With 2025 drawing to a close, the John Sykes Foundation reflects on another impactful year full of meaningful partnerships and a continued steadfast commitment to enhancing the lives of people across Reading.

We have grown on 2024’s foundations through a variety of grants having been awarded, funding more community initiatives, and fostering further collaborative projects, whilst building on existing connections and forging new ones to encourage collaboration and maximise local impact.

It has been an exciting year, here’s the highlights!

Empowering Young People

A grant of £3,000 from our Reading Youth Fund enabled Sport in Mind to continue free weekly football sessions for children aged 10–14 at Palmer Park in Reading. The program is designed to build confidence and improve mental wellbeing through sport.

We were also delighted to attend Whitley Amateur Boxing Club’s inaugural boxing show, celebrating the success of a club that has become a vital hub for young people (predominantly from Whitley).

With the sport of boxing and the incredible motivational coaches/mentors evidently being so impactful to young people, we provided vital last-minute funding to local charity N3W Angle for their May half-term boxing camp, ensuring the camp could go ahead for the young people. N3W Angle’s camps highlight the positive impact of early-intervention mentoring for young people.

A grant to The Weller Centre enabled local children with SEND and/or under guardianship/care orders to take part in enriching animal encounters at Beale Park, helping to create joyful, memorable experiences that they would ordinarily not have the opportunity to do.

Right at the beginning of the year, our Trustees stepped out of their comfort zones to take part in an exhilarating firewalk to raise funds for Parenting Special Children, a charity we have proudly supported since 2022. Parenting Special Children provides specialist support to families of children with SEND across Reading, offering workshops, courses, and tailored guidance to help parents navigate the complex challenges.

Later on, we facilitated a valuable collaboration between Whitley-based charity Aspire2 and the Royal Berkshire Hospital for a midwife to deliver an inspiring careers session for Year 5 pupils at Geoffrey Field Junior School after a couple of the students had expressed an interest in this career field. This session helped further spark interest in healthcare roles among young students at the school.

In the year, we also attended the Young Voices Safety Summit to discuss the issues that most concern young people in the digital age, as well as met with local charities New Meaning Training and Reading FC Community Trust.

Championing Health & Wellbeing

One of our Trustees, Annabelle Sykes, continued her outstanding fundraising efforts, running both the Reading Half Marathon and the London Marathon in March and April respectively to support the Berkshire MS Therapy Centre (BMSTC). This charity provides crucial treatments and therapies for individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis in the local area. A further donation was made to BMSTC in November to support their vital oxygen therapy service, an important treatment that many members rely upon to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

We visited the team at Prospect Park Hospital to gain deeper insight into mental health services delivered across Reading. We also joined Sport in Mind’s Networking Breakfast to explore ground-breaking research and their “Mad Headlines” campaign, which challenges the negative language around mental health in sports media.

A grant of £1,800 was awarded to local organisation Real Time Video’s “Focusing Minds” mental health project. The funding provided video production opportunities for adults experiencing mental health challenges, helping the participants build creative skills, garner confidence, and build connections through this activity.

Supporting People Facing Financial & Emotional Hardship

We proudly continued to support some of the incredible initiatives by Faith Christian Group: ReadiStreet and Bed 4 A Night. We attended ReadiStreet’s Christmas and Easter meals at Reading Minster Church, whereby these warm, nutritious meals provided comfort and companionship to those experiencing homelessness. We provided funding for Bed 4 A Night’s emergency shelters to help keep homeless individuals safe, warm, and supported through the cold winter months.

A grant was awarded to the Reading Branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain to fund their much-loved community centre library with a new printer and assist with operational costs and volunteer expenses. This organisation has become a cornerstone to Ukrainian families in Reading who have been displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We awarded two grants this year to Project Salama to set up their domestic abuse support group in East Reading aimed to support ethnic minorities. These weekly sessions, named “Chai, Chat, and Chill,” offer a safe and discreet environment where service users can come together over a warm drink to engage in conversation, form friendships, and reduce feelings of isolation, all whilst being supported by the Project Salama team who understand the impact of different cultures in relationships and can offer culturally-informed support.

We joined Christian Community Action’s team on the ground to deliver essential furniture to low income families/individuals in crisis, witnessing first-hand the charity’s compassionate, practical support for those rebuilding their lives.

We also visited The Cowshed who showcased their incredible volunteer-led work supplying essential items to families from a variety of backgrounds in need, as well as the charity Smart Works to understand how their free styling and coaching service empowers women to secure employment and transform their futures.

Loss & Bereavement

Early in the year, we attended an Inquest at the Berkshire Coroner’s Court in Reading Town Hall to learn more about the essential work done by the volunteers of Reading Coroner’s Court Support Service. Meeting Senior Coroner Heidi Connor and Lead Volunteer Joy Abel provided invaluable insight into the challenges faced by families experiencing bereavement and the compassionate support offered by the volunteer-run service. Our subsequent grant supported training and welfare resources, recognising the extreme emotional demands of their work.

Furthermore, we met the team at Daisy’s Dream to deepen our understanding of the support they provide to children coping with bereavement. Their tailored guidance and therapeutic activities remain essential for many children and young people across Reading who have lost a family member.

Community Inclusion

Our meeting with Tom Price, Chief Engagement Officer of Reading Pride, strengthened our connection with this local fully volunteer-run charity, allowing us to learn more about their year-round efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community and their incredible annual Pride parade and festival.

We also met again with the Sanctuary Strikers football club, a team for refugees and asylum seekers, to donate 10 pairs of new football boots to help the players participate safely and confidently.

Ongoing Multi-Year Projects

We acquired a hospitality box at Reading Football Club for the 2025/26 season with the aim to offer service users and key difference-makers from charities across Reading an unforgettable matchday experience with our local football club. The attendees so far have been Reading Men’s Shed, Grassrootz Youth Club, Reading Pride, Faith Christian Group, Daisy’s Dream, and Parenting Special Children.

Our long-standing partnership with Brookfields SEN School reached its 7th year, supporting twice-monthly visits from Millie, a Pets as Therapy dog. For students with complex special educational needs, these sessions provide emotional reassurance, unique sensory engagement, and joyful moments that enrich the school day.

We also proudly celebrated the 7th year of our collaboration with the A&E Department of the Royal Berkshire Hospital through the “Team Member of the Month” and “Quarterly Recognition” Awards. This longstanding tradition continues to honour the outstanding dedication and hard work of the frontline healthcare staff in Reading.

The 2 minibuses we funded for Whitley-based charity Aspire2 continued to travel across the country! Since their introduction, the minibuses have provided vital transport for children and young people from the Whitley school cluster, traveling approximately 240 miles a month with 1,375 children enjoying various trips and enabling access to educational visits.

Celebrating Local Achievements

Our Founder, John Sykes, was honoured with a High Sheriff’s Award for outstanding service and generosity to the community of Reading, accepted by his two eldest children on his behalf, Trustees Annabelle and Charlie Sykes.

We were proud to nominate several exceptional community heroes for the Royal Garden Party as well as the BBC Radio Berkshire Make A Difference Awards to celebrate their contributions in the local community. We were delighted to be in attendance to celebrate with The Engine Shed at the Make A Difference Awards, who were one of the winners! The Engine Shed is a special interest charity for autistic children with a love for trains.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Our passionate commitment to enhancing the lives of those in need in Reading has continued to make a significant impact throughout 2025. Founder John Sykes shared, “2025 has been another year of growth and meaningful impact for our Foundation and for the communities we serve. We are immensely proud of the relationships we have built with charities and community groups across Reading over the years, as well as the new partnerships we have been able to forge. The lives we’ve touched and the collaborations we’ve strengthened demonstrate the power of working together. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain dedicated to creating opportunities and providing vital support to help ensure Reading continues to thrive, and we are already in discussions with several organisations about grant opportunities for the coming year.”

As we continue to foster long-term partnerships and build new connections that create meaningful and lasting change, we warmly invite other charities and groups working to improve the lives of residents of Reading to reach out. If your organisation is in need of support - whether through funding, resources, or collaboration - please do contact us to explore how we can work together to make a positive difference.

Applications for grants and funding opportunities are open 365 days a year through the Foundation’s website.