Ten Reading groups share £148,150 in Better Care Fund grants, five of them not funded last year. Who got the money, what it pays for and who missed out.
Ten Reading charities and community groups will share £148,150 to help residents stay physically and mentally well. The grants come from the Better Care Fund and are handed out by the council’s adult social care service, the council announced on 22 October (Reading Borough Council).
Five of the ten were not funded last year. Healthwatch Reading, Sport In Mind, The Cowshed and the Utulivu Women’s Group appear on neither the 2025 list nor the October 2024 one. Torch Help Hub returns after a year out: it was funded in October 2024 to set up a parish nurse in west Reading.
The council has not published how much each group receives.
Who gets the money
From the council’s list of recipients:
| Organisation | What the grant pays for |
|---|---|
| ACRE | A "Keeping Well" programme and digital health help for residents facing deprivation, loneliness, language barriers or digital exclusion |
| Get Berkshire Active | "Ever Active Reading": weekly activity and wellbeing sessions for older people and those with long-term conditions |
| Healthwatch Reading | "Men Can Care": finding and supporting hidden male carers, and setting up a Male Carers Network |
| Launchpad Reading | A health and wellbeing service for adults facing isolation, poor mental health, disability or homelessness, with laundry and showers |
| Parenting Special Children | A helpline, one-to-one support, monthly groups and peer support for families of children with special needs |
| Reading Gateway Church | Parish nursing in south Reading: home visits, nursing support and bereavement sessions |
| Sport In Mind | Free walking, football, yoga and tai chi sessions for people with mental health problems |
| The Cowshed | Free clothing, bedding, hygiene, household and maternity items, by referral, including for people going home from hospital |
| Torch Help Hub | Parish nursing in Coley and Southcote, with home visits, cooking sessions on a budget, seated exercise and bereavement support |
| Utulivu Women's Group | "Midlife Matters": midlife health sessions, especially for African, Caribbean and other ethnically diverse women |
The council says the activities funded include self-defence and tai chi classes, chair yoga, adapted gym sessions, and learning to cook, garden and cut hair.
Cllr Rachel Eden, the council’s lead councillor for education and public health, said the money would “help us reach people who need support”.
Who dropped off
Five groups funded in November 2025 are not on this year’s list (Reading Borough Council, 6 November 2025):
- Berkshire Vision, for its sight loss outreach service
- Mustard Tree, for health outreach with disadvantaged women
- Project Salama, for a peer-led trauma support programme
- Reading Islamic Cultural Centre, for women-only fitness and swimming classes
- Reading Mencap, for a learning disability family health adviser
The council’s release does not say whether they applied again. The grants run round by round, and a group missing from one list may simply not have bid.
The same pot, a little smaller
This is the fourth round of ten grants the council has announced since early 2024. Each one has funded a slightly different set of groups. The total has stayed close to £150,000 since autumn 2024.
- February 2024: £122,000 to ten organisations (council release)
- October 2024: £150,000 to ten (council release)
- November 2025: £150,000 to ten
- October 2026: £148,150 to ten
The Better Care Fund is money pooled by the council and the NHS to keep people out of hospital and living at home. These community grants are a small slice of it.
What it means for you
If one of these services sounds useful, contact the group directly through the links in the table above.
In 2024 the council said referrals to these projects go through the Joy app run by Reading Voluntary Action, except for hospital-based services. This year’s release does not say how referrals work, so ask the group first.
If you live in Coley or Southcote, Torch Help Hub’s parish nurses can visit at home. In south Reading, including Whitley, Reading Gateway Church runs its own parish nurse service.
Sources
- Reading Borough Council, “Grants worth almost £150,000 allocated to support health and wellbeing in Reading”, 22 October 2026, for the total, the recipients, the activities and the quote.
- Reading Borough Council releases of 12 February 2024, 4 October 2024 and 6 November 2025, for earlier totals and recipients, and the Joy app referral route.
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