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.

Click HERE for election results – will be updated by Wokingham Borough Council throughout Friday 5th May

Election of Town Councillors

Election of Borough Councillors

Statement of persons nominated

Please download the following:

Notice of Uncontested Election Woodley Town Council Warren Ward

Statements of Persons Nominated Town Councillors

Statements of Persons Nominated Borough Councillors

Information about voting

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm and it is important you are ready to take part and have your say in who represents you.

Your poll card tells you when and where to vote and you must go to your allocated polling station. You do not need to take your polling card with you to vote, but you must take suitable photo ID.

This is the first time you will have to show photo ID to be able to vote as part of new legislation introduced by the Government last year. If you fail to turn up with suitable ID, you will not be issued with a ballot paper.

Acceptable ID

There are many forms of ID that are accepted, including:

• Passport
• Full or provisional driving licence
• Blue badge
• Certain concessionary travel cards, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card
• Identity card with Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) mark
• Biometric Immigration document
• Defence identity card
• Certain national identity cards

Expired ID will also be accepted, as long as you still look like the photograph on the document. Bringing your poll card by itself will not entitle you to vote.

A full list of accepted forms of ID is available on the Electoral Commission’s website, along with more information about the new requirement.

As part of the changes, those who do not have a suitable form of ID have had the opportunity to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate to show on polling day. However, the deadline to apply for one of these has now expired.

Polling card and where to vote

If you lose your poll card, you can still vote, but you need to give your name and address to the staff on duty.

If you have lost your polling card and do not know where your polling station is, you can check your polling station out on Wokingham Borough Council’s website.

Plan what time you will cast your vote at the polling station, leaving plenty of time before the 10pm deadline. If you are in a queue at 10pm, you will still be able to vote.

If you arrive at the polling station after 10pm, then the poll will be closed and you will have missed your chance to take part.

At the polling station

Once you have shown your photo ID, the staff at the polling station will give you a ballot paper listing the candidates you can vote for and they are on hand to provide advice on the voting process.

Take your ballot paper into a polling booth so that nobody can see how you vote. Read the ballot paper carefully, as it will tell you how to cast your vote. Do not write anything else on the paper, or your vote may not be counted.

Mark your ballot paper according to the instructions – a pencil will be provided for you to do this. Finally, fold your completed ballot paper in half and pop it in the ballot box.

Results

The count starts at 9am on Friday (5 May) and Wokingham Borough Council will be sharing updates on the results as they are announced. Follow Wokingham Borough Council on Twitter for the latest information.

We will announce the elected councillors for Woodley Town Council on Tuesday 9th May, following the Coronation Bank Holiday Monday (on which we will be closed).

Join us for a FREE afternoon of music and entertainment to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III! 🥳

Everyone is welcome!

📅 Sunday 7th May, 2-5pm
🌳 Woodford Park Memorial Ground, Woodley 

🍦 FREE Ice Cream
🎤 Live band
🤹‍♀️ Entertainment – circus skills, giant bubbles, stilt walkers
🥳 Face painters
✨ Magician
🎈 Balloon modelling
☕  Coffee bar
🍹 Cocktail bar

Bring a picnic, your friends and family for FREE afternoon of fun! 🤩

The Government’s new Emergency Alerts service, which allows you to be contacted on your mobile phone if you’re in danger, is now live and will be tested nationally at 3pm next Sunday (23 April).

If you don’t want to receive these alerts and want to disable them, find out how to do so or read more about the scheme at https://gov.uk/alerts

Official advice is to leave them on if possible but you can disable them if, for example, you fear for your safety at home and are keeping a mobile phone in secret.

Wokingham Borough Council is updating its Local Transport Plan, an official document guiding how it makes all kinds of improvements to footways, cycle lanes, roads and other transport networks as the Council faces the challenges of the decades to come.

This will offer more ways of getting around and more chances to leave the car at home, especially for shorter journeys, helping to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion, tackle the climate emergency and help you to live healthily.

Have your say

The Survey can be accessed HERE and the Council is encouraging as many residents as possible – young or old – to have their say in order to shape the future of transport across the Wokingham Borough area.

The Woodley Festival of Music and Arts returns this weekend

Over the past fifty-two years, the Woodley Festival annual event has provided a platform for young people to develop their talents in a supportive and encouraging environment. It also provides an opportunity for performers to gain valuable experience and receive feedback from professional adjudicators. 

Entry to the Festival normally opens in October for Choral, and November for all other classes and closes in mid-January. Following the deadline of entries into the Festival, the Festival Committee is delighted to see many new and returnee entrants for the 2023 edition. 

Classes and concert

This year, the Woodley Festival will see a variety of Choral, Instrumental, Pianoforte, Vocal and Speech & Drama classes over three weekends in March, and the Woodley Festival 2023 will end with a Gala Finale Concert in which the talented performers will have the honour of being invited to perform. 

The well-supported Choral classes are always very popular with the audience as the ensemble group find their voices. Open classes for amateur adult performers are also well attended.  Parents, relatives, and friends of entrants as well as the general public are invited to attend to provide support and to be entertained.

The Choral classes will take place at Emmbrook School in Wokingham. The Instrumental, Pianoforte, Vocal, Speech & Drama classes will take place at the Oakwood Centre in Woodley. The Choral Verse classes and Gala Finale Concert on 26 March 2023 will take place in the new Michael Malnick Centre within the beautiful grounds of Leighton Park School.

One of the main benefits of the Festival is the chance the entrants get to perform to a small, friendly audience. This serves to boost self-esteem and confidence in young children. Madelaine Fisher was one child that benefitted hugely from her participation in the Festival. Maddie, who suffers from dyslexia, struggled with reading, working memory and processing skills and lacked confidence. Her early efforts in Verse and Prose classes provoked some very positive remarks from the adjudicator and Maddie was sufficiently encouraged to return each year for the next 6 years. She won many Gold and Silver medals in the Speech and Drama section. Maddie’s mother Fiona said: “Undoubtedly Woodley Festival has boosted Maddie’s confidence in public, helping to build her character and assisted in overcoming her inherent difficulties.”

The Festival also provides important performance practice for musicians, many of whom have gone on to success on a bigger stage. Reading oboist Ewan Millar winner of the Woodwind Category Final in the 2020 version of BBC Young Musician competition, took part in the instrumental section at Woodley from a very young age. 

Sponsorship

Woodley Festival has been very fortunate to have a sponsor for the past 18 years. Local business woman Ann Manning, Managing Director of ManningUK Insurance Brokers was once described as a “fairy godmother” at an opening of the Festival.  In 2005, Ann was asked by a friend to help on the entrance door as the Festival was short of helpers.  She came along and during her day sat in on a Speech and Drama class and was in awe of the amazing talent of those that enter both young and not so young!  Upon hearing that the Festival was in danger of closure due to lack of funding Ann had no hesitation in stepping in to enable the Festival to not only continue but also to grow. Ann is passionate about the Festival and sees it as a platform for children and young adults to thrive.  She describes Woodley Festival as unique.  The quality and standard is very high across all sections and she has felt privileged to watch the children grow, for example seeing a frightened and scared Year 1 pupil grow into a mature and confident Adult performing in a Year 13 class. 

ManningUK continues to be involved with the Festival and looks forward to welcoming new and returning entrants and audience members to the 2023 Woodley Festival. 

Find out more

Please visit https://woodleyfestival.org.uk for the dates and timetable of the classes and how to purchase tickets.