffa cakes

• Queen Anne’s School in Caversham for the pot noodles and falafel

• The generous people of Woodley for all their donations to the Woodley Food Bank

• Zizis for the Parmesan

• Morrisons in Bracknell for the cupboard staples they provided

• And the Lions Club of Reading and the wonderful people of Caversham for huge collection of essentials

Donations from Morrisons in Bracknell

We are also delighted to announce that NFU Mutual are sponsoring Fink Street Food to provide children's lunches for the Community Fridge Food Bank for six weeks over the summer holidays. Fink Street will be providing 30 bags a week starting from next week which will do so much to help those families we support.

Donations collected by the Lions Club of Reading from Caversham’s residents.

The Clothing and Toiletries Service which is running on Tuesday evenings saw nearly 30 people helped last week. One volunteer suggested we might want to rename ‘The Boutique’! It continues to go from strength and strength and we’re glad we’re able to support guests in this way.

Chicken from Nandos

There’s a small change to our services for you to be aware of - from next week, the Community Fridge Food Bank will be open from Tuesday to Friday from 6pm to 7pm. We’ll be able to accept donations on the days that the Community Fridge is open so please don’t be shy.

The Queen’s Arms Boutique

Free, hildren's meal available to anyone in need, every Tuesday at the Queens Arms, 6pm to 7pm. Thanks to NFU Mutual Reading https://www.nfumutual.co.uk/agent-offices/reading/ for commissioning FINK Street Food https://www.eatfinktalk.com/

to cook the fresh meals at the Queens Arms.

Volunteers at the ready for our Community Fridge to open

I was touched last week to be asked to take part in the reading of a poem written in tribute to the three men who lost their lives a few weeks ago following the attack in Forbury Gardens. Local poet Sarah Smith wrote a poem to remember those who lost their lives. The poem is voiced by members of Reading’s community, including Reading FC captain Liam Moore and the Bishop of Reading Olivia Graham. You can see 'Reading Weeps' by Sarah Smith here.

We are looking for donations to stock up our very popular Community Fridge and toiletries service. Please get in touch if you are able to help with any of the following items:

Bakery fresh!

• Deodorant

• Body wipes

• Shaving gel

• Razors

• Pasta sauce

• Tinned meat

• Tinned food

• Sandwich fillers

• Fruit squash

• Oil

• Coffee

• UHT milk

• Tinned fruit

The cupboard essentials go quickly so we always welcome donations of these particular items. In the first week of July, New Beginning’s Community Fridge provided food parcels for 50 people with an additional 40 dependents. In June over 800 food parcels were given out to those in need, and that is all thanks to you for your ongoing support and donations. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has made, and continues to make, donations.

We're open for donations Monday to Friday from 4:45pm-5:45pm and Sunday from 1:30pm-4:30pm at The Queens Arms.

Lovely donations from A Bit of Stick

Trustee Penny collecting the generous grant from Waitrose Reading on Oxford Road.

This week A Bit of Stick has kept our Community Fridge Food Bank well stocked with staples such as juice and crisps. It is highly appreciated.

We were delighted to receive a grant from Waitrose Reading on Oxford Road, which will be spent on supporting our services for those affected by COVID-19. #rdgtogether

A special thank you this week to volunteer Beata who has gone above and beyond in cleaning the Queen’s Arms. Beata regularly helps out at New Beginnings but has gone the extra mile with her friend Agnus in sorting and cleaning the bar area which definitely needed some TLC. She’s done a fantastic job and we’ll try and keep it tidy now in tribute to her hard work! Many thanks Beata.

Beata and Agnus sorting out the bar area.

Volunteer getting ready to serve take away hot dinners

What a sweltering week! The hot weather made us all the more determined to sort out the roof on the ground floor of the Queen’s Arms which acts as a greenhouse in hot weather, and let’s all the heat escape in the winter. We’re still looking for quotes to get this work completed so please get in touch if you can help.

Welcome donations of fresh fruit and vegetables

We were thrilled this week to hear about the additional £105m that local government will receive to continue to support the homeless during lockdown. This means that our regular service users will hopefully continue to be housed safely in hotels for the foreseeable future, with a commitment to longer term solutions being found for those who need access to permanent housing.

Thanks to Reading College for the donations

Due to government guidelines, the All Night Cafe remains temporarily closed but the Community Fridge and new Clothing and Toiletry Service are both going strong. Due to the large number of donations we’ve been receiving, the team had a massive sort out this week of the clothes and toiletries we’ve received. As you can see from my video here, they’ve done an incredible job, making it really easy for guests to be able to pick out what they need quickly. Even the shoes have got size labels on them!

A big thank you to Alex from Cross Country Trains for the donations of snacks and drinks this week!

Alex from Cross Country trains dropping off donations

Also thank you to Reading College and Costco for the donations. We were also excited to be recognized by BBC Radio Berkshire as part of their 100 days of making a difference.

And as usual, thank you to our wonderful volunteers for their continued support.

Thanks to all our volunteers!

June has been quite the special month here at New Beginnings. Government, corporate, and charitable grants are a huge part of how we keep our services running, and we’ve been honoured to receive £50,000 in grant money this month and last. We’d like to take a moment to thank these donors:

• The Cadbury Foundation (£5,000)

• Reading Borough Council (£10,000)

• People’s Postcode (£18,954)

• Prudential (£2,500)

• MCKS Charitable Foundation UK (£10,000)

• Berkshire Community Foundation (£2,000)

• Midcounties Co-op (£1,000)

This money will be used to hire part-time night workers at the All Night Cafe and allow us to continue to provide services for the homeless in Reading and the greater Berkshire community.

You can read more about the grant from the Cadbury Foundation in this article from the Reading Chronicle.

Freshly cooked meals from foodparcels.org

The Reading Chronicle isn’t the only media outlet who has their eye on us. We’ve received several shout-outs on the BBC Radio Berkshire, specifically highlighting our new clothing and toiletries service.

Costco Reading donations

The clothing and toiletries service runs alongside our Community Fridge on Tuesdays from 6-7pm. This is a great opportunity for those in need to pick up essentials, free of charge. We had 29 people served this week.

“It’s been welcomed by so many people...one gentlemen was so grateful for a new pair of socks, he had been wearing the same pair for five days,” said founder Grace Gomez during an interview with BBC Radio Berkshire.

Lots of donations from local sandwich supplier A Bit of Stick this week

If you’d like to help, you’re welcome to donate clothing, toiletries, and supplies. We’re especially in need of men’s jeans and trousers, shaving gel, razors, and both spray-on and roll-on deodorant.

Tasty takeaway biryani for guests

In addition to those special announcements, we’d be remiss if we didn’t thank some of the amazing community donations we received throughout the week. This includes a massive pick up from Costco, another donation from the Lions Club of Reading, biriyani meals from foodparcels.org, and crisps and soda from PepsiCo, a donation from Marks and Spencers, fruit from Cobbs Farm and Nvidia, and regularly weekly volunteers from James Cowper Kreston.

Thank you to Jamme Masjid in Reading for the 50 hot chicken biriyani meals.

We were happy to see A Bit of Stick, who regularly donated unused sandwiches, baguettes, and hot foods to the Community Fridge. They donated loads of crisps and drinks.

Lots of snacks from A Bit of Stick

And a special thank you to Fink Street Food for setting up a hot food gazebo and cooking their delicious food, even in a torrential rain storm!

Thanks to A Bit of Stick for their donations

Thanks to donations like these, we were able to serve 270 individuals in our Community Fridge effort.

Fruit and veg from Cobbs Farm Shop

Last Tuesday saw the first time that we offered clothing, footwear and toiletries to those in need. We saw 29 people take up this new service. We’re so happy to be able to regularly offer this service, every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm to anyone in need. We are looking for donations, particularly jogging pants for men and women so please get in contact if you can help.

From fruit and vegetables from Nvidia to hot vegetarian meals from Food for All, we continue to be overwhelmed by people’s generosity.

Many thanks to Sophie who donated lots of meals and fruits, and to Fink Street Food who served delicious hot meals at the Queens Arms.

And thanks also to McVities who donated 150 boxes of the millionaire shortbread, Emily for giving multivitamins and as ever, Costco for their continuing donations.

We are looking to get some work done at the Queen’s Arms. The area of the pub where the All Night Cafe Shelter for the homeless is held needs insulating to stop it being freezing cold in the winter and unbearably hot in the summer. Any builders who are available to quote on how much this would cost, or want to donate their time for free, please get in touch. We want to make sure our guests are as comfortable as possible when we reopen the All Night Cafe.

If you follow us on social media, you’ve probably heard that this week was Volunteers’ Week. Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contributions millions of people make across the UK through volunteering. You can find out more about it via the Volunteers’ Week website.

We’re so grateful for the amazing volunteers who help New Beginnings Reading support the community. All week long, we spotlighted seven of the many wonderful volunteers who regularly volunteer with us. 

Juliet was one of the first volunteers to join us at the Community Fridge & Cafe and as a Costco driver in December 2018. No job has been too small or too big for Juliet. She is a hard worker and gets on with the job in hand. In January 2020, she accepted the position as Team Leader at the Community Fridge & Cafe. More recently, Juliet has also taken on the role of Assistant to the Treasurer, and has been a great help.

Lynda has volunteered at the Community Fridge & Cafe and as a Costco driver since February 2019. In January 2020, she accepted the position as Team Leader at the Community Fridge & Cafe, and more recently she has also taken on the role of Clothes Donations Coordinator, no mean feat! Lynda has worked faithfully and energetically since she joined us and is a star volunteer.

James is our All Night Cafe team leader. He is constantly signing up for shifts, often doing the evening shift and coming back in the morning for the breakfast shift. 

Kellie has been volunteering for The Way Ministry and NBR for nearly 5 years.  She came to help on Christmas in 2015 and has been with us since.   She has been consistent volunteering at TWM on Sundays and helped so many of the volunteers clean up days before the Queens Arms opened.  Kellie also volunteered at the All Night Cafe and has encouraged and inspired so many people to give and help.  Kellie also helps with fundraising.  She is loved by the guests and volunteers alike

Barbara has faithfully volunteered at the After School Cafe for a year and a half.  She is always so cheerful and willing to muck in. She is great with the children and leads the play activities.

Sheila is proof that helping others has no age limit! She is our oldest volunteer at 82, but she still volunteers every week at the After School Cafe, faithfully cooking and serving the meals.

Joe is one of our All Night Cafe night team volunteers. He must have done an overnight shift almost every weekend we’ve opened the All Night Cafe.

Thank you to all of those who sacrifice your time and money to volunteer and donate at New Beginnings Reading.

Speaking of donations, we had quite a few donations throughout the week. Fink Street Food continued their weekly meal donations with more delicious meals. Thank you to Costco, Nvidia, Cobbs Farm Shop, and Jennings Butchers for their weekly donations as well.

We would also like to thank the team at Cowper Kreston for volunteering weekly. 

We also had some special donations from FFS Brands, who brought various sauces for us.

Steve from McVities donated so many boxes of biscuits.

Also, Food for All donated 50 vegetarian meals and puddings.

Lastly, thank you to The Reading Lions Club for this huge community donation. 

Lions Club of Reading on the road, collecting donations.

It’s been another busy week at New Beginnings Reading, with the Lions Club of Reading hitting Caverham for food donations. They were not disappointed and delivered a huge number of donations from the lovely people of Caversham - thanks to everyone who donated and particularly the Lions who are continuing their food collection drive throughout June. They’ll be coming to a street near you so sign up and get involved if you’re able to.

Alan, hard at work in the New Beginnings Reading garden.

We hope you all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend sunshine with time out in the garden. One of our volunteers, Alan, kindly cut the grass here at New Beginnings. It was like a jungle but now is looking very smart, and he made a grand job of it! Thanks Alan! #rdgtogether

Essential donations in the form of clothes.

As well as Alan’s green-fingers, the Queen’s Arms got a makeover from a trusty group of volunteers. All the donations we’ve received have been sorted into different sections which makes it much easier to run the community fridge. We can now quickly get to the items people need, which means we’ll be able to serve around 50 people in an hour. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers and their amazing organising skills.

James from Fink Street Food made vegetarian chili and nachos for donations.

This week saw some great chefs cooking up a storm in the kitchen. By having people volunteer their time (and wonderful cooking skills), we can provide freshly prepared hot meals for those that need them.

Heathrow Airport donating canned drinks. And special thanks to Debbie Lambie for offering to pick them up for us.

We’re grateful for all the generous donations which we continue to receive. Highlights this week came from Heathrow Airport, Pepsico and Homesense in Reading.

PepsiCo in GreenPark donated crisps and breakfast bars.

Donations are always welcome so please get in touch with us if you’re able to help. You can also donate via our website.

Homesense in Reading gave a massive donation this week.

Keep an eye out on our social media pages all week long, as we’ll be celebrating Volunteers Week. We have so many wonderful volunteers here at New Beginnings, so we wanted to take the time to spotlight a few and ask why volunteering is important to them.

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.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, New Beginnings Reading has been feeding and providing essentials for hundreds of people. We have only been able to do that with the support of our community, receiving incredible donations from businesses, charities and individuals for those who, for whatever reason aren’t able to buy the essentials they need. 

To capture this amazing generosity we’re seeing on a daily basis, and let you know all the news from NBR and how you can get involved I’ll be writing each week with the latest updates. As we all struggle through this crisis together we hope the stories we share of those we help, and those helping us, will inspire you. If you’d like to follow along as we share these stories, keep an eye out for the hashtag #RDGtogether. And be sure to share your own stories of inspiration and kindness using the hashtag #RDGtogether. 

Over 700 individual meals were donated to NBR this week and our thanks go to Steve Beaumont at Thomas Franks Ltd, Fink Street Food, the Jamme Masjid Reading Mosque (Happy Ramadan!), Tutu’s Ethiopian Table and Food for All who continue to donate 50 vegetarian meals every Wednesday. 

James from Fink Street Foods donating 100 vegetarian meals.

Jamme Masjid Mosque donated almost 250 meals.

Meals from Tutu’s Ethiopian Table

400 meals donated by Thomas Franks LTD

Supplies for our Community Fridge came from Jennings butchers in Caversham, Nvidia who donated their weekly office shop, Crumbs who provided ice lollies and cheese, Meera and her team who volunteered at the community fridge, Cobbs Farm who donated weekly and Costco in Reading.

Ice lollies donated from Crumbs

Nvida’s weekly office shop donation.

You may have seen the food collection drive from The Lions Club Reading who have kindly organised collection points and pick up points for donations for NBR. We are so grateful for their help with this and if you can donate then please get in touch with them. They will be coming to Caversham this week! 

An amazing amount of donations collected by Lions Club Reading.

Thank you to Lions Club Reading for collecting and thank you to all who donated food.

I’ve heard from guests this week that they really appreciate the opportunity to get some essential supplies so, with your help we’ll keep going and will provide the Community Fridge as long as it’s needed. Thank you for your ongoing support and keep an eye out for this blog next week.

New Beginnings Reading was honoured to receive a boost from the Tesco Bags of Help Communities Fund Grant.

The charity has also been receiving support from Waitrose & Partners with the branch at Oxford Road, Reading naming New Beginnings as its charity of the month and sending us donations for the Community Fridge.

As part of the supermarket chains’ response to the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, Tesco has set up a new short-term fund to support local communities.

New Beginnings received £500 from that Fund which will help support us to provide essential supplies for those who. cannot afford them through our Community Fridge.

The charity has recently welcomed donations from The Grub Club in Wokingham and Reading Lions are continuing their incredible food collection programme. For details of how to donate through Reading Lions see here.

Visit here for more details on the Community Fridge, and get in touch if you are able to support us.

The Lions Club of Reading is collecting food donations for New Beginnings Reading’s Community Fridge.

From Wednesday 6th May Reading Lions will be offering a pick up service from outside your door.

The following food donations are in great demand:

• Tins of fruit, tuna, cooked meat

• Pasta & sauces

• Long life milk

• Coffee

• Squash

• Jam, Peanut butter

• Instant porridge

• Cup a soup

• Noodles

• Instant custard

Reading Lions ask that food is within a sealed watertight plastic bags and that only foods listed above are included in any donations.

To download a copy of 'please stop here' label to display in your window visit the Reading Lion’s website.

Collection Dates and Times are:

Wednesday 6th May 2020, 4pm to 6pm Tilehurst - Westwood Road, Beverley Road, Victoria Road, Crescent Road, Armour Road (toward the junction of Westwood Rd), Fircroft Close, Hartslock Way, Causmans Way, Pikeshaw Way, Chepstow Road, Westwood Row, Oaktree Road, Elstree Close, Oakham Close, Parkhill Drive, Mapledurham View.

Wednesday 13th May 2020, 4pm to 6pm Southcote - Southcote Lane, Kenilworth Avenue, Firs lane, Winser Drive, Southcote Farm Lane, Barn Close, Monks Way, Southcote Lane to roundabout at Circuit Lane.

Wednesday 20th May 20204pm to 6pm Tilehurst - Halls Road (Reading side only), Manor Park Close, Burlington Road, left into Grafton Road, Portland Gardens, Lansdown Road, right into Grafton Road, Maiwand Gardens, left into Burlington Road, Holland Road, back on to Halls Road.    

Wednesday 27th May 20204pm to 6pm Caversham - Chiltern Road, Tilbury Close, Pembroke Place, Banbury Gardens, Onslow Gardens, Kildare Gardens, continue up Chiltern Road, Cawsam Gardens, Raglan Gardens, end of Chiltern Road, Valentine Crescent, Norman Road, Rossendale Road, Mayfield Drive.    

Please DO NOT DONATE If you or if any member of your household or someone within immediate contact with you are displaying symptoms of or are suffering with diagnosed Covid-19.

Over £10,000 has been donated to New Beginnings from local and national organisations, which will help deliver a permanent member of staff to manage the All Night Cafe once it reopens. Thank you to all the organisations that have donated at this difficult time. This will help us fulfill our ambition to extend the number of nights we can provide accommodation for those in need. More information on that to follow.

Berkshire Community Foundation donated £5,000.

Ella’s Kitchen donated £2,300.

The Englefield Charitable Trust donated £2,000.

MCKS Charitable Foundation donated £5,000.

As of the week beginning 23rd March our Community Fridge will be open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 6pm to 7pm.

Social distancing will be observed, people accessing the service will need to keep 2 meters apart when queuing. Please bring a bag if you are planning on coming along.

https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/03/04/coronavirus-covid-19-what-is-social-distancing/

New Beginnings Reading will be taking the following actions with regards to the latest government advice with reference to the Coronavirus.

Community Fridge and Free Cafe Open from 12pm to 1pm Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Guests will enter 2 at a time, packaged food will be given out to take away.

After School Cafe - Closed until further notice.

All Night Cafe Shelter for the homeless, closed. A hot meal, tents and sleeping bags will be given out to the homeless between 8pm and 9pm on Friday and Saturday.

The volunteer training day that was scheduled to take place on 28th March has been postponed.

Further advice can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

We are concerned for people who are vulnerable and homeless in our community and will continue to support people as long we pose no risk to health.

Charity New Beginnings Reading are recruiting volunteers for our All Night Cafe Shelter for the homeless. Have you got time to spare to help please? We offer a hot meal, clean clothing, a safe place to sleep and breakfast to Reading's homeless at the weekend.

Why not join part of our wonderful team of volunteers making a difference to the homeless in Reading.

Help is needed to welcome guests, set up, cook dinner, sleep in, set up breakfast and clear down. We welcome up to 29 guests at our night shelter for those who are homeless with low support needs. All volunteers will be supervised and supported by experienced team leaders. Our night shelter is now going into its third successful year.

We are especially seeking volunteers who can volunteer in the 10.30pm to 7.15am overnight shift.

There are three shift times available to suit everyone:

• 7.15pm to 10.30pm to welcome guests, set up guests beds, cook dinner and get ready for night shift.

• 10.30pm to 7.15am overnight shift, volunteers can sleep in shifts with one awake at all times.

• 7am to 9am breakfast shift, waking guests, setting out breakfast, signing out guests and set down.

Volunteers must be over 18, full training given at our induction day on Saturday 28th March from 10am to 1pm at the Queens Arms.

Come and join our wonderful team and be a part of something good in Reading.

email volunteer@newbeginningsreading.org or complete our online application form

To become a volunteer please email us or complete our online application form

Due to an increase in the numbers of homeless people, New Beginnings Reading are planning to reopen its All Night Cafe shelter for the homeless on 28th March 2020 a month ahead of schedule. The service will be relaunching on Friday and Saturday nights and will offer a hot meal, clean clothing, a safe place to sleep and breakfast for Reading’s homeless.  The charity saw a sharp increase in the numbers of homeless people accessing the service at the end of last year. Up to 26 males and 3 females were accommodated in the evening in December 2019 up from 15 males and 3 females in December 2018.

We really want to add a Sunday night to our service from April and are currently recruiting volunteers who can help.  Volunteers are needed in 3 shifts from 7.15pm to 10.30pm, overnight from 10.30pm to 7.15am and a breakfast team from 7am to 9am at the Queens Arms alcohol free pub, Great Knollys Street, Reading.  Sometimes we really struggle to fill the overnight volunteer shift and are especially looking for people who can do the 10.30pm to 7.15am shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Please get in touch if you can help email volunteer@newbeginningsreading.org

Volunteering is really rewarding and all our guests really appreciate being safe, warm and dry in a lovining, caring environment. In the words of one guest, ‘It was a real God send and an oasis to me over the Christmas period.  I felt so well looked after and safe.’

No experience necessary, just a heart to help those who are homeless in Reading and to make a real difference in their lives.  Full training and an induction will be given to all volunteers.

Please get in touch if you can volunteer especially on a Sunday evening/morning.

Take a look at our Business Plan