Kathryn Burgoyne

A ”lovely lady” running a church foodshare and coffee and craft cafe has been nominated for the Neighbourhood Champion award, sponsored by Reading Football Club.

Kathryn Burgoyne’s nominator said: ”This lovely lady runs lots of community groups from the Whycliff Baptist Church. She works tirelessly to support anyone who needs it.

“Kathryn runs a very busy foodshare, giving up her time to provide free food to families and individuals in need. She also runs a busy coffee and craft group, which provides so many benefits to those who use it.

“I often refer individuals struggling with being alone. She's a credit to the community and reaches so many people,” they said.

Her team also came in for praise. A nominator for the Volunteer/s of the Year award, sponsored by AB Walker, said: “The group volunteer a huge amount of time to be able to provide food to individuals and families for free.

“This takes a huge amount of organisation as they collect food from various stores, bring it to the church and distribute what they've collected to the service users.

“The team also work with a smile and go above and beyond for those they help. There is always a long queue of service users needing support,” they added.

“They very much do this from the bottom of their hearts and the community would be a huge loss without their kindness.”