Truckload of Gifts for Toys and Teens!

A huge thank you to all those across the school community who kindly donated to the Toys and Teens appeal organised by Reading Family Aid this year. Hundreds of gifts were generously given by students, staff, parents. Old Leightonians and even another school for whom Leighton Park was the nearest collection point. The presents were gathered together and the display curated over the last few weeks by Amicus, our senior school charity group, ready for collection on Monday 8^th December by volunteers from Reading Family Aid, pleased to take the presents on to the next phase of their journey.

Mike, Nigel and Karen appeared in their van to drive the gifts to the sorting point. This year they are aiming to gather 2,600 presents and hoping that each recipient will have 4-5 items to open come Christmas Day; a toy, a book, a game and a craft-type activity is the typical mix. Mike was keen to encourage the donations to continue next year, “We think it’s quite important that children in better off communities are made aware of just how much poverty there is in and around a town like Reading.” “I think it is exceptional that people can spend some time and actually make a difference in the community, helping to make children’s lives better.” added Nigel. The donations go to a large hall for sorting by age and then are picked according to lists provided by social services for particular facilities. Once bagged and boxed the pressies travel to distribution centres such as schools and community centres so that the social workers can collect them from there for delivery to the children.

Amicus Co-Ordinator, Pablo Gorostidi-Perez, commented: “The Reading Family Aid Toys and Teens Appeal is now a consolidated event in LP’s calendar. The launch of the appeal, to some extent, starts the Christmas season in LP. Our collaboration with the charity started in 2018, and since then the generosity of our community has gone from strength-to-strength. As Amicus coordinator, I always fear that, one year, the appeal will lose momentum. However, 2025 has been another successful year and we have contributed more toys than ever. This encapsulates the values of the school body and shows the awareness of our students regarding the needs of the community around us. Amicus are very grateful for the support given, once again, to the appeal.”