Charities for 2025

Every year we make a donation to two charities from the profits of the Duck Derby races.

The charities that will benefit from the 2025 Duck derby races are:-

West Berkshire Community Hospital

Supported through the Berkshire Healthcare Charity

Berkshire Healthcare Charity is the official charity supporting Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, helping to improve patient care and staff wellbeing. The charity supports West Berkshire Community Hospital, funding projects outside of NHS funding for rehabilitation, end-of-life care, and mental health services. Thanks to generous donations, it provides essential equipment, therapy resources, and wellbeing initiatives, making a real difference to patients and their families in our community.

Newbury Soup Kitchen

Newbury Soup Kitchen feeds the most vulnerable in our society who often are plagued with Homelessness, addiction and chaos.

Through building strong relationships, we slowly gain trust and helped build self-worth and confidence in our clients.
We provide a broad spectrum of outreach to care for people in our community who are experiencing homelessness and vulnerably housed in West Berkshire.

Our team spend time with people who need support, encouragement and empathy helping them to reach their full potential in every aspect of their lives. This will allow them to grow in confidence and enable them to make better life decisions and so improve their situation, safety and future.

They are looking for help with funding the general running costs of the charity. Costs include:

• Operating our two vehicles: our takeaway van used for food provision direct to clients and our Ford Transit which is our everyday workhorse.
  The food provision van will allow us to provide food in a flexible way, taking food to different locations where necessary. It can be used for fundraising too. This van provided food twice a week in the centre of town where our clients can access food, support and outreach.
• Expenses involved with our Operations Unit and Kitchen which we have to pay rent and utilities. At this location we cook, have storage for food and tents etc, vehicle parking, office space for outreach workers and staff. One individual requirement blends into another.
• Outreach costs are salary for the specialist staff members, plus support for individuals with train tickets, electricity top ups, phone credit etc. Many of our clients are struggling to make ends meet. Many are chaotic and live in debt suffering from mental health, addictions and homelessness or the risk of homelessness. Homeless Prevention has become a huge part of our work. We work closely with the statutory organisations to help stop people coming back out on the streets. This sadly has been exasperated with the now common Section 21 evictions that are plaguing our cohort.

Now mental health issues are on the rise more than ever people are struggling with everyday commitments and responsibilities. This in itself can cause the spiral into homelessness. They provide Hep C, Liver checks, opportunity for Flu and COVID vaccines, Community Nurses and eye tests

• Our food provision sessions (both mobile or sit down during the week) help build those relationships and trust so we can help people fully to be better more stable outcome and future. Food is the open door to engagement and trust.
  Our weekly sessions feed individuals who find themselves cold and hungry with little access to fuel or food, medical and general support and help that we all often take for granted. The demand has increased substantially, and people are visiting our sessions more regularly asking for bigger food parcels and extra emergency kettle packs

During this time, we will continue to keep an eye out for a building to adapt and move into to expand our Community Support. We will need funds for this and hope to be in the position to be able to commit if that building comes along. Our dream is a permanent building to encapsulate everything but, in the meantime, we are very happy with our operations centre and vans… There are a large number of individuals living in emergency B&B accommodation due to the increase of ‘no fault’ evictions and lack of housing stock. All these situations compound the need for outreach support and food provision in our community.