Reading’s leaders enjoyed lunch at the Churches in Reading Drop-in Centre in Berkeley Avenue
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Leaders’ tour makes a Connect-ion to poverty
By Linda FortJune 21, 2010
Captains of industry went on a less than grand tour of Reading last week to learn about pockets of poverty in the town.
They were taken around by Connect Reading, a charity which aims to promote the economic well-being of deprived communities by linking them with businesses which can offer skills and time.
The first stop on the tour was the top of The Blade building in Abbey Square.
Manager of Connect Reading Clare Wright said: “We wanted to give them a different perspective of Reading.
“Reading Borough Council’s chief executive Michael Coughlin gave them a brief talk about the dichotomy of Reading where there is a thriving business economy alongside pockets of deprivation.”
Next they were taken to Reading Young Offenders’ Institution where they visited the Kennet Unit where prisoners on licence go out into the community in Reading – and Southampton and Portsmouth – to do community work and gain work experience.
They went on to the Hexham Road estate in Whitley and visited the community centre to hear local needs.
Miss Wright said: “At the community centre, they were hoping to improve their garden area and they were having problems with their IT suite.”
The tour went on to CIRDIC, the Churches in Reading Drop-in Centre in Berkeley Avenue, where the businessmen and women had lunch with some of the homeless people who use the centre to get food, to shower and gain computer access.
The volunteers at the centre said they needed aprons, but were mainly using the opportunity to raise awareness of homelessness in Reading.
The lunch was laid on by the French Horn restaurant in Sonning – with meat provided by Greens of Pangbourne.
The companies represented on the tour included Fujitsu, Yell, Distribution Technology, Wipro, Designation, Reading Football Club, Reading 107fm, the Reading Post and Reading UK CIC.
Miss Wright said following the tour, offers of help from Distribution Technology and Yell came in for the Hexham Road Community Centre IT suite and garden respectively.
And Fujitsu is looking at providing a sandpit there, which was something else it needed.
Miss Wright added: “Whether a company has three or 3,000 employees, it can make a real difference to the community.”
Anyone who would like to get involved can call Connect Reading, based in Merchants Place, Central Reading, on (0118) 959 1236 or visit www.connectreading.co.uk.
