Volunteering opportunities with Wokingham Borough Libraries

Volunteers help deliver storytimes, rhymetimes and children’s activities in libraries. 

We are recruiting Storytime and Rhymetime, Lego Club and Creative Writing volunteers at the following libraries:

• Wokingham Library
• Woodley Library
• Lower Earley Library
• Finchampstead Library
• Winnersh Library
• Twyford Library

For more details and to apply contact, the volunteer service co-ordinator by e-mail: volunteer@wokingham.gov.uk or call on 0118 974 6263

Wokingham Borough Council is now offering appointments to assist residents who require additional help applying for UK immigration status through the EU Settlement Scheme.

EU citizens and their family members living in the UK need to apply to retain their right to live here, work here and access public services such as healthcare, education and benefits. Following the UK’s exit from the EU, it is important residents apply if they wish to continue living here after 31 December 2020.

The majority of applicants should be able to use the EU Exit: ID Document app to complete the ID verification stage of the EU Settlement Scheme application using their smart phone, without any further assistance.

Individuals who might require extra support, or who don’t have access to a smart phone, may wish to book a one-to-one appointment at the Borough Council’s Register office. Appointments are being offered Tuesday to Thursday each week, between 10am to midday and cost £14 per applicant.

Customers can make an appointment by calling 0118 974 6000 and selecting option 3, and then 3 again to speak to someone in the Registers office.

EU Citizens attending an appointment will be required to bring a valid passport, whilst non-EU citizens are asked to bring their UK-issued biometric resident card. This service does not accept national identity cards.

Once applications have been reviewed, EU citizens will be granted either ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled’ status. Which status they get depends on how long they’ve been living in the UK when they apply.

Wokingham Borough Council has launched a new campaign appealing for dry paper only in recycling bins

Due to global economic changes, recycling plants are no longer accepting wet paper and card and recent batches sent from Wokingham Borough have been rejected for being too damp – meaning they have ended up not being recycled.

The Council will react quickly to this challenge and is looking at the best options, but nothing can be delivered immediately. By the time a solution is found, hundreds of tonnes of potentially recyclable paper and card might go out of recycling loop – at significant environmental and financial cost. So, in the short-term, the council is launching its ‘Stamp Out the Damp’ campaign to encourage as many residents as possible to keep their paper and card recycling dry.

Wokingham Borough Council director of customer and localities Sarah Hollamby said: “We know the people of Wokingham Borough are passionate about recycling and that is why we believe our Stamp Out the Damp campaign will be successful. We do realise we are asking people to go that extra mile to keep their paper and card dry but there are simple ways it can be done.”

Ways that will help keep your card and paper dry, when it’s wet outside, include:

• Cover your recycling box with something waterproof
• Keep your recycling inside if you have space
• Keep your recycling in your garage or shed
• Stack your black boxes with the paper filled one at the bottom
• Put your black boxes out on the morning of collection rather than night before.

PIC BY STEWART TURKINGTON
www.stphotos.co.uk

Despite the setback caused by this unforeseeable change in world markets, Wokingham Borough’s recycling has been soaring in recent months, with only about 1% of our waste now ending up in landfill and recycling rates of more than 55%.

The council is targeting a 60% rate – and keeping paper and card dry is essential for this.

“Food waste recycling has been a huge hit and has helped push our recycling rates up to unprecedented levels, and the way our residents have taken to that makes us confident they will also want to keep paper and card dry,” Sarah continued. “Targeting 60% and higher is a tough challenge but we believe it is essential given the environmental crisis the world faces. As part of this we are taking stock of our current waste and recycling services and are reviewing potential options that help us boost rates – and solve the damp paper problem.”

PIC BY STEWART TURKINGTON
www.stphotos.co.uk

Wokingham Borough Council recently announced that thirteen tonnes of fly-tipping was cleared from an embankment on the A329M, by a team working on behalf of the Council. Working from the hard shoulder of the motorway, the team spent a week removing the five tonnes of dumped car tyres and eight tonnes of general litter. The clearance was timed to avoid morning and evening rush hours to minimise disruption on surrounding roads.

The clearance is part of the Borough Council’s crackdown on illegal fly-tipping. This crackdown involves ensuring residents and businesses (including home-based ones) understand it is their own legal responsibility to ensure their waste is disposed of correctly. Fly-tipping nationally has increased.

In line with this, Woodley Town Council compiled a list of fly-tipping ‘hotspots’ in the Woodley area which was presented at the recent Planning & Community Committee Meeting and has also been passed to Wokingham Borough Council.

The list of fly-tipping hotspots suggested by Members of the Council was:

• The area around the bin at the footpath end of Nightingale Road
• Along the footpath at the end of Nightingale Road
• In the vicinity of Tesco Express in Hurricane Way
• Around the Highwood area
• Bideford Close – adjacent to 78-94 Hazel Drive
• The car park next to Southlake supermarket
• The entrance near to the children’s play area off Kingfisher Drive
• The garage area off Rickman Close.

We would be grateful if local residents would contact us if there are any other areas that are fly tipping hotspots. Please email: admin@woodley.gov.uk or call 0118 9690356. We appreciate your support.

The Radar Key lock is currently not working at the public toilet in Woodley town centre. We aim to get this fixed within the next few days. The toilet can still be accessed paying the 20p charge. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

A further 1,400 children in the Wokingham Borough will now be able to benefit from Bikeability cycle training thanks to a grant from the Department for Transport (DfT).

The £61,000 DfT grant to Wokingham Borough Council means this successful and popular scheme can continue in the borough for another year, until April 2021.

During the past seven years, more than 10,000 children in the borough have taken part in Bikeability training. This equates to 78 per cent of Year 6 children locally.

“Parents who’ve experienced Bikeability tell us they value it because of the confidence and skills it gives their children,” said Sarah Hollamby, the council’s director of locality and customer services. “And the children say they really enjoy it. So, to be able to train even more youngsters in this way is fantastic.

“But Bikeability also has other benefits. It helps reduce child obesity and research shows children who cycle regularly are also more likely to become active adults. There’s also the positive environmental impact by reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution.”

My Journey Wokingham runs Bikeability on behalf of the council. It also runs courses during Easter and summer for children who have missed out on training at school, and those privately or home-educated.

Bikeability training is offered at three levels, based on a child’s age and experience. It starts with basic bike handling in a controlled traffic-free environment and builds up to on-the-road training. The aim is to create confident and skilled young cyclists in a variety of traffic conditions on different types of roads.

For more information, please see: https://www.myjourneywokingham.com/news/

Last weekend, Saturday 23rd November, the lights on the town centre Christmas tree were turned on by the Christmas poster competition winners and was followed by the annual Carol Concert.

This weekend, the 23rd Woodley Christmas Extravaganza will take place on Sunday 1st December. Starting at 11.15, there will be plenty of stalls and entertainment to delight all, including a Rodeo Rudolph and Father Christmas!

JOIN THE DINTON SANTA DASH

Dust off your running shoes and join the ever-popular Dinton Santa Dash, on Saturday 14 December. Hosted by Barnes Fitness, residents across the borough are invited to take part in the third consecutive event this winter.

This year the run will raise funds for local charity, Daisy’s Dream which supports children and their families who have been affected by the life threatening illness or bereavement of someone close to them.

This fun and festive run is suitable for the whole family. Little ones are invited to complete the 2km Mini-Dash at 10.30, running a one loop course taking in sights of both White Swan and Black Swan Lake. If you’re looking to work off the mince pies, why not opt for the full 5km Santa Dash at 11.00, following paths around three of the breath-taking lakes at Dinton Pastures Country Park including; Black Swan, Sandford and White Swan.

All entrants will receive a full Santa suit to wear whilst completing the race. If that wasn’t enough to get race goers in a merry mood, they will also receive a medal and a mince pie upon crossing the finish line.  There’s further festive prizes on offer for the first three males and females to cross the line in the 5km Santa Dash & 2km Mini-Dash.

“We are delighted to once again host the Dinton Santa Dash. The event is well known with locals for its fun and festive atmosphere. I love seeing entrants dressed up in their Santa’s outfits running around the country park and crossing the snowy finish arch.” said Tanya Lee, the Dinton Activity Centre manager.

Race organiser, Ellie Barnes of Barnes Fitness, added: “It’s exciting to see the Dinton Santa Dash return for the third time. This year we are honoured to be raising money for local charity Daisy’s Dream. The work that they do with children and families who have been affected life threatening illness or bereavement is truly invaluable.”

Solar Panels will be installed on the Oakwood Centre during the week of 2 December. This is the next step in Woodley Town Council’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Scaffolding will be in place along the sides of the building between 2 – 7 December to facilitate the installation.

The project will be delivered in partnership with Reading Community Energy Society and will produce renewable energy back to the grid, while providing a low, fixed rate for daytime electricity for the duration of the contract (20 years).

Panels were installed on Woodford Park Leisure Centre in January 2019 as part of the project. The electricity generated so far has an equivalent carbon saving of 6.5 tonnes.

Woodford Park Leisure Centre offers its facilities to raise money for the Mayor’s charity Prostate Cancer UK