Counselling Funding By We are delighted to have received 12 months funding to provide a counselling service for residents from the Tampon Tax Fund via Berkshire Community Foundation. Read full article By
Garden Renovation and New Shed By At the end of last year we finished the first stage of renovations of the garden, complete with a brand new shed! Read full article By
Scrapbooks: Elizabeth Fry at The MERL By Elizabeth Fry Charity has been collaboratively working with the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), Reading, for many years. Phillippa Heath, Learning and Engagement Manger, from MERL provides an overview of our most recent project. Read full article By
Open Day 2019 By Friends of charity came to Elizabeth Fry House for this years Open Day on 13 June. Read full article By
Kitchen Re-fit By The Mains Kitchen is having a make-over! We have been very fortunate to have received a one off capital grant from The Clothworkers' Foundation (£25,000) to be put towards our kitchen re-fit. Read full article By
New Funding By We are very pleased to announce we have received a donation from the High Sheriff and new funding from the Police Property Act Fund. Read full article By
Art Project Summer 2018 By We ran another art project this summer with project workers Wendy Aldiss, Christine Wilkinson and Carla Conte. The theme to these workshops included wanting to create some fun, escapism, imagination and fantasy whilst also raising confidence in being self determining and developing skills. Read full article By
Annex roof re-tile By We have had part of the roof re-tiled, on the Annex side of the AP, and doesn't it look smart! Read full article By
Open Day 2018 By Friends of Elizabeth Fry Charity came to the AP for our Open Day on 6 July. Read full article By
Join our friendly and hardworking team of Trustees. By We are interested in hearing from anyone who is passionate about the work we do and feels they can contribute to the success of the Charity. Read full article By
Enabling Environment Award By We are delighted to have received the Enabling Environment Award. This is a mark of quality that shows a service has met critical standards and is an Enabling Environment. Read full article By
Thank You! By We'd like to say thank you to Tesco, North Bracknell, and also our very own Housekeeper, Maria, for a selection of toiletries kindly donated . Read full article By
Notice of 2018 Annual General Meeting By The Annual General Meeting of Elizabeth Fry Charity will be held on Tuesday 24th July. Read full article By
Descendants of Elizabeth Fry present us with an extraordinary painting By Earlier in March, we had the pleasure of being presented with a truly amazing painting of Elizabeth Fry by her descendants Angela & Simon Kendall, accompanied by Robin Gambles (who was the Charity's ex-solicitor and also a relative of Elizabeth Fry) and John & Margie Milward (an ex-Trustee of the Charity). Read full article By
Memories of Mary Phillips By We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mary Phillips on 2 January 2018. Mary joined Elizabeth Fry Charity as a Trustee in 2008 and became Chair in 2009. During her time as Chair she had overseen many positive and far reaching changes to the Charity. Read full article By
Visit from an Ex-Resident By Kelly was a resident at Elizabeth Fry in 2010. She moved on successfully and has kept in touch, particularly with Magda, her keyworker. We were delighted when Kelly made the journey from her home in Kent to pay us a visit in November. Read full article By
Art Project - “What would Lizzie Fry see now?” By We have had an art project “What would Lizzie Fry see now?” running on Tuesday afternoons since 19 September. Read full article By
Generous Donation By We are extremely thankful to have received a significant generous donation from the Stevenson Charitable Trust. Read full article By
Cookery Course By We are delighted to have members of the Women’s Institute are delivering a six session cookery course from 1 November 2017. Read full article By
New Funding By We are very pleased to announce we have received new funding from both the Englefield Charitable Trust and Berkshire Community Foundation. Read full article By
Elizabeth Fry host National Prison Radio Takeover By Clare In the programme, some of the women talk about their experiences of the hostel and how it has helped them to move on. There are some very touching personal accounts, particularly Sarah who bares her soul when it comes to her experience of Substance Misuse and the support the drug worker Juliette and local groups are giving her. For her every day is a battle and just being 3 days clean is a major achievement. She has been here 8 weeks, which is longer than she has lasted outside before. Carlene is very frank about not wanting to originally come to the hostel after a long time inside but she survived the curfews and appreciated the extra support which has allowed her to move on to a flat in Reading where she has been for the past 4 weeks and came back to do the show. Read full article By Clare
Old Bailey Event - Celebrating 200 years of the work of Elizabeth Fry. By Fiona Humphreys 2017 marks 200 years since Elizabeth Fry established the Association for the Improvement of Female Prisoners and along with a group of 12 other women lobbied authorities including parliament. In the 1820s she inspected prison conditions, advocated reform and established further groups to campaign for reform. In 1823 prison reform legislation was finally introduced in Parliament. Staff, Trustees and HH Judge Zoe Smith, a Patron of Elizabeth Fry Charity were delighted to be invited by The Sheriffs of the City of London to attend an Elizabeth Fry Reception in May. The event was held in the beautiful Grand Hall of the Old Bailey which was formerly Newgate Prison. It was very apt that there is a statue of Elizabeth Fry in the Grand Hall and we were able to position ourselves near this for the evening and provide information to others that attended about the work that continues in her name through the Charity. Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
Elizabeth Fry Tree Dedication Event at the National Arboretum 25 May 2017 By Tony Rolley On a glorious Spring day in Staffordshire, a tree was dedicated to Elizabeth Fry, the woman after whom our Charity is named. On behalf of the Elizabeth Fry Charity, Tony Rolley, Trustee, attended and contributed to the various readings that took place to support the occasion. The tree, a Scots Pine, and accompanying plaque, are located within the Quaker memorial in a quiet wood on the outer periphery of the arboretum. A beautiful spot! Read full article By Tony Rolley
Thank you Newbury Soroptimists! By Fiona Humphreys Fiona, our Chief Executive had the pleasure of attending the 61st Annual Presidents Lunch of the Newbury Soroptimists on 30 April. Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
Carpark Improvements By Fiona Humphreys We have now completed the project to improve the area in front of the main Approved Premises building. Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
FastTrack Fit Camp raise money for Elizabeth Fry Charity! By Fiona Humphreys A big thank you to everyone from FastTrack Fit Camp in Wokingham who made it to the session on Sunday 26 March and raised £210 for Elizabeth Fry Charity! Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
Thank you Volkswagen! By Fiona Humphreys We received a surprise donation from Volkswagen Reading of two food hampers! Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
Thank you Waitrose! By Fiona Humphreys A big thank you to Waitrose, Reading for their donation of a basket of toiletries and chocolates to residents of Elizabeth Fry. Read full article By Fiona Humphreys
Meet Thembie - Housing and Link Worker By I joined Elizabeth Fry Charity as a Resettlement and Support Officer (RSO) in March 2015. The role involved providing day to day to support to residents at the Approved Premises, monitoring behaviour to ensure licence conditions are complied with and sharing information with colleagues and partner agencies. When a vacancy arose in the Housing and Link Worker role I was keen to apply for this position and delighted to be offered the post. I was aware, through my work as an RSO that there are a number of obstacles facing women at the Approved Premises who are seeking accommodation to move on to. I was also aware of the impact that a lack of stable or suitable accommodation can have on re-offending rates and saw the role as a chance to support women to access suitable accommodation and make the appropriate links so that there is a package of support in place when they leave Elizabeth Fry. Read full article By
Introducing Olaf By Olaf, a registered Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog has been making regular visits to the Approved Premises since the beginning of the summer. Read full article By
Journeys and Stories Art Project By Elizabeth Fry and Thames Valley Partnership have been working together over a number of years to provide creative activity for residents at the hostel. The artwork currently displayed on the walls is the outcome of a 2-year project, Women at the HeArt, and has led to funding from Arts Council England to support our current project: Journeys and Stories. These sessions are led by experienced artists Christine Wilkinson and Carla Conte and are leading up to public exhibitions at Reading Museum and MERL (Museum of English Rural Life). Read full article By
Pilgrim Trust Gives Generous Award to Elizabeth Fry for Substance Misuse Work By The Pilgrim Trust has awarded nearly £70,000 to Elizabeth Fry for carrying out substance misuse work at the Approved Premises. The award will pay for the salary of a substance misuse worker for three years. Substance misuse has affected many of our residents’ lives and they will benefit from the project. We are most grateful to the Pilgrim Trust for their most generous award. Read full article By
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales awards generous grant to Elizabeth Fry By Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has awarded £69,784 to Elizabeth Fry, which equates to three years’ salary for a Housing and Link Worker. We are most grateful to them for their generosity. Read full article By
Memories of Marjorie Griffin By We were saddened to hear of the death of Marjorie Griffin, a previous Warden at Elizabeth Fry who had managed the hostel from 1955 to 1975 and was responsible for the hostel’s move from London to its current location in Reading. Marjorie visited Elizabeth Fry in July 2011 to celebrate the re-opening of the building following the fire in 2009. She also spoke at the Service at Greyfriars Church in 2012, celebrating 50 years since the hostel’s move to Reading. It was a privilege to hear Marjorie talk about her experiences at the hostel and she proved to be a real inspiration to both staff and residents. Read full article By