Reading Family Aid’s Toys & Teens appeal is back for another year to help bring new and nearly new toys to those who need it most this Christmas.

The annual gift appeal, sponsored by The Chronicle, will be accepting donations at 33 points across Reading and the surrounding areas.

These toys and gifts will be distributed to disadvantaged children in Reading and the surrounding area, ready to be opened on Christmas day.

Imagine you had to tell your children that they won’t be getting a toy from Santa this year. This will be the incredibly sad situation that many families find themselves in this Christmas without your help.

More families than ever are being plunged into poverty with the cost-of-living crisis having far-reaching consequences. As we all know times are tougher than in previous years and none more so for those already struggling to make ends meet.

To put things into context, last year Reading Family Aid gave Christmas presents to a record number of 3,001 disadvantaged children.

Although this might sound positive it was a sad reminder that the reason this number is higher than in the previous year of 2,558 is that more and more families are living in poverty. Sadly this number is expected to rise again this year.

If proof were needed then we only have to find evidence for just how many families are living in poverty. The number of children aged between 0-15 years now living in low-income families in Reading,is 10,568 according to government statistics. That means more than one in four children are living in poverty in Reading.

Reading Family Aid volunteer Charlie McLean said: “I have two young boys and I can’t imagine their faces if I told them Father Christmas hadn’t come this year.

“As a parent it’s so incredibly sad to think of children that won’t receive even a single present on Christmas Day. For them to wonder what they did wrong, and why they don’t deserve a visit from Santa.

“That’s why I help with, and donate to, the Toys and Teens Appeal every year. In the hope that I can bring even a small amount of happiness to their lives this Christmas”.

One school teacher of pupils supported by last year’s appeal said: “Two of the boys told me that they were both really happy at home because mum got gifts for them (your gifts).

“They were both delighted and said it was ‘one of the best days ever’. As a result of the conversation we realised the children actually have no toys at all at home. Thank you.”

The Toys and Teens Appeal 2023 will be collecting new and nearly new toys from donation drop-off points, as well as using funds from the Go Fund Me online to buy gifts for children to open on Christmas day.

Details on what can be donated at drop off points at readingfamilyaid.org

Or donate to the fundraiser online at https://gofund.me/292470f4