Woodley Town Council awards community grants to support local community organisations

Woodley Town Council’s Strategy & Resources Committee has awarded the following community organisations a Community Grant to help support their continued work for the residents of Woodley.

We are pleased to be supporting the following local community organisations through our Community Grant funding:

• 1st Woodley Boys’ Brigade – £250 – to update and replace aging sports and camping equipment.
• Woodley Bowling Club – £250 – to pay towards new frames to display competition winners, the replacement of old light fittings to LED, and new metal shutters on the entrance. 
• Community Hopeline CIC – £250 – to purchase promotional material to be used across Woodley to highlight the organisation’s services and projects. 
• Woodley Festival of Music and Arts – £250 – to pay towards the cost of venue and piano hire, and adjudicator and other professional fees. 
• Woodley Volunteers for our Community – £250 – to cover the costs of hiring the Oakwood Centre for an event.

Members of the groups were invited to speak at the Council’s Annual Meeting on 16 May.

Dylan Harman, Captain of 1^st Woodley’s Boys Brigade said: “Thank you from all of us at the Brigade for the grant. This will go towards new camping and sports equipment. It is important to be able to take the boys camping and give them the opportunity to try new sports, which helps them to build friendships, improve their wellbeing and develop lifelong life skills.”

Stephen Treeves, Treasurer of Woodley Bowling Club said: “Thank you for this generous grant. As a self-funded club, this will help us to continue to run, providing local residents with the opportunity to play in a social environment.” Next year is the club’s 60^th anniversary.

Karen Smith, founder and managing director of Community Hopeline CIC, said: “This grant is very important and will help our volunteers to bring the Youthscope project to Woodley and help resource our parent support group to help them cope with children with mental health issues. Thank you very much for your generosity.”

Fiona Fisher and Angela Roberts from Woodley Festival of Music & Arts, said: “This generous grant is important to help us financially to put on the festival, which we are delighted is held at the Oakwood Centre each year, but also is a nod that we are doing something good for the local community. We hope to reach more children across Woodley.”

Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, thanked all of the speakers, congratulated them for their awards and wished them all the best. 

Separate to the Annual Meeting, Ronnie Goodberry, one of the founders of Woodley Volunteers for our Community, said: “I’d like to thank the Council for its generous grant, which helped us to celebrate our 1 millionth item collected. Thank you to the Council and all those in Woodley who volunteer and donate so that we can continue to support Woodley residents.”

Woodley Town Mayor

Voted at the Annual Meeting on 16 May, Cllr Janet Sartorel was re-elected to Woodley Town Mayor for an unprecedented third year running.

“Thank you for the nomination and I am delighted to continue to promote this wonderful town of Woodley and serve as Mayor,” she said. 

Mayor’s Charity

The Town Mayor has chosen Woodley Lunch Bunch as her charity for the municipal year 2023-2024.

“I have chosen Woodley Lunch Bunch for its generous and continued support for local families, especially in these financially challenging times.”

Deputy Town Mayor

Meanwhile, Cllr Juliet Anderson was elected as Woodley Town Deputy Mayor. 

To invite the Mayor or Deputy Mayor to an event, please email: Matthew.Filmore

Thank you to everyone who came to our community celebration for the coronation of King Charles III.

Here are a selection of photos from the day. Video footage can be found on our Facebook page or YouTube channel.

Huge thanks to our suppliers:

LAX – for excellent sound and staging

Leader – for entertaining the crowd with fabulous music

Circus Scene – for entertaining the crowds and bringing the tallest Beefeater

Magic Moments – for magical entertainment and balloon modelling

Your Face or Mine – for amazing face painting

Roros Coffee – for supplying hot drinks and cakes

Homeshake Bar – for supplying cocktails and other drinks

Sir Whippy – for supplying ice creams

St John’s Ambulance – for first aid provision

Mammoth – for supplying the toilets

Wokingham Borough Councillors 

Bulmershe & Whitegates

Anthony Skuse, Labour

Coronation Ward

Alison Swaddle, Conservative

Loddon

Abdul Loyes, Conservative

Sonning

Michael Firmager, Conservative

Southlake

Laura Blumenthal, Conservative

Download the Declaration of Result of Poll for the Borough Councillors HERE.

Woodley Town Councillors

Bulmershe Ward

Kester Charles Bey, Labour

Yvonne Edwards, Labour

Mike Kennedy, Conservative

June Taylor, Labour

Coronation Central Ward

Juliet Anderson, Conservative

David Bragg, Conservative

Coronation East Ward

Keith Baker, Conservative

Robert Horskins, Conservative

Darren Smith, Conservative

Loddon Airfield Ward

Anne Chadwick, Conservative

Majid Nagra, Labour

Alison Swaddle, Conservative

Loddon South Ward

Greg Bello, Labour

Janet Sartorel, Conservative

Bill Soane, Conservative

Loddon West Ward

Linda Gutteridge, Conservative

Parvinder Singh, Labour (stood as an Independent Councillor at the election)

South Lake North Ward

Jenny Cheng, Conservative

Danny Errawalla, Conservative

Mary Holmes, Conservative

South Lake South Ward

Kay Gilder, Conservative

Beth Rowland, Liberal Democrat

Carol Jewell, Liberal Democrat

Warren Ward

Michael Firmager, Conservative

Vin Lewis, Conservative

Download the Declaration of Result of Poll for Woodley Town Councillors HERE.

Retiring Town Councillors:

Nada Al-Sanjari (2019-23)

Shadi Brindley (2015-23)

Martin Doyle (2019-23)

Michael Forrer (2015-23)

Mark Green (2015-23)

Alex Heap (2019-23)

Richard Skegg (2019-23)

Philip Wicks (2015-23)

Thank you for all the work you have done.