Turkeys, Santas and a dinosaur rode almost 1,300 motorbikes to deliver Christmas presents for children on Sunday (December 4).
Another 300 passengers meant hundreds of presents were donated to charities by Reading Toy Run.
They drove from ohn Wood PLC (formerly known as Shire Hall) in Lower Earley to High Close School in Wokingham to hand the presents to the school’s work-related learning coordinator, Gill McKernan.
“It was just an amazing sight, I mean what a spectacle,” said Gill, who has helped coordinate Reading Toy Run for the last three decades.
“I’m in the hall and I greet the bikers, and everyone was just so lovely to see – people you’ve met before, new people- and all they want to do is make sure children get a good Christmas and thanks to them they certainly will.
“They are such lovely and kind people and some have been coming for years. This is the start of Christmas for us at High Close.”
Charities like Bernados, The Cowshed, First Days, Promise Inclusion, Kidz and Building for the Future will be invited in to collect toys.
Donations flooded in despite the cost of living crisis tightening most people’s wallets, particularly during winter.
The cost of traditional Christmas dinner items such as turkey, pigs in blankets, carrots and roast potatoes has risen by on average 18 per cent over the past year, while wages have risen by just 5.7 per cent, according to analysis by the Trade Union Congress.
“It has not affected the quality and amount of gifts that we have had donated. We have had cash, donations and vouchers, and the amount that has been given has been so generous,” Gill said.
“People have still dug deep.”
She continued: “They have never wanted to stop giving, all through the difficult times and of course Ben passing away last year.”
Ben Spiller, who died on April 9, 2021, started the toy run with 17 other members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association in 1985.
Last year, bikers scattered some of Ben’s ashes on the route nearest to his home and to the Pheasant pub, where the first Toy Run took place.
“He was such an important person in our lives. He was a friend of mine as well as a toy run coordinator,” said Gill.
“But the bikers have never stopped.”
Gill said: “A massive thank you again to everyone involved, not just the people who donated, but those behind the scenes and the marshals keeping the run safe and the people who volunteered on the day to help here.
“There will be some very happy children at Christmas thanks to the generosity.”
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