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Volunteer Corner
Reading Voluntary Action
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Meet the companies who Creamdesign: Design: Fundraiser of the Year Creamn Fundraiser of the yuear
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REAM Design is supporting Fundraiser of the Year, which celebrates an individual or organisation that has shown outstanding skills or dedication to fundraising.
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HE British Red Cross has been helping millions of people in the UK and around the world get the support they need when a crisis strikes.
Right now they are seeking a Customer Service Volunteer in their Thames Valley Area branch. If you enjoy being in an office environment, are compassionate and like meeting people then this could be the role for you. This vital service enables people to maintain their independence and quality of life after an illness or injury. Whether it is to help take a relative out, or take a child to school, it makes a difficult and distressing time a little bit easier. Enrych Berkshire is a Registered Charity that provides support to people with a disability, helping them get access to leisure, social and learning activities. They are currently seeking a female volunteer to help one of their female members that uses a wheelchair to go out and visit places again. You could be the person that builds their confidence. And of course there are many more volunteer opportunities with Enrych Berkshire that helps even more people one-on-one, ranging from just being a person to lend an ear or being a volunteer that assists in taking them to social events. Alzheimer’s Research UK is the leading dementia and Alzheimer’s disease research charity and they are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join their Cheer Squad at Endure 24 Reading 2022. They want you, your family and your friends to cheer as loud as you can to give their #TeamARUK runners and all the other runners a boost as they go past, encouraging them to keep going and helping them achieve their goals. The Endure 24 Reading 2022 is a one-off 24 hour event taking place on Saturday, June 18, Sunday, June 19. Volunteers will be able to pick from four sixhour slots available. n Take a look at our brand new Reading Volunteer Connect platform for details of these and many more opportunities to volunteer via our website, www.rgneeds.me. Want to get in touch? Drop us an email at volunteering@rva.org.uk or call 0118 937 2273.
READINGTODAY.ONLINE Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Helen Waring, account director at Cream Design (pictured with BBC presenter Matt Allwright), says: “Pride of Reading is our favourite day of the year.” Senior designer Andy Taplin said that Cream was a big support of charities. “We work with a lot of charities and organisations, and we see that income streams for them are really important,” he said. “And it’s really fascinating to see new ways to raise money for family members, and charities more generally.” Ms Waring agreed: “Cream is very community based in that way, we like being right in the centre. “We’ve worked with organisations like Launchpad, the Reading FC
Former Players Association, Berkshire Youth, and Berkshire Vision. “And it’s so nice to be able to give something back.” Mr Taplin said that though Reading has much to boast of, some of it goes unnoticed. “It’s quite nice being the largest town, it’s not one of those showing-off kind of places,” he said. “There’s so much great stuff that goes on here that just goes under the radar.” “A lot of great people do brilliant work here, doing brilliant things, that don’t get showcased.” Cream Design were the recipients of the Business in Action award in 2016, where it was celebrated for more than 20 years of commitment to the community. Now the company is continuing to lend its support with the sponsorship of the Fundraiser of the Year Category.
IKEA: Gifts and prizes support IKEA is among the supporters who are continuing to help the Pride of Reading awards, providing gifts and prizes to the event. Matt Snape, marketing specialist at IKEA, said: “It was amazing to be here at the launch of the 2022 Pride of Reading awards. “It feels great to be part of the community, being involved supporting people. “And I think for us as one of the supporters and previous sponsors, it’s really exciting for us to find out the theme.” This year’s awards have been given the theme of celebrations. He explained: “Because we supply a lot of the gifts, it’s really good to know what the theme so we can tailor it to match that. “It’s a really exciting thing that we can
then come together as a store and start brainstorming what can we do and what we can bring.” IKEA has sponsored categories at the awards for a number of years following its first sponsorship in 2017. When the awards returned after the pandemic last year, IKEA had moved to a supporting role. Mr Snape said: “Pride of Reading is such a great organisation, that even though we’re not directly sponsoring, we still have made it very apparent that we still want to support and be a part of the community.” “And the fact that they’re accepting that and saying that that’s fine, they still want us to come on board, it’s great to feel a part of the bigger picture.”
Reading Buses: Employee of the Year READING Buses is sponsoring the Employee of the Year award at this year’s Pride of Reading Awards. Laurence Jenkins, finance director at Reading Buses, said: “It’s something that we’re extremely proud to support, and we’ve sponsored the employee award for a number of years. “We’re one of the biggest employers in the town, and we recognise that the amazing things that employees of various organisations and companies in the town achieve and deliver .” The company was founded in 1901, and has come to be part of the town’s identity. “Reading Buses has been the heart of the community for over 100 years, now. “We consider ourselves to be part of the fabric of Reading, so we love to support Reading and showcase it to the rest of the UK in the world.”
Reading Buses was given a Pride of Reading Award in 2017, winning the Business in Action award in recognition of its community work, charity fundraising, and focus on environmental targets. “We love being here, keeping the town connected, keeping the key workers in the town connected,” said Mr Jenkins. Reading Buses has worked to make their services greener, with a number of them making use of biofuels or hybrid buses. Currently all of its buses meet Euro VI standards, meaning a significantly reduced effect on air quality in the town. “We like to do things a bit differently,” Mr Jenkins said, “and we like to offer a bit extra to our customers, too, because we feel they’re worth it.”
