Parking at Coronation Hall

Many of our hirers have been arriving for their bookings at Coronation Hall to find few or no available parking spaces.

This is a particular problem for older people attending bookings who cannot park near to the hall.

We have signage in place advising that the car park is for hall users only, however, there are often many cars parked that are visiting the park or the shops.

In order to manage the parking we will be locking the gate when there are no bookings in the hall and suggest that people use the free parking at Woodford Park Leisure Centre or the pay and display car parks.

Thank you

Following the investigations regarding the cable way in the new Woodford Park Play Area, we are delighted that it is open and ready to use. 

The contractor, Proludic, have been very responsive and quick to help us rectify and fix the issue, despite it having nothing to do with the installation of the cable way by its team but due to the equipment coming into contact with a vehicle, which had moved one of the ground anchors.

It’s lovely to see children once again having fun on the cable way. 

Please email: admin@woodley.gov.uk with any further enquiries. 

Over 600 people attend the opening of the new play area in Woodford Park

Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, officially declared our new play area in Woodford Park open yesterday at an opening event attended by over 600 local residents.

Inclusivity

The new play area has been designed specifically with inclusivity in mind, and will offer a stimulating, exciting play experience for children of all abilities. 

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It includes a double cableway, a sensory area, a wheelchair accessible play mound, an agility trail, a 7m tall canopy trail, seven types of swings and much more. 

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Climate change

We have also received a certificate offsetting our carbon footprint in the making and installation of the park, which is in line with our climate change policy to be carbon neutral by 2030. 

Jubilee tree & stones display

The play area also contains our Jubilee Tree planted for the Queen’s Canopy and Jubilee Stones display to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

A commemorative plaque will be installed in the next few weeks. 

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Memorial in sensory garden

The sensory garden has been planted in memory of Cllr David Stares, who was Chairman of the Leisure Services Committee when the new play area was first suggested and was instrumental in driving the project forward.

We will be putting in a plaque citing this in the next few weeks. 

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Archway to the park

The Mayor cut the ribbon across the bespoke archway, which was designed and made by Hannah Morris-Coole from Omna Studios. The crowds clapped and cheered as Janet declared the park officially open.

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Free ice cream, goody bags and lots of fun

The contractor, Proludic, provided 100 free goody bags and free ice cream for the children, provided by Sir Whippy.

The event was filmed by 7 Video Company and we will add the footage to our website and YouTube channel once we have received it.

Here are a few photos from the opening. We will add more as we receive them.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event. We hope you continue to enjoy the park for many years to come.

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Thank you to everyone who visited our stall and admired the moon and the astronaut!

Here are a few photos from the day…

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*Photos: Paul King

16th June 15.30 – 17.30

Please come to the grand opening of the new play area at Woodford Park! 

Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, will be cutting the ribbon at 15.30 to officially open the new play area at Woodford Park to the rear of the Oakwood Centre. 

Free goody bags & ice cream!

Proludic will be providing 100 FREE goody bags and FREE* ice creams for children who attend the opening! 

Jubilee tree & Jubilee stones display

The Mayor will also be unveiling the Jubilee Tree and Jubilee Stones display to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 

Inclusivity

The new play area has been designed specifically with inclusivity in mind, and will offer a stimulating, exciting play experience for children of all abilities. 

It includes a double cableway, a sensory area, a wheelchair accessible play mound, an agility trail, a 7m tall canopy trail, seven types of swings and much more. 

Climate change

The play area has offset 31.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide by supporting a portfolio of verified carbon reduction projects. 

Come along and be one of the first to play on the new equipment!

BBC Radio Berkshire

Listen HERE to Woodley Town Council Leader, Cllr Keith Baker, talk to Phil Kennedy on his BBC Radio Berkshire Drivetime Show about the new play area and the opening.

We will have a film crew in attendance, including members of the press and the Council taking photos and footage that will be shared publicly. 

*Please note there are a limited number of free ice creams

Over 1000 people attended Woodley’s Big Jubilee Lunch

Woodley’s Big Jubilee Lunch was opened by the Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, welcoming over 1000 local residents to the event.

Janet introduced her special guests at the Top Table:

“May I please introduce my special guests, who are the winners from the Town Council’s Jubilee Stones competition.  Edward – who won the under 5s category with his wonderful design of The Queen wearing her crown.  Abhyuday – who won the 6-8 years category with his very detailed design marking 70 years of Her Majesty’s reign. Abbey – who won the 9-12 years category with her contemporary and colourful silhouette of Queen Elizabeth the second.  I am also joined by Woodley’s Deputy Town Mayor, Councillor Kay Gilder and our consorts.”

The day started with the Bailey Dolls singing songs from the 1940s and 1950s, followed by Pauly Zarb and his band playing songs up to the present day.

Children were entertained by Professor Crump who mingled in his stilts and assorted costumes, including taking children for rides on his scooter.

Children also had the opportunity to draw with chalk around the precinct and make royal crowns.

Maya’s Treats in the town centre provided free ice cream for hundreds of children, while Basil & Crew came with a small petting zoo. 

Woodley Town Council and the Woodley Town Centre Partnership would like to thank everyone who came to Woodley’s Big Jubilee Lunch.

The Jubilee Stones will be unveiled on 16th June at the opening of Woodford Park play area.

Selection of photos from the day

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Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, lit the Queen’s Beacon on Thursday 2nd June at 21.45 in Woodford Park, lighting the skies across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth to commemorate Her Majesty’s 70 year reign.

Hundreds of local residents and Woodley Town Councillors joined Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, as she lit the Queen’s Beacon to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Janet told the crowd in Woodford Park that she was honoured to light the Beacon on behalf of the people of Woodley, welcoming and thanking those who attended the historic event.

“I am honoured to light this Beacon on behalf of the people of Woodley, as Beacons are lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK Overseas Territories and within each of the Commonwealth Countries to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s 70 year reign,” she said.

As the Beacon lit up the night sky, local choir, Bel Canto Choir sang ‘Song for the Commonwealth’ as a musical tribute to Her Majesty The Queen, filling Woodford Park with the sound of music and song.

The song had been written by Atueyi Vincent Chinemelu, from Nigeria and Lucy Kiely from Australia, the winners of a worldwide competition coordinated by Alison Cox OBE from the Commonwealth Resounds.

The Mayor then joined the choir to lead the crowd in the singing of the national anthem.

You can view the event on our YouTube channel HERE.

We are now closed for the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday period and re-open on Monday 6th June. 👑

We hope you enjoy our Platinum Jubilee events! 🥳

Beacon 🔥
Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, will be lighting a Beacon in Woodford Park, on the mound near the lake by the basketball courts, at 21.45 on Thursday 2nd June, for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Bel Canto Choir will perform Song for the Commonwealth as the Mayor lights the Beacon. If you would like to attend, please arrive from 21.30.
EVENT: https://fb.me/e/3bW3XeVDh

FREE Jubilee celebration in Woodley Town Centre, Sunday 5th June, 12.00-16.00 🇬🇧🥳🎤
Winners from the Jubilee Stones competition and their family will join the Woodley Town Mayor at the Top Table to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee!

Bring your family, friends, chairs and a picnic! 🤩

The FREE event will include:
🇬🇧 FREE entertainment: Professor Crump!
🇬🇧 FREE live music – bands singing songs from the 1940s to the present day!
🇬🇧 FREE Pets Corner: chicks, ducklings, lambs, goats, rabbits, tortoise, sheep, ponies!
🇬🇧 FREE craft activities: make/decorate your own Crown!
🇬🇧 FREE chalk pavement drawing activity!
🇬🇧 FREE ice cream for children!

EVENT: https://fb.me/e/2G9Cn0ARR

Find our Jubilee event on Wokingham Borough Council ’s Platinum Jubilee events listings: https://bit.ly/3Lb0tKp

Woodley’s Annual Town Meeting highlights climate change across Wokingham Borough

The Annual Town Meeting was held at the Oakwood Centre on Thursday 26^th May, with a focus on climate change across the borough and on a global scale. 

The meeting was opened by Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, who welcomed the members of the public in attendance and watching the live feed via YouTube, as well as the speakers who had been invited.

Wokingham

Gregor Murray, former executive member for climate at Wokingham Borough Council, was the first speaker, leading his presentation with – “behaviour change is the single most important thing we can do for climate change”.

Gregor discussed the various projects that the Borough Council have been doing, including its innovative Trees Project, which includes the opportunity for every school child to plant a tree; the fact that Woodley library is the first Council-owned building to achieve net zero carbon status; and that there is approximately one metre of green space per Wokingham Borough resident. 

Bee Project

Steve Cook, who runs the Bee Scheme at Woodley Town Council’s Allotments, outlined the project, which has grown since its inception in 2020 to 18 bee hives and eight bee keepers. Steve informed the audience of the importance of growing certain flowers and plants for the bee community, including crocuses, snow drops, dandelions, bluebells, pussy willow and daisies. 

Woodley

The final speaker was Woodley Town Council’s Deputy Town Clerk, Kevin Murray, who summarised what the Town Council had done so far and what it plans to do in order to achieve carbon neutral status by 2030. “It’s important that we get it right and set the right example for the community and get that message out,” he said. Kevin encouraged local residents to get in touch with ideas on what the Town Council can do, adding that the first step will be to update the website with climate change information to help local residents make the right choices. 

Questions

The latter part of the meeting was open to resident questions. 

Most of the questions were directed to Wokingham Borough Council, including what types of trees were available in its Tree Project, how accurate are the climate statistics the council uses, will cycleways be improved and how the Borough Council is working with central government on climate change. 

The Town Mayor closed the evening, thanking everyone for attending.

“Thank you to our speakers for providing us with such useful information, which I’m sure has given us all food for thought. Thank you also to those residents who attended in person and who joined us via our YouTube channel,” said Janet.

Residents in attendance had the opportunity to take a plantable seeded earth card to encourage planting in the community. These will also be available at our stand at Woodley Carnival on 11^th June in Woodford Park.

Minutes of the meeting will be available on our website soon.

The meeting can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Please search for Woodley Town Council.

Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, will be lighting a Beacon in Woodford Park at 21.45 on Thursday 2^nd June, for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations

We are proud to be part of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacons and Associated Activities on June 2, 2022 and will be lighting a Beacon at 21.45 in Woodford Park

The Beacon is one of thousands being lit in the UK and the Commonwealth, and forms part of the official programme announced by Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee Weekend.

Beacons will be lit in all 54 Commonwealth capitals and the Principal Beacon lighting will take place in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday evening. This will take the form of a lighting installation with The Queen’s Green Canopy ’Tree of Trees’ sculpture and projections onto the front of Buckingham Palace. This innovative new way of taking part in the beacon lighting will reflect the Royal Family’s long history championing environmental causes.

Bruno Peek LVO OBE OPR, Pageantmaster of The Queen’s Jubilee Platinum Beacons said: “Building on a long tradition of lighting beacons to mark significant royal celebrations, thousands of beacons will be lit across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. They will enable local communities to join together to pay tribute to Her Majesty as part of the official programme of events.

“For the first time, town criers, pipers, buglets and choirs from the UK and the Commonwealth will come together to join in the celebrations in their own individual and special way. It is wonderful to see the range of support for beacon lighting, which will highlight both the diversity and unity of the nation and the Commonwealth. The Queen has lit up our lives for 70 years through her dedicated service and commitment. We would like to light up the nation and the Commonwealth in her honour.”

Lighting the Beacon in Woodford Park

The Beacon will be lit at the mound at the end of the lake in Woodford Park in Woodley, by the basketball court. It will be one of over 2,022 lit by charities, communities and faith groups all over the UK. Please arrive by 21.30 if you would like to be part of this historical occasion.

The beacon will be lit by Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, at 21.45 when Bel Canto Choir, a local female singing group, will perform the Song for the Commonwealth, a new song which has been written and composed specially to mark the occasion by Lucy Keily, from Australia and Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu from Nigeria.

The Town Crier will be making a proclamation in the Town Centre at 2pm on Thursday 2^nd June. 

The Council has purchased an approved gas fuelled beacon for the event. 

Woodley Town Mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel, said: “We are proud to be part of this momentous celebration. It is only appropriate that this unique milestone in history is marked with beacons and music. We are honoured to be part of this special event for Her Majesty, The Queen’s 70^th year as our Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth on her Platinum Jubilee.”

Woodley’s Big Jubilee Lunch Sunday 5th June 12.00 – 16.00

Join the Woodley Town Mayor and special guests to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! 

Bring your family, friends, chairs, table and a picnic to Woodley Town Centre, near Centre Stage on Sunday 5th June 2022. 

The FREE event will include: 

🇬🇧 Mix and mingle entertainer: Professor Crump! 

🇬🇧 Live music – bands singing songs from the 1940s to the present day! 

🇬🇧 FREE Pets Corner: chicks, ducklings, lambs, goats, rabbits, tortoise, sheep, ponies!

🇬🇧 FREE craft activities: make/decorate your own Crown!

🇬🇧 FREE chalk pavement drawing activity! 

🇬🇧 FREE ice cream for children!

Put it in your diary now – we look forward to seeing you there!

Motor Sport and Planting Trees – 5,700 Miles, 1.74 Tonnes of CO2, £100 for the planting of Trees

On Sunday 22^nd May, the locally based Hants & Berks Motor Club, who celebrated their seventy fifth anniversary last year, ran their annual Early Bird Classic Car Tour, an 85-mile scenic tour starting at Woodford Park in Berkshire as guests of Woodley Town Council and taking the event participants via a pre-arranged road route to the Amberley Museum in West Sussex.

The thirty-six cars were flagged away from the start by Woodley Town Mayor, Councillor Janet Sartorel.

This was the first ‘green’ event organised by the motor club since the recent updating of its Environmental and Sustainability Policy. The club is not new to the world of reducing carbons, it organised the UK’s version of the annual Mobil Economy Run back in the 1950 – 1970s, which was all about gaining the maximum mileage from a tank of petrol, hypermiling. Each year, the 1000 mile road routes were designed to test the ability of drivers to minimise their cars petrol consumption over the most challenging roads with plenty of hills to climb in England, Wales and Scotland.

The event involved an estimated total of 5,700 miles including participants travelling to Woodley, the event and the miles returning home. It also included the miles travelled by the event marshals and organisers. The fuel used was equivalent to about 1.7 tonnes of CO2. To balance this the Club has donated the costs of tree planting to one of the leading conservation groups in the UK, Forest Carbon who are planting millions of trees aimed at increasing the UK’s ability to capture carbon and balance the generation of CO2.

This is in line with its motor sports governing body Motorsport UK’s policy, who are actively encouraging member clubs to each do their bit towards slowing down the rate of global warming, enabling the club to continue with its sport and at the same time balance its production of carbons that enter the atmosphere.

Club Secretary and the events organiser, Woodley resident Bill Bonney, said: “We are delighted to be adopting this policy and proud to be one of the first local motor clubs to be involved with the carbon capture initiative and although our contribution is small it demonstrates the willingness to move forward in a positive direction.”

For more information please contact: Hants & Berks Motor Club Ltd: 0118 969 7591 / billabonney@aol.com.