Reading Business Improvement District has once again teamed up with Reading Borough Council to launch the third annual Summer Donation Drive, collecting essential items for thousands of local families facing poverty. The Reading BID campaign runs until 16 July and feeds directly into the council’s Summer Activities Programme, which supports up to 9,500 children and young people across the town.
A public collection point opens at Reading Station in the Brunel Arcade, outside the British Transport Police Office, from 13 to 16 July. Residents can drop off clothing, school supplies, long‑life food, toiletries, sunscreen, water bottles and newborn items between 8:30am and 2pm, and again from 4pm to 6pm. Staff at town centre businesses have already been contributing through internal collection boxes since 29 June.
The drive builds on two years of growing generosity. In 2024, the first business‑only effort gathered over 80 boxes of food, clothes and summer essentials. Last year the scheme opened to the public for the first time, with pop‑up collection points at the station and 26 office buildings, and it matched that total. The 2025 haul included 35 kilograms of pasta, more than 300 toiletry items and over 200 pieces of clothing, from baby grows to children’s shoes.
All donations are distributed by Brighter Futures for Children on behalf of the council. The Summer Activities Programme works with some of the town’s most vulnerable groups, including young carers, care leavers, unaccompanied asylum‑seeking children, new mothers and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Alexa Volker, Reading BID Manager, said: “Each year, we see how much of a difference this campaign makes to local families. The continued support from Reading’s community has been invaluable, and we hope to build on that again this year by reaching even more young people who need it. Our local business community’s support with donations and volunteering has been pivotal to this initiative’s success, and we look forward to growing again for another year.” Councillor Wendy Griffith, Lead Councillor for Children, thanked everyone who had already donated, adding that the items would make “a real and lasting difference” to Reading families during the school holidays.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
