Reading Family Aid's Toys and Teens Appeal - behind the scenes

Stepping into the warmth of St Lukes Church Hall with a blushed face and red nose, what looks like Santa's work shop is revealed.

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Thousands of donated gifts are laid out across the tables waiting to be picked and packed by volunteers and delivered to disadvantaged families at Christmas.

Every corner of the room is filled with presents kindly donated by residents as part of Reading Family Aid's Toys and Teens Appeal.

The appeal, which has been running since the 1970s, collects and redistributes new or 'as new' toys to children aged 0-16.

Volunteers are busy walking around the hall with a sack looking for gifts to choose for children from various tables all labelled based on the type of present and the child's gender and age.

Gifts range from puzzles, books and crafts to karaoke sets, bikes, cuddly teddies and makeup.

To help volunteers choose personal presents, every sack is labelled with the child's age, gender, likes and dislikes.

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It also explains whether the child has any disabilities or illnesses.

Up to half a dozen presents are then carefully chosen and placed in the sack for each child, ready to be sent to families who have been referred to the charity by social services, health visitors, schools and churches.

Ruth Perkins, the chair of Reading Family Aid and the toy project manager, explained roughly 830 families will be helped through this year's appeal.

That is around 1,000 sacks for almost 2,000 children.

She expressed her gratitude to everybody who donated and all the volunteers.

As 12.30pm approaches, it's time for a spot of lunch and a well deserved break for the hard working volunteers.

Some of the team sit down to enjoy sandwiches, crisps and biscuits whilst others continue to pack.

Enjoying a cup of tea is van driver, Mike, who has popped into the hall to help load up the next batch of gifts before heading back out to deliver them.

Mike has been volunteering for the toy appeal for 15 years, describing it as "a lot of fun".

He said: "Everybody makes an effort to enjoy themselves and have a good time and you’re doing it for a really good cause and it’s a local cause.”

Once the sacks have been filled and loaded into the vans, donated by Caversham Vehicle Hire, they are delivered back to the donation points.

From there, they are then sent to the families so they can wrap them up in time for Christmas.

Mike revealed: “When we go out doing the distribution and deliveries, I can tell you that everybody is really, really appreciative of everything they get because these people have nothing at all.”

Volunteer Kathy has been helping out on the appeal for the past three years and also understands its importance.

She explained: "I think it’s just such a wonderful idea.

"People are very willing to give – it’s very generous and there’s the need out there so it’s a perfect match."

She added: "Christmas can be a really tough time for families who have that expectation of presents under the Christmas tree and anything that can help families in real need has got to be a winner.”

Once all the packing is complete and every family is accounted for, after school clubs and nurseries are invited in to choose second hand presents for themselves.

Any new presents will be saved for next year when the festive appeal will run again.