Please click HERE to access the latest Friendship Alliance Newsletter, which includes links to social events and resources.

FREE Bike checks at Woodford Park Leisure Centre from My Journey

Time:  2.30pm-3.30pm

Date:  Thursday, 4 November 2021 – Thursday, 9 December 2021

Venue:  Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Haddon Drive, Woodley, RG5 4LY

Further information

Dr Bike will be at Woodford Park Leisure Centre carrying out FREE bike checks to make sure your bike is roadworthy.

Book a slot and Dr Bike will diagnose any issues and, if he can, he’ll fix them for FREE!

If there are any parts needed or it’s beyond the scope of the session he’ll let you know and give you some advice and options to get your bike ready to ride.

You MUST book a slot to drop off your bike with Dr Bike.

Book your slot HERE.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

Please adhere to the current Government social distancing measures.

If you are showing any COVID-19 symptoms please do NOT attend the free bike checks.

All bikes will be sanitized before and after by Dr Bike.

This event is run by My Journey and NOT Woodley Town Council.

Garden waste temporarily suspended

The national shortage of HGV drivers is impacting Wokingham Borough Council’s waste collection contractor Veolia. The Council is working closely with Veolia to minimise disruption to collections as much as possible and is prioritising the collections of food waste, rubbish and recycling.

To help deliver these essential services, the Council has taken the difficult decision to suspend garden waste collections for four weeks from 4 October to 1 November.  Paid subscriptions will be extended by four weeks from 1 May 2022 to make up for the missed collections.

Bulky waste collections will be paused for two weeks from 18 to 31 October. The online booking form has been temporarily suspended as all slots leading up to 18 October are already taken.

Wokingham Borough Council is undertaking a range of measures to keep disruption to waste collection services to a minimum, including working with Veolia on its HGV driver training and recruitment programmes, incentive schemes for new hires and retention bonuses and lobbying the government to take steps to help resolve the national HGV driver shortage.

For more information, visit Wokingham Borough Council’s news webpage.

September 2021

We are delighted to welcome back some of our regular hirers to the Oakwood Centre, Chapel Hall and Coronation Hall.

For a list of clubs and activities at our halls, please click HERE.

Please note that these clubs and activities are run by external suppliers so please contact them directly using the contact details provided. Thank you.

To enquire about hiring one of our rooms or halls, please email: bookings@woodley.gov.uk.

Have your say on the borough’s secondary school provision

Wokingham Borough Council is inviting parents, schools and other interested parties for their views on secondary school provision in the borough to 2031.

The council has identified some key issues to be addressed in its new strategy, including:

• The number of Year 7 places required is increasing, reflecting higher numbers of children coming through from primary schools because of rising birth rates in the years leading up to 2012/13. It is expected that the demand for Year 7 places will begin to reduce after 2023/24.
• The increase in housing in the area, as mandated by the National Planning Policy Framework, has meant more families are moving to the area with children requiring school places, particularly near the borough’s new major development sites.
• The Office for National Statistics (ONS) predicts that the 11 to 16 year old population will peak in 2024 and 2025 and then decline, almost to the current size, across the next decade.

The additional school places required will be provided over the next ten years, by utilising unused capacity in schools, expanding existing schools and (if necessary) opening new schools.

Few Wokingham schools can provide additional places without investment in new buildings or other changes. Therefore, while utilising unused buildings could be a short-term solution, it is likely that this capacity will be required in the future so would need to be considered as part of a wider investment plan.

School expansion depends on an agreement with their managing trust (all bar one are now academies), and the school sites being sufficiently large to accommodate new buildings, and car parking, while maintaining sufficient  PE space .

Opening a new school would require a large site, which is unlikely to be found in established residential areas, and significant financial investment. As such, this would need to be planned as part of the council’s strategic housing development, which will be set in its local plan. Another school will only be required if continued high levels of housing development leads to a sustained increase in the 11 to 16 population or growth is achieved in new communities that cannot make use of existing capacity in a sustainable way.

The consultation seeks to gather views from parents, schools and key stakeholders on the council’s analysis of secondary school places and comments on potential solutions.

Cllr Graham Howe, executive member for children’s services, said: “There is a need to increase the number of places available in secondary schools, both on a short-term basis to ensure the next intake are catered for, as well as in the longer term.

“Wokingham borough has long been hailed as one of the best places to live and raise a family in the UK, so understandably people want to come and raise their families here, and we need the capacity in our schools to support that. 

“Please take time to read through the consultation document and submit your response to the council so we can shape the next generation of secondary places in the borough.”

The consultation documents and survey can be found on the council’s consultation web page.

Wokingham Borough Council is seeking to change the way it runs its car parks to make it easier to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in them.

There have been complaints of late-night ASB in some car parks and the council is consulting on changes to the way they are run (through revised Traffic Regulation Orders – TRO) so it can tackle these. There would be no change to any parking charges or when drivers have to pay as a result of the proposals.

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways said: “We need to find ways to help the police tackle the ASB that has been happening in some car parks. At the moment we can’t do that because, technically, the car parks are not technically ‘operational’ at night – so we don’t have powers to kick people out of them. The proposed new TROs would make the car parks ‘operational’ 24/7 – so we could take action when needed. It is important to point out that this does not change car parking charges at all – either in terms of when people have to pay or how much.”

The proposed new TROs would replace a now out-of-date TROs and so would also tidy up some anomalies (see below). Residents can give their views by emailing the council’s traffic management team on TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk. The statutory consultation is open until 7 October 2021 and the council will continue to accept comments until midnight 10 October.

Changes to Car Park Management

The new TROs will remove a number of off-street car parks no longer run by the council including the Ems Road multi-story and The Paddocks Wokingham car parks. The council is creating a separate TRO to manage the borough’s four park and ride sites at Coppid Beech Park and Ride, Mereoak Park and Ride, Thames Valley Park and Ride, and Winnersh Triangle Park and Ride.  

The new TROs will also allow the council to designate electric vehicle charging parking bays in any off-street car park.

Changes to Operating Hours

The changes will enable the Council to take action against anti-social behaviour and misuse of car parks by extending the operating hours to ‘at all times’ Monday to Sunday (including bank holidays).

Changes to Off-street Parking Costs

There will be no increases in car parking charges at any council car parks as part of the new TROs. The council is introducing 15 minutes of free parking at Dinton Pastures Country Park Activity Centre Car Park as well as 30 minutes of free parking in the visitor bays at the council offices in Shute End (Mondays to Fridays 6am to 6pm).  

New Car Parking Controls

Other improvements in the new TROs include making it easier to see how much you need to pay for different times of day, making it easier to pay for parking with a ‘check in/check out system’ which means there is no requirement to display a ticket. 

To support the local shops in the California Cross area, a new 1 hour maximum stay restriction will be introduced to ensure the spaces are used by local shoppers rather than by longer stay visitors. 

For more information, visit the council’s website at www.wokingham.gov.uk and search ‘traffic regulation orders’. To provide feedback on the new TROs, email TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk by 7 October, 2021. 

Woodley Town Centre is asking all under 12s to help design the poster for its two Christmas Events this year:

Carol Concert and Christmas Illuminations – Saturday 27^th  November at 4.30pm

&

The  Woodley Christmas Fayre – Sunday 5^th  December, 10am to 3pm

All winning posters will be used to advertise both events and all entries will be used to create a colourful art exhibition in The Oakwood Centre prior to Christmas.

The Wokingham Paper will also print all of the entries received.

Prizes up for grabs: £30, £20 and £15 gift cards respectively for 1st prize, 2nd and 3rd. 

Entries must be received by Friday the 29^th of October 2021! Please hand them in at The Oakwood Centre.

Week commencing 13th September 21

Woodley 

WBC contractors’ trial hole – Loddon Bridge Road 

2-way temporary lights will be in place on Loddon Bridge Road between Crockhamwell Road and Norton Road, from 13 to 15 September, 9.30am to 4pm.  This is to carry out trial hole to investigate drainage.  https://one.network/?123308937  

WBC contractors’ surfacing works – Hurricane Way 

Road closure will be in place on Hurricane Way, between Marathon Close and Donaldson Way, from 15 to 16 September. This is to carry out surfacing works.  https://one.network/?121411382  

WBC contractor’s surfacing works – Mohawk Way 

Road closure will be in place on Mohawk Way, at the junction of Hurricane Way to junction of Perimeter Road, from 18 to 19 September. This is to carry out surfacing works.   https://one.network/?121950311  

For more information please contact Wokingham Borough Council.

Give your views on Wokingham Borough Council’s mental health strategy

Wokingham Borough Council has launched a public consultation to develop its mental health strategy, based on the priorities of the people that live, study and work in Wokingham borough.

The key actions in the proposed strategy will include a focus on prevention, early intervention, clear and easily accessible access to appropriate support, health promotion and joined up services.

The Council wants to support the continued development of more resilient communities; communities that can help support people with mental health issues and help to tackle the stigma associated with mental ill-health.

The consultation is open to everyone who lives, works or studies in the borough until 30 September. The Council would also like to hear from charities and organisations that work within the borough, who are, or who wish to be more involved in supporting the population’s mental health and wellbeing.

Please click HERE for more information.

Please click HERE to access the Consultation.

Please click HERE for the latest Friendship Alliance Newsletter, which includes lots of local meet-ups to help combat loneliness and form friendships.

Volunteer Recruitment Fair- Wokingham Town Hall – 11.00-14.00 – Saturday 25th September

Local charities need your help!

The pandemic has been hard on everyone for different reasons, but charities who have had to go above and beyond during these tough times are suffering. They are looking for more volunteers to support the amazing work they across the whole of Wokingham Borough.

Volunteering does not have to be too time consuming or too onerous, if you only have a few hours to give once a month or just want to commit on an ad hoc basis, there is a role for you.

If you would rather have a regular commitment and have more time to spare, then many of our charities have a role to suit as well. Whether you are nearing retirement, have some time due to children starting school or going to University, maybe you work shifts or are looking for a job or you want to build up experience ahead of job move or an application for university, volunteering is a fantastic way to give back to the local community while giving you an opportunity to have fun, meet friends and make a difference!

Attendees

1. Wokingham Transport Scheme
2. Green ‘n’ Tidy Gardening Scheme
3. The Link Visiting Scheme
4. Thames Hospice
5. First Days
6. Holt Copse Conservation Volunteers
7. Me2 Club
8. ABC to Read
9. Guide Dogs
10. Wokingham Foodbank
11. Homestart 
12. Cancer Care Champions
13. Wokingham Citizens Advice

More information

For more information please visit the website: www.volunteerwokinghamborough.org.uk or email: volunteer@wok-vol.org.uk.

Wokingham Borough Council has a range of courses starting through in September.  All courses are interactive, tutor-led sessions either in a classroom or on Zoom. Application details for all of the courses can be found on the Council’s course listings page or you can enquire via email or by calling 07785 314603.

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Wellbeing in Mind courses

The Wellbeing in Mind courses are aimed at adults with mild to moderate mental health issues such as anxiety and sleeplessness. Courses are run on our behalf by Activate Learning – Bracknell and Wokingham college.

If you would like to be included on the mailing list to receive updates of new courses and how to enrol then please email wellbeing@bracknell.ac.uk

Courses running this term include:

• Six Steps To Better Mental Health, 29 September – 10 November, Wednesday 7-9pm, Woodley Hill House
• Singing4Wellbeing, 1 November – 29 November, Mondays 7-9pm, Online course
• Intro To Mindfulness Workshop, 15 December, Wednesday 7-9pm, Woodley Hill House
• Mindfulness Seasonal Nature Walk, meet at Woodley Hill House – date to be confirmed.

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Courses for parents or carers

With the start of a new school year there are a variety of courses available for parents and carers. The ‘Raise a Reader’ course looks at techniques which can be used to build a child’s motivation to read, while ‘Helping your child with maths’ course looks at the primary curriculum and gives parents a chance to try some of the methods used themselves.  The ‘Building confidence and resilience in your child’ course looks at preventative measures parents can use to increase resilience.

• Helping your child with maths, 14 September – 19 October, Tuesdays 10-11.30am, Wokingham Town Centre
• Raise a Reader,16 September – 23 September, Thursdays 7-8.30pm, Online via Zoom
• Building confidence and resilience in your child, 23 September – 30 September, 7.30-8.30pm, Online via Zoom 
• Raise a Reader, 30 September – 7 October, Thursdays 10-11.30am, Online via Zoom

For more details on all these courses – or to apply for a place click HERE.

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Digital Skills and IT courses

There are a range of digital and IT courses on offer – from ‘Coding or Excel for beginners’, ‘Excel for work’ or our ‘Digital Skills for beginners’.

• Coding for beginners, 14 September – 19 October, Tuesdays 6-7pm, Online via Zoom
• Excel for beginners, 15 September – 6 October, Wednesdays 6-7.30pm, Online via Zoom
• Excel for Work, 22 September – 20 October, Wednesdays 6.30-8pm, Online via Zoom
• Digital Skills for Beginners, Tuesdays 2-4pm – ongoing, Online via Zoom at the moment

For more details on all these courses – or to apply for a place click HERE.

If you are interested in the ‘Digital Skills for beginners’ please contact the course admin staff for an initial chat about what you want to learn so that they can tailor their support.  You can contact them via:  adulteducation@wokingham.gov.uk or 0776 738 0722.

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Preparing for employment

The ‘English for Speakers of other languages’ courses are popular with people looking to improve their conversational English or looking to improve their English for work in the future.  The ‘Return to maths’ course is aimed at people who are looking to refresh their skills before applying for a qualification course – or people just wanting to gain some confidence to perhaps help their children in the future. 

• Return to maths, 15 September – 20 October, Wednesdays 9-10am, Online via Zoom
• Introduction to being a Teaching Assistant and working in schools, 16 September – 21 October, 16/09/21 – 21/10/21, Woodley Town Centre
• English for Speakers of Other Languages – Beginners,  22 September – 20 October, Wednesdays 10-11.30am, Online via Zoom
• English for Speakers of Other Languages – Intermediate,  15 September – 18 October, Mondays 10-11.00am, Online via Zoom

To apply for any of these courses, or to find out more about the course content click HERE or contact them via email or 07785 314603.

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Eligibility

For courses starting after 1st August 2021, you need to live or work within the Wokingham Borough, or have a child attending a Wokingham school, be over 19 years old (as of 31st August 2021) AND been a citizen of a country within the EEA and have ordinarily been resident in the EEA for at least 3 years. Also, If you are an EEA National, you need to have obtained either pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

There are a number of exemptions including those for asylum seekers or refugees. Please contact the team on 0776 738 0722 if you wish to discuss any exemptions further.