In Our Town

Part of the vision of Reading Family Church is to leave footprints of justice, hope and mercy across our town, playing our part in loving and serving our local communities. We want to help anyone in need wherever we can – regardless of race, religion, age, gender, sexuality, marital status or disability. You’ll find details here of our first steps.

Reading Job Club

Reading Job Club is our initiative which aims to help and support those in our town who are out of work, get into employment or other work placement schemes.

For more information about Reading Job Club, click here

Starting Point

Starting Point is a partnership between Reading Family Church and a local charity; The Mustard Tree Foundation. Starting Point aims to help local 16-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’) to engage with the opportunities available to them. It supports these young people to reach their potential through an authentic relationship with a trained mentor.

For more information about Starting Point, click here

Chapter2

RFC run a mentoring programme for fatherless boys in partnership with Chapter2. We have a team of fully trained male mentors who regularly meet 1:2:1 with boys desperately in need of a good male role model. We also provide fun activities for the mentors and boys to do as a broader group, such as bushcraft, canoeing and GoApe to name a few. Together with Chapter2, we aim to write hope into the fatherless story which is affecting so many families in our town.

You can find out more about the work of Chapter2 on their website, click here

Hope

HOPE is a place for those who have learning disabilities to have their own expression of Church. Each session involves worship through Makaton signs, dance, a short message, a craft or activity as well as refreshments. We also run an annual carers day to give a well deserved day of relaxation and recuperation for all carers whether they are paid or care for family members. All of our team have undergone safe guarding training and are DBS checked. HOPE meets on the first Saturday of the month at various locations; for more information please contact the church office.

Hope Into Action

We house previously homeless people and provide befriending and mentoring. We partner with Hope into Action (Reading) who find investors to purchase property which they lease back. Lives are transformed by a safe home environment and people who don’t judge but show the love of Jesus.

For more information about Hope Into Action, click here

Connect and Play

Connect and Play is a playgroup set up and run in Whitley by local mums from RFC, in partnership with the library, Children’s centre and Whitley Growallot.

It is for local parents with their children aged 0-4 and aims to connect parents to one another and provide a fun, safe learning environment for the little ones. We have themed activities, crafts, a story, snack and songs each week in term time.

As well as starting these initiatives, we're delighted to support many other projects that work hard to improve the lives of local people:

Bed4Night

Over the past few years we have played our part alongside other churches in our town providing nightly accommodation through the coldest months of January and February to those who would normally sleep outside. Our guests arrive early evening to a warm meal, and then are entertained before settling down to a safe sleep. After breakfast, the next morning they leave to go back out on the streets till the next evening starts.

Home for Good

RFC is a partner church with Home for Good. They promote fostering and adoption and are seeing real change in the lives of many children and young.

Find out more about Home for Good, click here

Faith Christian Group

Faith Christian Group works among the poor, the needy and the homeless in Reading. One of the ways Faith reaches out is through ReadiStreet, providing hot drinks and sandwiches to those who are sleeping rough or in desperate need of food. Church members regularly volunteer on these soup runs. We have also donated to help set up flats to house the otherwise homeless.

For more information about Faith Christian Group, click here

ReadiFood

Another of Faith’s projects is ReadiFood. Each week, Readifood delivers more than 50 emergency food parcels to local families and individuals in need. We collect weekly donations of tinned food at all of our Sunday meetings, making us one of ReadiFood’s main suppliers.

For more information about ReadiFood, click here