How to help others

Surviving Winter crowdfund

We've teamed up with Wokingham United Charities and Berkshire Community Foundation for the Surviving Winter crowdfund.

Thanks to community donations and match funding, more than £50,000 will be going to local organisations to help people with the cost of living in the months ahead.

Money has been allocated to:

• The Cowshed - £10,000 to provide ongoing support for 250 residents with access to essential items
• First Days Children’s Charity - £5,000 to cover one day a week of a family support worker for one year. This would cover all of the work required to assess applications for beds and bedding and get beds into the homes of 300 children throughout the year
• Home Start Wokingham District - £10,000 to recruit, train and supervise volunteers to work with families with at least one child aged five or younger
• The Salvation Army Wokingham - £10,000 to help with community outreach to those dealing with homelessness, living in temporary accommodation, needing tenancy support or struggling to access benefits
• SHARE Wokingham - £5,000 for storage and packing, cleaning items and running costs to support 13 food sites, helping about 1,500 people each week
• Yeldall Manor Good Samaritan Fund - £3,000 to help men that cannot obtain funding to access residential rehabilitation for drug or alcohol addiction

Organisations will be able to apply for a new round of funding when the Surviving Winter grants process reopens this autumn

Find a new home for old laptops

Wokingham Lions, SHARE Wokingham and First Days Children's Charity are collecting old laptops and donating them to people in hardship. The is known as Re-Tec.

All laptops are completely cleaned, refurbished and tested then loaded with basic applications. It's then distributed to those in need by SHARE and First Days.

You can help by donating your old laptops. This can be done at:

• Any Wokingham Borough library during its opening times - Wokingham, Lower Earley, Woodley, Finchampstead, Winnersh, Twyford, Wargrave or Spencers Wood
• Wokingham Charity and Community Hub, Waterford House, Denmark Street (RG40 2BB)
• Any SHARE Wokingham site
• Book a donation time - First Days Children's Charity, Unit 9, Molly Millars Business Centre, Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham (RG41 2QZ)

Volunteer

Contact the Wokingham Volunteer Centre to help you find a role with an organisation near you.