The Wokingham Paper, July 23, 2020

COVERING WOKINGHAM, FINCHAMPSTEAD, EARLEY, WINNERSH, SHINFIELD, WOODLEY, TWYFORD & SURROUNDING AREAS

THEWOKINGHAMPAPER

THE VOICE OF THE BOROUGH

WOKINGHAM.TODAY

Thursday, July 23, 2020 No. 271

70p

LAB’S VITAL WORK P8 DURING LOCKDOWN

‘Job fears have tripled’ EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk UNEMPLOYMENT enquiries have tripled during the last five months as a result of the pandemic.

Citizens Advice Wokingham helped 363 people worried about their work between Thursday, March 19 and Wednesday, July 15 — three times the number helped over the same time period last year.

The charity’s chief executive, Jake Morrison said that many people calling were concerned about the terms and conditions of their contract.

He said: “People are phoning up and asking ‘can they make me do this?’ when it comes to their job, especially in regards to working from home or the office.”

And with the Government encouraging people to return to work from Saturday, August 1, Mr Morrison’s team have been explaining people’s rights, and the requirements their boss should meet. � Continued on page 2

Council’s plan to tackle virus outbreaks IF A CORONAVIRUS outbreak occurs within Wokingham borough, the council has pledged to act swiftly to prevent it spreading.

It has published a draft of its outbreak control plan setting out what it would do should two or more people test positive for Covid19.

It is expected to be presented to a meeting of the Executive Committee on Thursday, July 30 for discussion and voting.

Last week, the Government said that local authorities would be able to action their own local lockdowns in a bid to prevent another national shutdown. � Continued on page 8

NEW SCHOOLS TO BE OPENED P2

Volunteer Zoe Maynard smiles with her harvest, which will be donated to families across the borough Picture: Freely Fruity

FEELING GREEN: Growing fresh food for the community P12

WE COULD QUIT RE3

NEW LOOK FOR HISTORIC PUB P6

38 NEW FLATS GET GREEN LIGHT P2

Council leader’s call for new recycling deal

EXCLUSIVE

By PHIL CREIGHTON

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk IT’S A PARTNERSHIP that has sorted out the rubbish for the past 14 years, but next year could be its last.

Since 2006, Bracknell Forest, Reading Borough and Wokingham Borough councils have worked together

on their waste management strategies, forming re3.

But at a meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held earlier this month, Wokingham Borough Council leader Cllr John Halsall warned that we could “part company” with the other two councils if they can’t reach agreement on the future direction of waste and recycling in the years ahead.

He made the comments ahead of a vote to elect a chair and deputy to the board, which met virtually on Thursday, July 9.

Cllr Halsall argued that the board should defer the votes to allow “officers and members an opportunity to consider the best path and the issues”. � Continued on page 4

NINE MILE RIDE REOPENS AFTER WATER WORKS P7

2 | NEWS

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From the editor Welcome to another packed edition of Wokingham.Today. As we have been doing since the lockdown started, the paper is running a reduced service.

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WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

Unemployment worries triple during pandemic � Continued on page 2

But the most common questions have been about pay and entitlements, explained Mr Morrison.

“There were lots of questions about this before the furlough scheme had been announced,” he said. “People were asking about sick pay, which can be 50% of their normal salary, and what could happen.”

He said that callers were concerned they would have to take prolonged sick leave if they were affected by Covid-19, and that the halved salary would leave them in a vulnerable position financially.

The charity is now expecting debt-related worries to increase over the next few months.

“Once the courts and bailiffs start again, we know those calls will rise,” he said. “People’s expenditure is related to their income, and even being paid 80% of their wages on the furlough scheme, that’s less than they were expecting or anticipating.”

Mr Morrison explained that a 20% decrease in pay can have big effects on personal finances.

“People may be facing redundancy, or a job that doesn’t exist anymore, and they’re going to end up in that situation,” he said.

“And benefits don’t cover all the costs people have.”

Wokingham Borough Council leader Cllr John Halsall said that the organisation had been offering support to businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic including loans and grants.

“The borough council will do

Bargain draw A COMMUNITY magazine has launched a unique way to help businesses cope with coronavirus: a raffle.

RG10 is offering entrants the chance to win prizes bought from small independent businesses that operate in and around the Twyford area.

The goodies will be worth at least £30

everything it can to alleviate unemployment in the borough,” he told Wokingham.Today. “There are various tools that we can use.”

He also hoped that the council would be able to tap into the planned apprenticeship scheme.

“I think we could do more — we will do more, once we’ve seen what the Government allows us to do.”

And across all areas, Citizens Advice has seen demand triple, helping 3,000 people from March to July this year.

Mr Morrision added: "As the pandemic increased, I promised the people of Wokingham Borough that we would be here to help them pick up the pieces. Our dedicated volunteers and staff are continuing to help people find a way forward with their problems.

“At the start of lockdown the issues were mainly around benefits, and charity support such as food deliveries and prescription collections. Now the issues are growing on employment, including redundancy.

“I'm really sorry that our communities are going through this, our national body at Citizens Advice will be doing all that it can to work with the Government to support people. At our local charity, our volunteers and staff can help you with any issues from welfare benefits and debt to relationships, family and immigration.

If you're facing any issues you could do with support for, our team can help you find a way forward.

Please contact us."

For help and advice, call Citizens Advice on: 0300 330 1189 each and drawn at 6pm on Friday, August 7.

There are 1,000 tickets available at £1 each. All money raised will go directly to support local participating businesses.

Prizes include gift vouchers for HF Newberry’s gift shop, HaaHoos pottery party centre and a tour for two from Stanlake Park Winery . � For more details, visit: bit.ly/ RG10raffle

Alder Grove Prim

By JOHN WAKEFIELD news@wokinghampaper.co.uk PLANS are in place to open a new primary school in Shinfield this September, when 29 new pupils will walk through its doors for the first time.

Last week, Wokingham Borough Council handed over the buildings that will become Alder Grove to The Keys Academy Trust.

The trust already manages, among others, Earley St Peters and The Coombes in Arborfield.

The new school is part of the Shinfield West development and will ultimately become a 420-place free school for children aged between 4 and 11.

There will also be enough places for 26 children in a nursery.

Although it had been due to open last year, there was not enough demand on the places, and the

original education provider also withdrew its interest in running the free school.

Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive member for children’s services, was at the handing over ceremony.

She said: “This is a very important milestone for the school and it will be very welcome in the growing community.

“We are delighted that The Keys Academy will be running the new school and will now be able to get ready for opening.

“They have a strong proven track record in our borough and provide the best educational experiences for pupils.”

Alder Grove Primary School is part of Shinfield Meadows, a development that comprises 1,200 new homes, a food store, commercial and communal space, and recreation grounds.

Council criticised for ‘helping developers’ avoid planning policies

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk HAMPSHIRE-BASED developers have taken over existing plans for 38 new apartments in a Wokingham business park.

In January, Wokingham borough council approved flats on the site previously home to Sorbus House, on Fishponds Road.

But the plans had to include affordable housing, which was not included in the original proposal

from Maxika Homes Limited.

And at multiple planning meetings, Evendons councillor Sarah Kerr has said she thinks there should be more affordable housing on site.

Now Radian Group has taken over the site from Maxika Homes Limited, just off Molly Millars Lane, and hope to start building next spring.

Wokingham.Today understands that Radian Group would like to provide more affordable homes in

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By JOHN WAKEFIELD news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By SUE CORCORAN news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By MARIE WILLIAMS news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By DAVE WRIGHT sport@wokinghampaper.co.uk

New SEND school to be built in Winnersh

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By DAISY HANSON news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By ISAAC FARNWORTH sport@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By ANGELA GARWOOD news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

By TAZ USHER tusher@wokinghampaper.co.uk

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Wokingham Borough Council said that as part of its plans, these new major developments include the necessary schools, roads and other facilities, and they are funded through developer contributions.

This includes an investment of £98million in new schools.

Cllr Clark added: “When it comes to providing schools in new developments it has been our overriding principle that it is better to be ahead of demand and have a school ready too early than be in the position of having too few XXXXXX school places for children.

“We now have that demand in Shinfield and I am delighted the school will open in September.”

The Keys Academy Trust is a Church of England multi-academy XXXXXX trust and its borough schools includes: Crazies CE Primary School, Polehampton Infant and Junior,

Sonning CE Primary School and St Nicholas CE Primary School, Earley St Peters CE Primary, The Coombes, and St Sebastian’s Primary.

Hester Wooller, executive headteacher and CEO of The Keys Academy Trust, said: “We are delighted to be in the position to accept the transfer of the building from Wokingham Borough Council to The Keys Academy Trust.

“Over the last 18 months, we have worked in partnership with WBC to ensure the successful opening of our new school Alder Grove in September 2020.

“Our vision is for Alder Grove Church of England Primary School to be at the heart of the new community in Shinfield and we look forward to seeing the school grow and serve our local families over the coming years.”

the four-storey apartment block.

XXXXXX But a plan for this has not yet been submitted.

James Pennington, director of development at Radian Group, said: “By securing land-led schemes …

XXXXXX we’re helping to regenerate previously derelict land, “We look forward to working in conjunction with Wokingham XXXXXX Borough Council and delivering more affordable housing for the area.”

Originally, the council pushed for 11 apartments to beXXXXXX made affordable to meet policy requirements.

But Maxika Homes Limited argued this wasn’t financially viable.

Instead, nine flats were approved for affordable housing at the planning meeting on Thursday, May 21.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Kerr said: “Affordable housing has many meanings, and Wokingham has a distinct lack of truly affordable housing. Please may I remind the committee that you are here not to help developers increase their profit margins.

“Your commitment is to the people of Wokingham Borough, and as a local planning authority, it has been determined what level of affordable housing is required for developments. Your job is to uphold that requirement.”

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Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

THE KEYS: Cllr Ullakarin Clark, executive member for children’ services at WBC celebrates The Keys Academy Trust opening a new primary school in Shinfield. Picture: Stewart Turkington

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A NEW primary and secondary school will be built in Winnersh for students with complex needs in Wokingham and Reading.

The Department for Education has approved Oak Tree School, a 150 student SEND school for those with social, emotional and mental health and autism spectrum disorder diagnoses.

Maiden Erlegh Trust will run the new school, which will be built on Winnersh Farm, just off the Reading Road. It is hoped the school will open in September 2022, with places available from Year 1 to Year 13.

The project has been a partnership between Brighter Futures for Children, Reading Borough Council and Wokingham Borough Council and will serve families in the local area.

And plans for the new school are being worked on, with design details to be published later in the year.

Mary Davies, CEO of Maiden Erlegh Trust, said: “This project is extremely exciting and one that we know is much needed in the local area. We are delighted to be working with so many talented people on developing this school.

“We will support pupils to achieve their very best, move on to meaningful destinations and to take their places in the wider community as happy, confident and independent young adults.”

Nick Jones, chair of the trust, said he was proud to be given the opportunity to build a valuable and much-needed SEND school in the borough.

And professor Dr Kate Reynolds, director of education at Brighter Futures for Children, said: “We look forward to working with Maiden Erlegh Trust and Wokingham Borough Council on progressing this exciting project.

“Maiden Erlegh Trust already runs a number of schools in the area and has recently taken over the Hamilton School, previously known as Phoenix College, an SEMH special school in Reading.

Cllr Prue Bray, Liberal Democrat lead for children’s services, and Winnersh ward councillor said the new school would help enormously.

She told Wokingham.Today: “We have a desperate shortage of places for children with additional learning needs, and we have been pushing for more provision in the borough since 2012.

“This seems to be a win all-round. And as a ward member I’m very happy to see it in Winnersh.”

Cllr UllaKarin Clark, Wokingham’s executive member for children’s services said: “This is such a wonderful opportunity for Wokingham children with social, emotional and mental health and/or an autism spectrum disorder to have state of the art specialised facilities close to home.

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“We are pleased to continue to work with Maiden Erlegh Trust, who already run several schools within Wokingham borough, and are very happy to have been part of the partnership that has resulted in this excellent opportunity for Wokingham borough children with special educational needs and disabilities to stay within the borough for their schooling.

“We know that keeping children as close to home as possible has a beneficial impact on their learning and development, so having this new school in the borough is excellent news for us.”

Cllr Ashley Pearce, Reading’s lead councillor for education, said: “The Maiden Erlegh Trust has a proven track record of running schools in Reading and working well with education authorities.”

“The number of children with SEND has increased significantly in Reading in recent years and similar patterns of growth have been seen in neighbouring authorities.

“I welcome the progress of this new special free school which will result in more Reading children receiving the specialist education they need closer to home.”

Winnersh Farm had previously been considered for housing development in the draft local plan update.

The plans suggested there could be 250 homes built, or 150 homes and a SEND school.

There number of houses now planned for Winnersh Farm has not been confirmed. But Cllr Bray said the new school will create less traffic disruption to the area than the 250 homes.

“Many children will come to school in specialist transport, so there will be fewer cars dropping children off,” she said. “And the capacity is quite low, so the pressure on the highways network will be far less than houses.” � For more information, visit: www.maidenerleghtrust.org

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WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

Council leader pushes for review of re3 arrangements in bid to go carbon neutral

� From front page

“I was apparently the first council leader to declare a climate emergency,” Cllr Halsall told the board.

“Currently our recycling rates are very different with Reading in the mid30s, Bracknell in the mid-40s and Wokingham in the mid-50s.

“A material part of the global warning agenda is waste. Indeed, David Attenborough says the key to Climate Emergency is eliminating waste.

“Wokingham has commissioned a study to determine a road map to achieve that objective with milestones of 70% recycling in the near term. re3 must be a key part to that.”

He said that councils did not have to go down the same path, saying that unitary authorities can “plot their own trajectory” to suit residents and budgets.

“The preferred choice of course is that re3 adapts to cater for all its partners, flexibly and consensually.

“To do so, we need to address the governance and ensure that re3 is not the fiefdom of any particular authority.”

And Cllr Halsall felt that Wokingham was “by far the biggest contributor of the partnership”.

“Our partnership is coming into its Autumn years and we need now to

consider what we wish to do as lead times are long. “re3 will survive that process if it can find a consensual way of working flexibly with all its partners.

“Failing that Wokingham will, in time, have to part company from its partners.”

Responding, Cllr Tony Page (Reading Borough Council) expressed surprise at the comments, saying: “It would have be courteous to have (Cllr Halsall’s proposal) circulated in advance to have at least been given some notice”.

The committee set aside Cllr Halsall’s suggestion and voted for Cllr Dorothy Hayes (Bracknell Forest) as chair and Cllr Page as deputy.

Cllr Halsall told Wokingham.Today: “We have to decide what to do next. We have commissioned a study to determine this.

“We want to get to rates of 100% recycling, it’s a long-term goal we may never achieve, but I want to make a long-term road map to it.”

He cited the food waste collection service as an example of the three councils’ different approaches.

Wokingham introduced it in April last year, but both Reading and Bracknell have delayed implementation: October and March respectively.

“The councils fought tooth and nail against food waste collections, they’ve reluctantly accepted it,” Cllr Halsall said.

“We’re committed to being carbon neutral, recycling is core to that.

We can’t recycle unless the processes are on board, and that is re3. They absolutely have to be on board.

“We may have to find our own way: how can we achieve carbon neutrality and our recycling target if we’re not party to the management of re3? Reading and Bracknell have stitched us up.”

He pledged to look for a suitable site for waste management, adding that for re3: “We’re paying the vast majority of the cost”.

“We have a very, very strong vision of where we want to be.

“I’m surprised at Reading, for a Labour council you’d think they would want to demonstrate their climate change credentials, but their recycling rate is really poor. We are determined to get ours up to 70%.”

And he added that the council were looking at ways in which their recycling could be kept dry, to improve recycling rates. There was a problem

last winter where centres refused to accept wet waste.

The council is still looking to find a solution to this.

“Wokingham is reaching for the stars with recycling: we want to try and solve the problem of wet waste and hope to do so by late autumn.”

Cllr Page said: “It’s a pity that, as such a new member of the re3 Board, Cllr Halsall has arrived at conclusions that are simply not borne out by the facts.

“The Board has worked well on a consensual basis over many years and is the ‘property’ of all three authorities.

“If Wokingham and Cllr Halsall have any specific proposals then we would be happy to consider them.

“His intervention at the start of the last meeting has not been followed up with any paper or proposals.”

He added: “Cllr Halsall resigned from the board yesterday, which shows how childish and petulant his behaviour has been. He has missed meetings, turned up late and not read the papers on some occasions.

“He’s talking arrant nonsense.”

But Cllr Halsall today Wokingham.Today that he was replacing himself with Cllr Gregor Murray: “It should be him, not the council leader”.

Cllr Page added that he felt the re3 board has been working well, and the Wokingham’s previous board members didn’t have any issues.

“Democracy in Wokingham is very different from in Reading or in Bracknell, but it’s always been understood that we can all learn from each other,” he said, citing the food waste collections that Reading and Bracknell will introduce as examples of this learning.

“The partnership has worked really well. But I’ve only been a member for seven years, so what do I know?”

Bracknell Forest Council didn’t comment on Cllr Halsall’s criticisms of the re3 partnership. Instead, Kevin Gibbs, its executive director for delivery, said: “In line with the 1972 Local Government Act, any decisions made by a local authority committee – such as voting for a chairman – must be on a simple majority basis.

“As such, a chairman for the 2020/21 municipal year was confirmed in line with the committee’s constitution.”

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

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Council gives green light to reopening of its leisure centres

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

IT’S THE news that people with lockdown bellies will have been waiting for: the borough council’s leisure centres will start to reopen from Monday, August 3.

But Woodley-based fitness fans will have a few more days to wait: the new Bulmershe Lesiure Centre will open for the first time on Monday, August 17.

Wokingham Borough Council and leisure contractor Places Leisure said that Loddon Valley Leisure Centre, St Crispin's Leisure Centre, Arborfield Leisure Centre and Ryeish Green Sports Hub will be the first to welcome back customers.

A number of new measures are being introduced at the leisure centres to ensure customers and staff are safe. Changes will include additional wall and floor signage to ensure everyone respects social distancing, enhanced cleaning in gym, changing rooms and toilets as well as introducing hand sanitising and cleaning stations for people to use before and after exercising and for wiping down equipment.

There will be smaller classes for group exercise to ensure people can maintain a safe distance and some of the gym equipment will be repositioned, but there will be enough space for everyone to enjoy a workout.

There will be a staggered reopening: gym and group exercise classes will be open from August 3, Loddon Valley Leisure Centre’s swimming pool will reopen from Monday, August 10, and other sports

such as badminton and squash will resume from Monday, August 17.

Customers will have to pre-book group classes, swimming lanes and gym stations.

Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure, said: “We are really pleased the government has now eased Covid-19 restrictions meaning that indoor gym and leisure centres can now reopen. However, Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and it’s important that we continue to social distance and keep up good hygiene practices.

“We are busy working behind the scenes preparing the centres to open safely on August 3.

“The centres will look and feel a bit different for a while but that is to ensure all our customers and staff are protected.

“Strict measures will be been put in place to ensure cleanliness and safety and we would encourage people to familiarise themselves with how the centres will operate.”

And Places Leisure is equally delighted that it can welcome back people to its sites.

Tony Penge, contract manager Wokingham for Places Leisure, said: “It is great to be able to announce that our leisure facilities can now reopen for our local community to enjoy. The centres’ staff have been hard at work ensuring vital safety measures are in place for yours and our teams safety – which is paramount.

“Our leisure centres are at the heart of our communities and we look forward to welcoming you back safely to enjoy our facilities once more.”

MP’s war memorial bill A CAMPAIGN to make it a criminal offence to vandalise war memorials took a step closer this week after Parliament agreed to give it a second reading in the autumn.

Championed by Bracknell MP James Sunderland, the bill was inspired by recent protests.

Mr Sunderland met with Justice Secretary Robert Buckland to set out his case for a new law.

In a statement, Mr Buckland said: “I have been appalled to see pictures in the newspapers and on television of violence and vandalism at recent protests.

“They may not be worth a lot of money, but war memorials have enormous sentimental value which needs to be better reflected by the law.

“When I bring forward the Government’s plans for sentencing reform, they will get the protection they need and those who vandalise them can expect to spend longer behind bars.”

The Private Members Bill which Mr Sunderland presented to the House of Commons was supported

by Stoke-on-Trent MP Jonathan Gullis. The pair are both members of Blue Collar Conservatism (BCC), a group that campaigns to make Government policy reflect the needs

of working people, their families and communities.

The Bill defines war memorials as any physical object, grave, headstone or anything erected, created or installed to commemorate those involved or affected by a conflict or war, including civilians or animals, and will cover defacing by graffiti, burning, spitting, urinating or defecating.

Mr Sunderland said: “Following constructive meetings, I welcome the Justice Secretary’s assurance that this Government is committed to cracking down on those people who show no respect for the war memorials and graves of those who fought so hard for our country.

“It is beyond disrespectful and I hope that this will act as a deterrent to them and they will know such action will result in punishment.

“My BCC colleagues who introduced the Private Members’ Bill, have my full support and will continue to do so.

“It seems Government has already listened, and Robert Buckland assured me that he will act on it, which is fantastic news.”

NEWS | 5

New Post Office for Earley residents

Enjoy a preview of Bulmershe PREVIEWS of the new Bulmershe Lesiure Centre will take place from early next month.

The multi-million pound site has been knocked down and rebuilt from start to finish.

It includes a new six-lane 25-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool for learner swimmers, a bigger gym, a 'live well' gym for those with long term conditions, a four-court sports hall, and a studio and café.

It had been due to open in April, but this was delayed by the coronavirus.

The new date is Monday, August 17 – two weeks after the other Wokingham borough leisure centres reopen.

The delay is to allow the new gym equipment to be installed, staff recruited and fully trained.

Ahead of the opening next month, the borough council is offering residents the chance to take a tour of the new centre.

Places must be booked in advance and tours will be given to individuals or one household at a time and strict social distancing will need to be adhered to.

This will take place between 5pm and 9pm on weekdays, and 9am to 4pm on weekends on the following dates: Tuesday, August 4; Thursday, August 6; Saturday, August 8; Sunday, August 9; Tuesday, August 11; Thursday, August 13; Saturday, August 15; Sunday, August 16.

To book, log on to the council’s Eventbrite webpage: bit.ly/BulmersheTours

EARLEY residents will soon find themselves with a nearby Post Office, thanks to a local entrepreneur.

Cllr Andrew Mickleburgh, councillor for Hawkedon said he was thrilled to see a new shop will be opening on Silverdale Road.

He said: “Fadi (left) hopes to open his muchanticipated shop in the former McColl’s premises midAugust.

“Items on sale will include fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, and there will be a Post Office — which is really important to local residents.”

Cllr Mickleburgh added: “He’s a local entrepreneur starting up his business, I think it is wonderful that this shop will soon be a part of our community and that he has taken this initiative.”

Picture: Andrew Mickleburgh

6 | NEWS

Recycled tyres used for new path in Earley THE BOROUGH council has built an accessible path to a riverside spot in Earley.

The new footpath has a sloped access with handrail and has been resurfaced with recycled rubber tyres.

It runs from Wokingham Road and Reading Road, near the George Pub and the Harley Davidson garage in Earley.

A council spokesperson said: “Drainage has also been improved in the area as well as new fencing being installed to help improve the look of the area.

“It will make it easier for residents to walk or cycle to visit the area to enjoy nature and walk for exercise, rather than drive, helping to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint as we work to make the borough carbon neutral by 2030.”

Work began in mid-May and took roughly six weeks to complete.

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, said: “Ensuring all our residents can easily access the parks and green spaces near them is really important.

“We’re delighted to get this finished in time for people to make the most of the area next to the river in the summer months and be able to access it easily.

“Thanks to our residents for their patience while we completed this work, which will help even more people enjoy this riverside beauty spot.”

Magpies £150,000 charity challenge AN ARTS centre employee has taken on a walking challenge in support of the Magpies 150 challenge, launched

by Maidenhead United FC. Tessa Preston, who works at Norden Farm Centre for the Art walked around the Altwood and Boyn Hill area, passing Norden Farm 15 times to celebrate Maidenhead United FC’s 150th anniversary.

The football club has set itself a target to raise £150,000 for 15 local charities and are encouraging the public to get involved.

And Norden Farm is one of the charities to be supported by the challenge.

The challenge took Ms Preston 10 hours, stretched over Wednesday, July 1 and Thursday, July 2.

She said: “I wanted to set myself a challenge that would push me but which I knew I could complete.

I love being part of the Norden Farm team so it was a perfect fit as I’ll be raising money for so many local charities too.” � To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/ campaign/magpies150challenge

Visor making team stops production

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk HAVING produced 1,544 face visors from his home, a project led by 16-year-old Oliver Hitchings has reached its natural end.

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WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

Repairs reveal Hurst pub’s 17th century base EXCLUSIVE

By SUE CORCORAN news@wokinghampaper.co.uk A HISTORIC pub has taken on a “beautiful” new look which villagers want to keep.

The front of the Grade II listed Castle Inn at Hurst has been stripped of its rendering, exposing ancient beams and beautiful, old, red bricks.

The new look was revealed thanks to a maintenance project which proved to be a bigger job than expected.

The pub, in a conservation area in Church Hill, goes back to the 16th century or even earlier. Famous visitors include cricketing legend WG Grace and rumour has it — Henry VIII. Punters have also said it is haunted by two spirits.

The pub is owned by Church House Charity. Trustee Sue Payne said: “We were having windows at the front and back repaired.

“At the front the builders had to remove some of the render to do this properly. They discovered the render was loose and it all had to come off there. It looks beautiful with the beams and what we believe are 17th century bricks.

“Dozens of people have commented on it – many want to keep it as it is without the render being replaced.

There are a lot of holes which will need filling.

“So far three solutions have been suggested: Using a kind of slurry to

The Castle Inn’s original facade was unveiled during repair work (above).

Pictures: Duncan Kendall

protect the bricks but leave them visible, rendering but leaving the beams exposed or re-rendering the whole frontage.

“Our surveyor is coming back with more information about the options.

Wokingham Borough Council’s listings officer will also be advising.”

The charity’s income from letting the pub helps pay for maintenance of the nearby St Nicholas Church building

dating back to 1084. The charity also helps with outreach projects for the Church of England’s ecclesiastical parish of Hurst. In the past St Nicholas CofE Primary School has received money for equipment.

The Castle Inn has recently reopened for business in its back garden where landlord Matt Brown has built a bar.

Food available includes pizzas from

a stone pizza oven. And the bar serves locally brewed beers and ales.

The entrance to the garden is round the outside of the pub, on the right hand side looking at it, along a path by the bowling green.

The pub was historically known as The Church House and The Bunch of Grapes.

An exposed wattle and daub wall can still be seen inside the pub.

Volunteer launches summer lunch club for families across Woodley EXCLUSIVE

The organisation was set up by Juliet Sherratt, who volunteered with The Grub Club last summer.

Much like Norreys-based organisation, the Woodley Lunch Bunch will provide free meals to families struggling during the summer holidays.

Ms Sherratt told Wokingham.Today: “It all started when I heard that the Government wasn’t going to give out the £15 lunch vouchers this summer for children who have free school meals.

“They’ve since done a U-turn, but there’s still a need there, what with the impact Covid-19 has had on people’s finances.

“I helped at The Grub Club last year and thought it was brilliant. I looked for a Woodley one, but couldn’t find anything. So that’s why I decided to set it up, there are children in as much need here. It was a culmination of things really, but I just had it in my mind that Woodley needed something like this.”

In less than a month, the organisation has gone from an idea, to an established group ready to start helping the community.

“It’s been a bit frantic,” said Ms Sherratt. “I didn’t quite think about how much organisation it would take. I thought I could just make sandwiches from my kitchen.

“But we’ve had lots of Zoom meetings with councillors, family support workers, foodbanks, churches and schools.

“They were all very keen to get involved, and will be able to refer families to the Lunch Bunch.”

Starting just over three months ago Oliver Hitchings, with help from friends Oliver Beardsall and David and Elizabeth Dawkins, made face visors using a 3D printer.

The team dropped off their first batch of visors to Twyford Surgery on Thursday, April 2, and have since delivered to various front line care workers, including GPs, hospital wards, radiography departments and pharmacists.

After that, the team began receiving requests for visors from hospices,

nursing and care homes, midwives, schools and pre-schools.

Lilli Hitchings, Oliver’s mother, said: “All visors have been provided free of charge because of Twyford’s amazing and overnight response to our fundraising request.

“Twyford and District Round Table very kindly gave us some money to purchase two additional 3D printers that will be sold shortly with the money going back to the Round Table.

“The people of Twyford donated money to purchase raw materials as

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk CREATED just a month ago, the Woodley Lunch Bunch is ready to start helping families from tomorrow.

The organisation will receive food donations from Waitrose Woodley branch, and has been given £500 from the Tesco Bags of Help Covid-19 Communities Fund.

The Lunch Bunch will also collaborate with Freely Fruity, a Lower Earley charity focussed on feeding local communities with fresh fruit and vegetables (see page 12) and the Woodley WI will also be baking cakes for the lunch parcels.

And they will soon receive £1,500 from Wokingham United Charities, which will act as a financial buffer in case food donations decrease and the volunteer team need to buy more supplies.

“We’re also planning on sending out activity packs each week,” said Ms Sherratt. “There will be puzzle books and crafting things for the children to keep busy during the holidays.”

The Woodley Lunch Bunch now has Ms Sherratt as chair, Cllr Andy Croy as

treasurer and Cllr Shirley Boyt as volunteer coordinator.

Ms Sherratt added: “We’ve already had lots of offers of help from volunteers, and quite a few referrals are coming through.” � To find out more, email: woodleylunchbunch@gmail.com or visit: www.facebook.com/Woodley-LunchBunch-112388503873907

well as replacement parts to keep our printers up and running.

“Oliver and Oliver have done an amazing job keeping them running all this time.

“I hope that together we have managed to keep Twyford and surrounding areas a little safer during the pandemic.”

The friends have now stopped production after the 1,500 milestone.

(Left) Oliver Hitchings smiles as he delivers another set of visors to Age Concern.

Picture: Courtesy of Lilli Hitchings

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

Council wins £50,000 caravan court battle

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk THE COUNCIL has won its fight against an unauthorised caravan site on Nine Mile Ride, after taking the landowner to court.

Felix Cash, who owned the site was ordered to pay more than £50,000 in March this year for the planning breach.

In court, Mr Cash and Phoenix Residential Homes Ltd admitted running foul of planning regulations and were sentenced on Thursday, March 2, at Reading Crown Court.

A Confiscation Order was made for £23,600 against Mr Cash and Phoenix Residential Homes Ltd, with additional fines of £6,000 for two offences totalling £12,000 and £4,000 respectively.

The court also ordered Mr Cash to pay just under £14,000 in costs to Wokingham Borough Council.

Mr Cash is the owner of Pineridge mobile home site on Nine Mile Ride, and the sole director of Phoenix Residential Homes Ltd. Mobile homes first appeared on unauthorised parts of the site in 2009 and the council has been trying to have them removed ever since.

In June 2009 and February 2010, the council served enforcement notices on the site to stop using the unauthorised land for mobiles homes, and remove them along with the associated hard-standing and services by June 2015.

Council officers regularly visited the site following the

June 2015 deadline and saw that very little had changed.

Later visits found some progress but it was not until December 2016 had all of the caravans and hardstanding been removed.

Cllr Wayne Smith, executive member for planning and enforcement, said: “This is a real victory for the council. We have been working to get this land in the countryside put back to its natural state, as open countryside.

“I am very pleased that we can now bring this process to a close with such a successful outcome. Planning regulations exist to protect all of us and I hope this sends a clear message that action will be taken against people who are breaking the rules.”

Nine Mile Ride opened

by Mayor A MAJOR road that has been closed since last autumn was reopened by Wokingham Borough’s mayor last Friday.

Cllr Malcolm Richards helped lead the celebrations as Nine Mile Ride in Finchampstead welcomed drivers once again.

Over the past eight months, South East Water has laid almost two miles of fresh pipework to create a new water main that will serve the residents as the community grows.

The project covers supplies to Finchampstead Road, Gorse Ride South, Billing Avenue and Nine Mile Ride.

Cllr Richards said: “Drinking water is an essential resource which we all need and these improvements will help conserve water and avoid leaks.

“I’m glad South East Water is set to complete this £1.4 million project on schedule and I know residents in the area will reap the rewards for years to come.”

And the completion has also been welcomed by South East Water.

Jeremy Dufour, its project manager, said: “This has been a very challenging project and

Wokingham borough mayor, Cllr Malcolm Richards, declares Nine Mile Ride reopen for business Picture: South East Water

I would like to thank everyone who has helped along the way.

“I would also like to extend my thanks to the residents and motorists who may have been impacted by these works.

“We know road closures can cause disruption so we really appreciate the patience shown since the project began last summer.”

The project also replaced part of the old pipeline which had become prone to bursting.

“While we were installing the new water main we took the opportunity to replace some of the aging sections of main which were already in the road,” Mr Dufour continued.

“This will help us to ensure we can minimise the disruption caused to customers through

burst water mains.

“We have a small section of work to complete, close to California Ratepayers’ Hall, which will take place this week.

“This final section will cause minimal disruption to residents and, once finished, will mark the end of this project.”

This scheme forms part of South East Water’s £424 million investment between 2015 and 2020. The water company says will invest a further £433 million into improving its network between 2020 and 2025.

Residents can keep tabs on future planned work in the area by visiting South East Water’s interactive map at: inyourarea.digdat.co.uk/ SouthEastWater

Neighbourhood Watch AGM MEMBERS of the Thames Valley Neighbourhood Watch can take part in a rescheduled annual general meeting next month.

The event had been due to take place in May, but was delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting, which will take place online, will include reports from the chairman and

treasurer, a revision of the constitution and contributions from Thames Valley Police.

Papers will be available from the group’s website and voting can be made online ahead of the meeting, which will be held on Saturday, August 15.

Stan Jones, the committee’s chair, said: “We would very

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much welcome hearing from anyone willing to put themselves forward as a potential Committee member, especially as we have had some members retiring recently.

“If you would like information on what is involved, please email me: stan.jonestheelectric@ btinternet.com”

Generous gifts to foodbank WOKINGHAM Foodbank welcomed two kind gestures last week, as local groups donated generously in support of their work, writes Taz Usher Both received on Friday, July 17, a delivery of take away curries and food donations ensured both the hub’s stocks and bellies were full.

Foodbank manager, Annette Medhurst said: “Following a recent chat with Koush from The Tamarind Tree about the struggles local businesses have faced due to Covid-19, he turned up with loads of curries for our volunteers.

“We were over the moon and so appreciative of their gesture which meant we all got to enjoy a delicious meal before we went home.

“I’m very aware of the difficulties local businesses have faced during this time so the fact that they went out of

their way to do this was amazing.”

And the curries weren’t the only thing giving volunteers that Friday Feeling.

A generous donation from the Sewa Day charity gave a huge boost to the hub’s shelves.

Ms Medhurst added: “They turned up with a lot of food

such as tinned fruit which we have been low on for a while.

“It was great going home on Friday knowing we had a lot of stock for the following week.

“We’re so grateful for their donation which is yet another example of our strong local community.”

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NEED: Labs continue vital work to help healthcare in pandemic

Medical company carries on as normal during lockdown EXCLUSIVE

By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokinghampaper.co.uk “IT’S OUR normal business, we’re just coming to work.”

That’s the upbeat message from the managing director of a Lower Earley company supplying vital medical equipment that has kept calm and carried on throughout the pandemic Lorne Labs specialises in blood transfusion items, including platelet incubators and blood bank fridges.

While some businesses had to furlough staff, the 15 people who work from Lorne Labs’ base in Daneshill had to continue in the midst of the national lockdown, supplying essential products to the front line and providing NHS Blood and Transplant facilities across the UK with an uninterrupted supply of blood reagents.

Ian John, the company’s managing director, said that his team have worked tirelessly to ensure that Covid-19 didn’t interrupt the care of people in need of emergency blood transfusions.

“We had to tell staff that they’d got to come to work,” he said. “Some people were nefarious to begin with, but we spoke openly about how we’d deal with (making the workplace safe). It’s become the norm for us.

“They came to accept it quickly: we’re not like a factory, we’re not on top of each other.

“We had to put some rules in place for example, walking down corridors and ensuring there was plenty of hand sanitiser.”

Measures in place included an ample supply of PPE to all staff, and ensuring that the laboratory’s ventilation and air con system was keeping the air clean and free for any airborne viruses.

He felt that this work and the existing protocols in place paid dividends.

The company also had a stockpile of production supplies ready for the rainy day that was Covid-19.

“We had plenty of raw materials,” Mr John said. “We always carry a significant supply for events you can’t really foretell.”

The company’s market includes the NHS, but also overseas. And with different countries operating lockdown at different times, this also put some pressure on the team.

“There was initially a dropoff in demand from UK hospitals, understandably so

because they had a focus on Covid,” Mr John said.

But Lorne Labs has carried on throughout, supplying health services around the world.

“When the planes were down, it was a challenge to get to some countries at times.

“We’ve been there when people needed it.

“To be honest, our overall business have been maintained at the level where we thought we’d be. We’ve had our ups and downs – currently very little business to South America, for example, as they are behind us in the flow of coronavirus.”

The company has been helped throughout with its network of freight forwarders, couriers and local distributors across all continents.

Mr John said that thanks to relationships with trusted

long term partners to send and receive shipments and make sure they reach their destinations during a crisis, delays were rare and competition for shipping slots less severe than many other manufacturers.

“Being close to Heathrow is helpful under the circumstances,” he said.

Now, their focus is on what happens next: the strain on the NHS has been relaxed as a result of the fall in Covid-19 cases, but hospitals are starting to perform nonessential surgeries again.

The company will be ready, with Mr John saying that they have enough product available to scale up to a level that fully supports the needs of the UK healthcare sector.

“We’ve already dealt with people going back to work, we have the rules in place and were comfortable with that,” he pledged.

Council’s action plan for virus outbreak � Continued from front page

Wokingham Borough Council says its aim is to prevent local outbreaks through promotion of social distancing measures, good hygiene and observance of self-isolation rules where necessary and also to support response to any outbreaks that occur through timely and accurately targeted communications and contact tracing.

Under Wokingham’s plans, the council has pledged to communicate quickly to residents where the outbreak has occurred, to help vulnerable residents who need additional assistance and to give support and advice to all residents and businesses.

The actions they may take include restricting attendance at an outbreak site, cancelling events, closing community facilities and premises. The council will also send out message alerts and offer testing of people with and without coronavirus symptoms.

Messages will be communicated through Wokingham.Today, the council’s website and social media channels and by the council’s partners.

Cllr John Halsall, the leader of Wokingham Borough Council, said that it was trying to keep residents informed.

“I am producing a weekly bulletin once a week, I thought it was sensible to inform residents,” he said.

“We have got our outbreak control plan published in draft form, and we’re now getting postcode data from Public Health England which tells us where local outbreaks are.

“In Wokingham’s case, our R rate is so low now: there has been just a small percentile change, and our care homes are completely covid-free.”

The ability for these regionalised lockdowns has been welcomed by the Local Government Association, who feel that it is the best way to tackle significant outbreaks as councils are the

ones that know their communities est and can address each unique outbreak.

Cllr James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: “Greater powers for councils to take swift and effective action to address local outbreaks will hopefully help avoid the need for more stringent measures to be imposed locally.

“Managing local Covid-19 outbreaks will always need to build on the consent of local communities and an effective system of tracing and testing.

“The use of enforcement powers should be an option of last resort where individuals or organisations are unable, unwilling or opposed to taking actions that reduce the spread of this virus.”

The draft plan has been uploaded to the council’s website: wokingham.gov.uk/health/public-healthcampaigns/coronavirus

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

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Oscars and The Courtyard among those closing down permanently EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk AN INDEPENDENT restaurant has closed down in Wokingham town centre, along with a coffee shop.

The Courtyard and Oscars Coffee are the latest in a number of businesses to close doors in town.

Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey, leader of Wokingham Town Council, said the council had given tenants the chance to defer rent for three months during the pandemic.

She told Wokingham.Today: “The Courtyard has gone into voluntary liquidation and won’t be reopening.

“As a council, we have supplied all our tenants with information from the borough council about financial help and business grants, and we recently agreed a three-month holiday for rent for those who can prove they need help.

“We realise the hospitality and retail industry has been financially hammered by the pandemic.”

A spokesperson for the town council added: “This is so very difficult for the staff who have lost their jobs and also for the town as a whole, The Courtyard was a popular restaurant which had been at the Town Hall for many years.”

Oscars Coffee, which was bought in November last year, is now advertising that it’s for sale, with a sign on the

cafe window.

Before that, the shop was called Oslars Coffee, the owners of which now run a mobile coffee van under the same name.

“Oscars have been covid-hit,” said Cllr Shepherd-DuBey. “They hadn’t opened, and I suspect they aren’t the only ones not to re-open.

“We recently lost Clintons and the Barista Lounge, and I’m concerned about Zizzi and Pizza Express — it’s the hospitality industry.”

But The Courtyard premises in the Town Hall may be used as a community space if a suitable business cannot be found to take over the tenancy.

“We’ll have access to the unit in a few days,” said Cllr Shepherd-DuBey. “If anyone wants to come along and rent it, it’s a prime location in the middle of town.”

A spokesperson for the town council added: “We will, of course, be seeking to re-let the property as soon as possible, the unit is in a fantastic position at the very heart of our community and enjoys external space on the Market Place itself. We would be happy to hear from any interested parties who think their business could thrive in this central location.”

Cllr Shepherd-DuBey added: “We’ve got some ideas for the space if there is no realistic business option. We own the Town Hall and don’t have outstanding debts, so we can afford to

NEWS | 9

October scarecrow trail cancelled A SCARECROW trail planend to brighten up the streets of one of the borough’s towns has been postponed as a result of the coronvarius.

Homes across Earley has been intended to take part in the event over the October half-term, created mannequins based on the theme of history.

But organisers have decided to pull the plug for this year.

A note on the group’s Facebook page read: “It’s with a heavy heart, I am sad to say that the 2020 Earley Scarecrow hunt will be postponed this year.

“A number of factors have been taken into account with the epidemic and funding as well as resources.

“So apologies to all that have submitted entries. Hold that thought please. We will be back.”

New play area for California park Oscars is now up for sale, and The Courtyard’s premises are avalibale to let Pictures: Phil Creighton

take the hit.

“We may decide to open it as a community space for a while, until the market picks back up again.”

But Cllr Shepherd-DuBey said she was pleased to see other businesses had taken a leap of faith during the pandemic.

She said: “The Joy Cafe has just opened up on Broad Street. I’m glad to see there are people happy to start up.”

THE BOROUGH council is set to build a new play park for explorers at California Country Park.

The new park will have new equipment, an inclusive sensory and water play area, a woodland adventure trail and tree houses.

Before it’s built, the council is calling for residents’ feedback on the proposed project.

To view the plans, visit: www.artsteps.com and search for ‘California Country Park Destination Play Area’.

Comments can be left on Art Steps or emailed to: calidestinationplay@ wokingham.gov.uk

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Prize in art contest is wheely good

Travel agent launches podcast

By TAZ USHER tusher@wokinghampaper.co.uk TRAVEL PLANS may have been paused due to the pandemic, but one Berkshire resident is finding creative ways to fill the gap in her adventures.

A WOKINGHAM courier group is searching for a new contributor to its Art on Wheels project, writes Taz Usher.

Flight Logistics has launched a competition inviting artists across the world to submit ideas for the next addition to its ShipArt vehicle fleet.

Launched in 2016, the initiative features 14 street art wrapped vehicles which transport high quality artwork to a range of venues.

And the winner of its latest competition will join artists including Seaty, Natasha Kumar and Richard Orlinski as the 15th member of the project.

Head of marketing and communications, Steve Bodie said: “Every day our 14 ShipArt vehicles are out across the UK and Europe, wrapped in stunning artwork and bringing art literally onto the roads for everyone to enjoy.

“Each artist and work have been selected for their own particular contribution to our shared vision of accessible public art together with strong environmental and humanitarian credentials.

“We are looking to wrap vehicle number 15 in a new artist’s work.”

The winning submission will be printed on a Flight Logistics’ vehicle and will be seen by galleries, collectors and the public throughout the UK and Europe as the van delivers and collects artwork.

Mr Bodie added: “The winner will receive an amazing promotional opportunity that is almost too good to be true.”

To enter the competition, email an image of your artwork which can be magnified to 4.3 metres by 1.9 meters, and a short paragraph about yourself including the significance of your artwork and any motivating factors.

The competition closes on Friday, July 31, and the winner will be announced on Friday, August 14. It is hoped the van will be wrapped in the winning art by Monday, September 7.

For more information and to see a blank view of the van, visit: flightlg.com/blog1 To enter, email marketing@flightlg.com

Make a difference THE NEXT meeting of Wokingham Positive Difference will take place from 8.50am on Friday, July 31.

The group will focus on the problems facing businesses in the borough as they move from lockdown to a new normal. There will be a particular focus on attendees financial, educational and mental health.

Speakers include Mark Butler from Tutor Doctor, Gary Reynolds from CIO Courtiers and Jason McMahon from Support in Mind.

There will also be opportunities to virtually network.

Entry is free, for more details, log on to bit.ly/ WokPosDifJuly

Marie Rowe, a travel agent and keen explorer, has spent lockdown lifting holidaymakers’ spirits with her nationally recognised blog and podcast.

Featured in the list of Top 15 Adventure Podcasts to listen to in 2020 and nominee in the 2020 Podcast Awards, Ms Rowe’s podcasts explore familiar destinations and their hidden gems.

She said: “It’ll be a while until travel resumes to its fullest and we can freely roam the planet and book holidays wherever and whenever we like.

“In the meantime, I needed a way to help my clients keep their spirits

up and their travel dreams alive.

“I also needed a way to carry on doing what I love most which is creating and sharing content, and inspiring others with exciting ideas for planning travel.”

And for travel agents, a creative approach during this time is essential for ensuring that business returns when travel resumes.

Ms Rowe added: “Building trust and credibility among my client base is the foundation for lifelong relationships where my clients come back to me time and time again knowing that they will get a personal service with a trusted professional as well as an amazing holiday.

“The podcast allows me to strengthen those relationships and begin the early stages of inspiring future clients.

“People think they know a destination but the podcast helps

Marie Rowe talks about holiday destinations and their hidden gems in her podcast

them discover new possibilities and inspire their future adventures.”

A fan of the traveller’s content, Oxfordshire-based podcast producer Neal Veglio said: “It's very impressive to see a really forward thinking Travel Expert embracing the positive aspects of an otherwise negative situation.

Medical manufacturer moves to new Winnersh Triangle office

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk MEDICAL manufacturer Hollister UK — not to be confused with the US clothing company — is moving from its Wokingham offices to Winnersh Triangle.

The global healthcare company which is headquartered in Chicago, has sold its UK premises at 42 Broad Street in Wokingham, and moved its workforce after the fit-out is completed this month.

Hollister UK has taken 10,700 sq ft of space on the firstfloor wing at Building 1010 on a 10-year lease, in a deal brokered by property consultancy Vail Williams LLP on behalf of Frasers Property, owners of Winnersh Triangle.

With increased capacity, the move will support the company’s continued growth in developing, manufacturing,

and marketing healthcare products and services worldwide.

Tom Horkan, HR manager for North Europe, said: “We are delighted to be joining the vibrant business community at Winnersh Triangle.

The building has been refurbished to an excellent standard and we look forward to taking advantage of the various amenities on offer there, from the cafés and shops, to the onsite hotel and green space that surrounds it.

“We are also very excited about future plans to continue to develop the business park even further.”

Winnersh Triangle has 1.5 million sq ft of mixed-use office buildings used by more than 60 occupiers including Virgin Media, ScanSource and most recently, film and TV sound studio, Pip Studios.

Charlie Nicholson, the partner at Vail Williams who secured the deal, said: “It is great to see that, despite lockdown, there are still some fantastic deals to be done.

“Solicitors are still transacting, and leases are still being signed as Winnersh Triangle continues to attract high-quality occupiers, drawn both by its connectivity and second-to-none facilities.

“As more and more businesses seek a move out of London, business parks such as this will become the go-to location, offering not just a more cost-effective solution to London, but also a better quality of life too.”

Curve Workplaces is fitting out the new office, and staff have worked remotely with the company to guarantee that the design, development and landlord approval processes were completed during lockdown.

Mr Horkan added: “Curve have created a design that maximises the light and flow of the building and will create an engaging, collaborative and highly flexible workspace for our associates.

“Building 1010 will ensure that we have the grown-on space that we need as we continue to expand our business operations and we look forward to making the move once fitout is complete.”

“Marie has really raised the bar in content creation within the Travel Industry and I’m excited to hear more.”

Ms Rowe’s new series of Real Adventures can be found on the Marie Rowe Travel Show and is available to download from all major podcast platforms.

National Careers Service launches employment webinars A NEW range of webinars is being launched to help people whose careers have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Careers Service South East, which helps provide independent, impartial and professional advice on careers, skills, and the labour market, wants to help people with the online events and follows on from a similar scheme last month.

They are open to employers, furloughed workers, students and the recently unemployed.

The webinars are free to attend and run until the autumn. They offer a chance to access personalised career support and interact live with qualified careers advisers.

And the National Careers Service will also be providing Furlough Enrichment webinars to support individuals currently on furlough to make the most of career and learning opportunities available to them.

For further support, the National Careers Service is available for free, personalised and impartial careers advice for people who need help to find learning and work that’s right for them.

To contact the service call the helpline on 0800 100 900, open 7 days a week from 8am until 10pm, or visit: nationalcareers.service.gov.uk

The schedule Furlough Enrichment sessions on Wednesdays: July 29, August 5, 12, 19 and 26 Redundancy Support on Mondays: July 27, August 3, 10, 17, 24.

All sessions run from 10am to 11am To register, log on to cxk.org/events

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Signed: £3 million community centre to be built in Shinfield EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk SHINFIELD residents will soon see a £3 million investment in their neighbourhood, with a new community centre.

Last Thursday, the chair of Shinfield Parish Council signed the contract to build a large, modern centre, expanding from the current site.

With financial help from the University of Reading, the parish and borough councils bought the old British Legion next door.

This will now be demolished, with the new centre built over both sites.

Parish council chair, Andrew Grimes told Wokingham.Today: “The project is funded by Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money from developer contributions.

“This centre is the first payback residents have for all the development in Shinfield.”

The plan has been five years in the making, but should be completed by August next year.

The new centre will host

(From left) At the table: Mike Wilde, operations director at LifeBuild Solutions, Cllr Andrew Grimes, chair of Shinfield Parish Council both sign the contract. Behind: Tom Coward, director of AOC Architecture, Mike O'Hanlon, MEA project manager, Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure at WBC, Mark Redfearn, head of localities at WBC, Mike Balbini, Shinfield Parish clerk, and Dawn Peer, councillor for Spencers Wood South Picture: Jess Warren

multiple meeting halls and club rooms, as well as a library, cafe and a children's centre.

“It’s taken a long time, but we’re pleased to now be building this,” added Cllr Grimes.

“It’s good to drive money into the community facility, and it’ll be the best

utilisation of School Green.”

Tom Coward, director of AOC Architecture, who designed the new centre, said: “We have greatly enjoyed developing our competition-winning design with local residents, Shinfield Parish Council and Wokingham Borough Council to make a building

that is particular to their needs.

“The careful integration of essential services — library, childcare and health — into the community centre creates a building that is useful, valuable and joyful.”

Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure services at the

borough council, said: “The new community centre was conceived some five years ago and this is a historic moment, as the contract was signed to commence building in three weeks’ time.

“The project reflects the strong collaboration between Wokingham Borough Council and Shinfield Parish Council to provide an excellent community centre for the residents of Shinfield North and South to enjoy.”

And Mark Redfearn, head of localities for Wokingham Borough Council, added: “It is wonderful to be working so closely with Shinfield Parish Council to deliver this essential infrastructure for the new communities that we are creating.

“I’m certain this iconic new community centre will be used for a wide variety of activities and events by local residents for a long time to come.”

And on Monday, Shinfield Parish Council approved the replacement of the Spencers Wood Pavilion with a new £700,000 building for preschool, voluntary activities, clubs and societies.

Millgate donates £14,500 to help borough’s vulnerable A HOUSEBUILDER has donated £14,500 to support Berkshire’s most vulnerable during the ongoing pandemic.

Millgate, which is part of the Countryside Group, has donated £2,000 to the Trussell Trust foodbank in Bracknell and Wokingham and Readifood, in Reading – with contributions going toward providing emergency food and support to those in need.

The hosuebuilder also donated £2,000 to LaunchPad, a homelessness prevention charity and to Yeldall Manor, a residential rehabilitation centre for men with drug or alcohol addictions.

A £2,000 donation has also been made to The Almshouse Association, based in Wokingham.

Children’s charity, Daisy’s Dream, which responds to the needs of children and families affected by life threatening illness or bereavement, has received £2,500.

And £11,500 was split between national charities the Samaritans, Age Concern, RSPCA, Brainstrust and The Children’s Trust.

Paul Beaney, managing director at Millgate,said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted just how important our communities really are, and how central to them the services provided by our local charities and community groups are.

“The Communities Fund has enabled us to provide support to the charities across Berkshire whose work is making a huge difference in the lives of those most vulnerable and in need within the community.”

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WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

Council builds green GREEN FINGERS: Organisations team up to provide fresh produce for families routes for borough PLANS are being made to allow residents to safely walk from Arborfield Green to Cantley Park, thanks to a council-run Greenways Project.

The aim is to connect footways together and create new ones, so that residents can use traffic-free routes to get between major developments that have been created in recent years.

The first phase, California Way, is already in use and links Arborfield Green with the FBC Centre via California Country Park.

The second phase will link Arborfield Green to the new development at North Wokingham via Cole Lane, Coombes Lane, Foxhill, Woosehill and Cantley Park.

The first section creates a new greenway route through Cantley Park and Matthewsgreen, and links to Woosehill.

Although the route is largely fixed, Wokingham Borough Council is asking for comments to help shape final decisions on the route and detailed design.

Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure at WBC, said: “The greenways project is a great benefit to our residents.

“We will have a network crisscrossing the borough of walking and cycling paths to give our residents an alternative to their cars.

“Not only will this help cut down on congestion, but it will also improve our air quality and the health of our residents.”

He added: “The Covid-19 pandemic has really shown us how important our health and wellbeing is. The greenways network will be such an asset to our communities once it is built – we will all be able to commute to work or school, get to the shops, and go enjoy our beautiful countryside, all without the need to our cars.”

Funding for the schemes comes mostly from developers’ contributions, as part of the major new developments at Arborfield, Shinfield and North and South Wokingham.

Due to the Covid pandemic, no public information sessions are planned. Instead, the council is asking residents to submit any comments or suggestions regarding this section of the route by Monday, August 31. � For more details or to make a comment, log on to wokingham.gov.uk and click on consultations, call 0118 974 6000 or email greenways@wokingham.gov.uk

Covid-19 support Citizens Advice Anyone needing support should contact Citizens Advice on 0300 330 1189 (entering 0118 978 7258 if prompted) Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm.

Or visit citizensadvice wokingham.org.uk and complete the online form.

The Link Visiting Scheme To refer someone for support visit: www.linkvisiting.org or call 0118 979 8019 Monday to Friday, 9am until 5pm.

The Wokingham Foodbank Many groups can refer people to the Foodbank, including Citizens Advice.

For more details, visit: wokingham.foodbank.org.uk

The world is our orchard: Meet the volunteers growing for Wokingham EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokinghampaper.co.uk ON A mission to feed the borough, two organisations have teamed up to provide high-quality food to families.

Share Wokingham, which collects food from local supermarkets and wholesalers and redistributes it to the community, is collaborating with Freely Fruity, a charity which plants and grows fresh fruit and vegetables for local residents.

Working to feed the community Both organisations were founded during the pandemic when communities changed the way they eat and buy food.

And now they’re working together to give people nutritious meals and high-quality produce.

Share was born out of The Grub Club, a Norreys-based organisation that supports families who normally access free school meals over the holidays.

Co-ordinator Claire Revie said that it is now supplying weekly food parcels to families, and running a daily drop-in service for food collections.

Since March, they have distributed more than 1,500 food parcels to those in need.

She told Wokingham.Today: “Our volunteers go out each night to collect food from Waitrose, M&S, Morrisons and Lidl.”

They also receive catering-sized products from Brakes, based in Earley.

All the food collected would have gone to waste, but is still fresh and edible.

Some of it comes from supermarket stock rotation, others comes from accidental over-ordering or a gesture of goodwill.

“We send our food parcels to families who have fallen through the gap,” said Ms Revie.

“That includes families supported

by Kaleidoscopic UK, a local domestic abuse charity, and members of the Syrian Refugee Steering Group.”

Share also sends food to Whitley Community Development Association and Wycliffe Baptist Church in East Reading, who distribute it to their communities too.

And the scheme has also been a hit with the environmentally minded.

“We have a very wide demographic of people who visit Share, from those desperately in need to those who are passionate about zero waste,” said Ms Revie. “People think there isn’t a need for something like this in an affluent area like Wokingham, but there is. The number of people visiting us isn’t slowing down. And there are some people coming to us who might not have used food banks before. But here you don’t need a referral - there are no questions asked.”

Sustainable collaboration Now, Share is collaborating with Freely Fruity for a long-term,

(From left) Claire Revie, Gez de la Pascua and Zoe Maynard are hoping they can find a new premises for Share Wokingham

Matt Knight working in Freely Fruity’s newly-built allotment off Mill Lane, Sindlesham

(From left) Zoe Maynard, James Whittingham, Claire Revie, Matt Knight and Ryan Simpson hope their collaboration will act as a template for other charities and organisations to do the same for their communities across the UK

sustainable supply of fresh, organic fruit and vegetables all grown within the borough.

The Freely Fruity team, James Whittingham, Ryan Simpson and Matt Knight have been cultivating a bumper crop for the past few months.

They founded the charity on the idea that “the world is our orchard”, and that healthy, fresh food should be free to the community that grows it.

Now they have grown 600 tomato plants, 400 strawberry plants, 80 raspberry plants and hundreds of peppers, courgettes and other vegetables from their temporary allotment off Mill Lane, in Sindlesham.

Environmental food choices Mr Simpson said: “It’s fantastic that people can get fresh fruit and vegetables from these supermarket donations, but they should be able to grow their own and pick it in their communities.”

Instead, he is calling society to wake up to its environmentally-harmful food choices, and eat local, seasonal food.

“We’d like to get fruit tree planting schemes built into new developments,” he added. “And for people to be given the option when they buy a newbuild house to have the garden kitted out with planters, a green house and the equipment needed to grow their own.

“There’s no seasonality to anything we eat anymore. You can get exotic fruits flown over, all year round. But in the pandemic, we have seen people getting more involved with planting their own foods and we need to keep encouraging this.

“There’s a sense of achievement in growing your own strawberries or tomatoes. You learn a respect for food, and to stop wasting it.”

Inspiring national change Mr Simpson is keen to cut down on food waste from all areas.

“Giving food a sell-by date is giving it a death sentence,” he said. “We throw away 40 million pieces of bread each day as a country – and they’re almost all end pieces.

“It’s a mindset that needs changing.”

Ms Revie and Mr Simpson hope the collaboration between their two organisations can be a model for other people in the UK to cut down on food waste.

With Share interrupting the food cycle before it goes into the bin and Freely Fruity growing healthy, fresh, local food, the founders of both groups hope like-minded people will follow suit.

Mr Knight said: “We want to act as a template of what can be done. To be an example that can be replicated across the country.”

A place to stay The collaboration is facing an uncertain future. Share has been operating from Norreys Church, but as the congregation prepares to use the building again, a new premises is needed – and fast.

The team of volunteers recently received two fridges and two freezers to keep all the produce in. And the cupboard-friendly goods are stacked up to the ceiling.

Ms Revie said she is searching for suitable premises, not too far from their current location that will give the team enough space to organise and manage the donations as they arrive each day.

That way, they will be able to take on freshly picked fruit and vegetables from Freely Fruity as part of their walkin collections and weekly food parcels.

“Ideally, we’d love to stay located in Norreys so we are close to the people we currently help,” she said.

“A central location would be amazing.

“If we could have a building large enough to share with other groups with the same ethos it could become a little support hub of its own.” � For more information, to volunteer or suggest a new venue contact Claire Revie at cjmrevie@gmail.com � To get in touch with Freely Fruity, email: info@freelyfruity.org or search @FreelyFruityUK on Facebook.

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

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MOVING FORWARDS TOGETHER… As government advice evolves, it’s important we all continue to follow the guidance to help control the virus in our area. The government has announced that from 24 July, it will now be compulsory to wear a face covering when visiting shops and supermarkets and those who fail to comply with these new rules will face a fine of up to £100. All other guidance still also applies.

Wear a face covering in shops, supermarkets and on public transport

Social distancing of 2m where possible or 1m+ in areas where this is more difficult

Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water or use hand sanitiser if washing is unavailable

Be considerate of people who maybe be less comfortable with the changing of restrictions

If you have symptoms, self-isolate and apply for a test, as per the government and NHS guidelines

Keep in touch with neighbours, friends and family who may still need extra help or may be self-isolating

Please keep yourselves and others safe by continuing to follow the guidance and if you need more information visit our website www.wokingham.gov.uk, the central government website www.gov.uk or the NHS website www.nhs.uk We continue to work with the voluntary sector to provide a Covid-19 response service, including Citizens Advice, who are organising this helpline.

TO GET HELP YOU CAN: VISIT www.citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk EMAIL admin@citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk CALL 0300 330 1189

Make sure you stay up to date with the latest accurate information @wokinghamboroughcouncil @wokinghamBC www.wokingham.gov.uk

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THEWOKINGHAMPAPER NEWS WITH A HEART FOR THE BOROUGH

Working together?

FEW people can argue that we should do nothing about global warming.

This paper is proud to give space for the Plastic Free Home column, and we try and practise what we preach.

But it’s hard, and it’s particularly hard if plastic wrappers are not recyclable, or your food waste is not collected.

(Or your glass too, but that’s another story).

The re3 partnership has, over the past 16 years, expanded its services and its ability to recycle. It has worked across diverse setups (wheelie bins anyone?) and it has won awards for its work.

There can be little doubt that the recycling centres, in Reading and Bracknell, are slick operations. But there is more to be done.

It is a tragedy that neither Reading nor Bracknell can yet offer food waste collections.

And the overflowing glass and plastic recycling bins show there is additional demand.

Council leader John Halsall is right to call for a review of re3’s remit – if we are serious about being carbon neutral by 2030, we have to take serious actions now, not when the coronavirus has passed us by.

CHURCH NOTES

Everyone included

I

N the Parable of the Sower the seed sown on good soil flourishes whereas the seed which lands on the poor soil, thorny ground or rocky ground fails to grow, is choked by the weeds or is eaten by the birds.

On the face of it there isn’t much to say, it’s all pretty clear – good soil, good seed, good results. Poor soil, good seed, poor results. It’s about the soil.

Jesus patiently explains to the disciples that in the parable the soil represents us, and the seed is the word of God. But what type of soil are we and since soil cannot change itself, is there any hope for those of us who fall into the poor soil category?

If we are honest there are probably instances when we qualify as all of the kinds of soil mentioned. There will be times when we will step up to care for and help others.

But equally there will be times when like the disciples we profess to understand but fall hopelessly short.

We will experience times when the issues in our own lives will overtake us and “choke the word”. Coronavirus has certainly emphasised these issues, bringing out the best in a lot of people but also the worst in others.

Some have devoted themselves to helping those in greater need, while others have focused only on themselves.

But it’s not quite time to give up and go home. In the parable the sower knows what happens but still continues to sow on the poor soil.

We know that despite their shortcomings, even to the point of desertion, Jesus never gave up on his disciples and continued to teach, encourage and invest his mission on them.

Matthew’s Gospel may not fill us with too much hope in the disciple’s competence or understanding but Jesus makes the promise “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) If Jesus is prepared to invest in these unpromising individuals, then there is surely hope for all of us. Hope to keep going, hope to keep on trying even if we fail.

Jesus does not give up on us … and neither should we.

John Boylan is an authorised lay preacher at All Saints Church, Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham

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Your letters

Send your thoughts to letters@wokinghampaper.co.uk

WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020 We love to hear from you! Send us your views on issues relating to the borough (in 250 words or less) to The Wokingham Paper, Crown House, 231 Kings Road, Reading RG1 4LS or email: letters@wokinghampaper.co.uk We reserve the right to edit letters Views expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the paper

When will we finally learn the truth?

THE people who voted for Brexit quickly found that instead of voting for a better deal, their votes went instead to justify the Tories' preferred outcome of no deal: the worst of all possible outcomes for the country.

MPs in the party trying to prevent no deal had the whip withdrawn and their voices silenced. The result has been that anyone wanting to progress in the party now must be a diehard Brexiter: full speed ahead and damn the damage to the country.

Most insidious of all has been their manoeuvrings around the report into Russian interference in British political life. The government blocked the publication of this report before the last election, presumably because an informed electorate might make different decisions.

There was, however, a rare moment of hope recently. The publication of the report is controlled by parliament’s intelligence and security committee, where Downing Street had planned to install Chris Grayling as chair.

Chris Grayling is one of the most incompetent Tory ministers in a very competitive field, with a track record of wasting vast amounts of taxpayers' money. He has no background in security or indeed intelligence, but he is of course a staunch Brexiter — and that’s what matters most.

Fortunately, his nomination to chair the committee was thwarted by another Tory MP, Julian Lewis — so Downing Street has made an example of Lewis to any other MPs thinking of putting the country ahead of the party, by withdrawing the whip and so scuppering his chances of standing as a Tory MP in the next election.

It will be interesting to see how much longer the report remains hidden from the British public, and if we’re finally allowed to learn the truth.

Dr Peter Hornsby, Wokingham

Let’s get through the agenda IN MY opinion, Wokingham Borough Council as a democratic organisation is a failure but it’s you the residents who pay the very high price that comes with their plans to stifle democracy.

The majority of council meetings fail to deal with the business in hand. The question is why?

The answer is simple: the Conservative-controlled administration manage the agenda business, so by the use of political interference they can ensure any embarrassing opposition is negated and stifled.

As I saw it also they used the pandemic to force changes on members and residents by concentrating some decision making to a core group designed to get their ideologically-driven policies past the post while confining opposition .

The outcome of this blatant political gerrymandering of the business also means many residents issues raised ends up in the long grass.

To try and change this I submitted

Yet another cock-up I have tried hard, I really have, to find something kind to say about the inmates of Shute end Towers – and believe it or not, very occasionally, I have been able to do just that.

However, yet again following on from a behind schedule, over budget programme of regeneration, leading in reality to the town's degeneration, its inability to manage or control the borough’s spiralling debt and various other municipal cock-ups, the council’s latest Denmark Street closure ‘experiment’ (Wokingham.Today, July 16) has was obvious from the very outset been doomed to failure.

Do Wokingham Borough Council have

some kind of daft ideas think tank tucked away in a darkened room deep in the bowels of the Civic Offices?

And who on earth comes up with some of its flight of fancy pronouncements?

A recent petition organised to support the

a motion to tonight’s council meeting, asking that extra meetings are set up to get the backlog sorted out. The chances of even debating my motion – number seven – is zero as it’s the last item of business on an agenda with 164 pages.

Any motions not debated are just dumped in the long grass where all the other residents good intentions usually end up.

The Conservative leader of Wokingham Borough Council is of the opinion that to complete the business at hand then meetings would have to go on until 2am or 3 am in the following morning or even until 6am the next day.

He is right of course but what a deliberately narrow-minded opinion when the simple solution is obvious: that is to hold more meetings while reviewing how business is conducted.

This simple solution would allow time to re-examine the current working system with a view to find a better way to conduct business that would fully represent all members and their residents.

Why does he not see the simple solution or has he got another (anti-opposition/anti-residents) agenda I wonder?

As long as the Conservatives run Wokingham Borough Council residents can kiss democracy goodbye as Conservative-driven ideology and democracy is not in their DNA. I hope residents remember this next May when they will have an opportunity to express themselves when local elections are held.

Cllr Gary Cowan, independent councillor for Arborfield at Wokingham Borough Council

Let them eat cake TWO of us were having coffee at The Blue Orchid on Tuesday and were joined by a couple of friends.

We had a chat with Luke, who's

Denmark Street plan attracted just 207 signatures – just 0.19% of a population of some 170,000.

A result Wokingham Borough Council will no doubt claim as evidence of overwhelming support and

running the cafe, and he generously proposed giving us 30 pieces of cake for distribution locally as we're linked to a charity, The Mothers' Union.

So Liz and I spent a busy couple of hours on Thursday distributing cake to people who'd been isolating during lockdown and brought smiles to lots of faces.

Many thanks to Luke and his staff for spreading the love around our town.

Jean Vaughan, Wokingham

The good, the bad, and other odds I HEAR something good, even from this government for which I sadly have no respect. It concerns apprenticeships being made available to 50% of youngsters – at last the realisation of such an education which if applied correctly can lead to trainees having real life experience of a skill or skills; a practical knowledge of working, using materials, producing goods; applying their understanding of design, product quality and making life easier for product users or installers, et al.

Sounds a lot, but if I tell you that last Monday I had to install a power shower, only to find the most difficult part being the fault of the designer in not knowing how to install a shower. Enough said.

However, I wonder if this government has any idea where to find companies who can or do train apprentices, as the best period, due to the presence in the country of a huge manufacturing base, rather ended when we sold much of that to foreigners.

Digressing to another farce presented by the home secretary – who on earth would ever refuse to allow low paid workers to come to our aid and work in care homes?

Does she actually know the tremendous help such people provide to the country? If she had said, you are

proof that the town had indeed, as claimed, become thanks to its efforts, a vibrant, nay, buzzing continental style shoppers paradise.

Pull the other one!

J W Blaney, Wokingham

welcome, and we will make sure you are paid at least the minimum wage, I would have cheered.

From that I shift to the continuing saga of furloughing. Boris wants to get the country working, but too many people and companies are enjoying our chancellor’s financial aid for not working. I can tell you from experience, when I needed some new industrial style gloves, and new knee pads, I called on Screwfix locally. To be told ‘sorry mate, you needed to order yesterday via the internet to be able to pick up today.’

A similar situation applies to many companies who are supposed to supply trades people with a wide range of products – I heard today from a friend that he knows tradesmen who have been unable to work because they cannot get the bits and pieces they need.

So Boris, wake up to the abysmal state of this country, before more of it dies – it is never going to work if companies do not have enough employees to return to their roles as suppliers to the workforce.

Reg Cliﬞon, Wokingham

In memory of my Nana UNDER normal circumstances, many thousands of people would have by now signed up to take part in an Alzheimer’s Society Memory Walk.

These hugely popular events bring people together in a variety of stunning locations to unite against dementia, whilst raising vital funds to support those affected by the condition.

It would have been my 10th year attending such an event. While it saddens me that we can’t all get together this year, I’m determined with my family to walk my own way in memory of my Nana.

People with dementia have been the

worst hit by the current crisis and need us more than ever – across the UK a quarter of those who have died of coronavirus had dementia.

Wherever you are, we can all still help make a difference and I encourage you to sign up either with your household – pets included – friends, or another household in line with current government guidelines. Create your own route, from lapping your garden or local park to revisiting somewhere special.

This year’s Santander-sponsored Memory Walk is free to register.

Walks can be organised anytime between now and October – or you might choose to do it on 20 September to mark World Alzheimer’s Day. Sign up now at memorywalk.org.uk and with every step, you’ll help change the lives of people affected by dementia.

Vicky McClure, Alzheimer’s Society ambassador

an improvement it's the end of a disruption.

What actually makes me angry its that they had months to plan and 10 months to execute improvements to Nine Mile Ride which would have increased safety to pedestrians and reduced noise and danger to all local residents.

Even if the only thing they did was to move the ineffective pink stripe from the middle of the road and placed it alongside the single pavement it would have been worthwhile (This was suggested).

But they have done absolutely nothing.

Let us not forget that it was Cllr Richards who said that there was no need for a cycle path or lane along Nine Mile Ride.

Lloyd Watkins, Finchampstead

Nothing to celebrate

WE’RE so fortunate to have excellent independent eateries in Wokingham.

Shout out to Joy, Toto, Blue Orchid, Piccolo Arco, Sanpa, Pan and the rest Timothy Ryan Sco‫מּ‬, Wokingham

WBC HAVE nothing to congratulate themselves over.

The reopening of a road is not

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Shout out to the independents

pruebray From the chamber

Take your litter home

The Lib Dem vision for Children’s Services

I WHILE walking around the Woosehill recreational field with two dogs and a buggy I sadly came across a carrier bag of litter.

It looks like the result of a picnic.

There were several going on over

the weekend.

Why go to the bother of bagging the rubbish and tossing it into the bushes when there is a litter bin 20 meters away. Or why not just take it home.

A Harvey, Wokingham

tonyjohnson That was the week

Who needs Enemas?

I

NTERNATIONALLY, it was a week when China entered into UK politics after Huawei got kicked off the approved vendor list for Telecoms networks.

Nationally, it was a week when Julian Lewis MP was thrown out of the Tory party, after he’d been elected to chair parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee and when Matt the Hapless learned that England’s Coronavirus numbers were wrong.

Locally, it was a week in which a number of apparently disconnected little things added up to one rather bigger thing.

Safety in numbers As Mr Hancock-up has discovered, Covid-19 death statistics in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland record those who’d died within 28 days of testing positive while those in England include people who’d tested positive at any time.

With the UK being second only to Belgium in Covid-19 deaths per million, he might be looking forward to reducing the UK’s count from its current 45,000 level.

However massaging the numbers won’t explain why 2020’s excess deaths are between 59,000 and 64,000.

But Hancock is an honourable man, as are they all: Right; Honourable; men.

Wakey-wakey, rise and shine You know things are getting back to normal when a borough contractor trots out coronavirus as their excuse.

Emmbrook and Winnersh residents will be under-joyed by Balfour Beatty’s announcement of extended hours, 6.30am until 7pm, for the Winnersh Relief Road Phase 2 and the NWDR

Two key points were: � Too many expensive out-of-area school placements for children with special educational needs and disabilities � Poor mental health services for young people, with long waiting times for assessment and lack of help for young people in crisis.

What did we propose to do about them? � Build our own SEND school for children on the autistic spectrum, using council-owned land to reduce the building cost, working with neighbouring authorities who are in the same position; � Work with Public Health to provide more training on how to identify and support young people who are struggling with ASD, anxiety, depression, stress, ADHD, eating disorders, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

We saw the benefits of this approach being improved control over costs and better quality of service for the children.

So this week the Lib Dems are delighted by the announcement of a new SEND school in Winnersh, the product of joint working with Reading Borough Council.

This school is due to open in 2022, and is for 150 pupils with a Social, Emotional and Mental Health and/or an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.

It will be run by Maiden Erlegh Academy Trust.

This is exactly what we were advocating.

Pandemic

Security, what security?

The Government decided to remove Huawei from its list of permitted suppliers, only to wake up and discover that there’s no UK alternative and that the Chinese government were ‘somewhat disappointed’.

The consequences of compromised communications range from scary to complete wipeout while the lack of a UK alternative is down to generations of governments and bankers and the consequential decline in manufacturing enterprise. Oops.

N our 2019 local election manifesto the Lib Dem opposition on Wokingham Borough Council looked at what we thought were the key issues for Children’s Services.

(North Wokingham Distributor Road) roundabout on the Reading Road.

As work on WRR2 is between three and five years late in starting, you might wonder what’s the hurry?

Are WBC Highways trying to recover their reputation before the May 2021 elections?

Or are the Tories trying to give two rebel provinces a hard time?

Perhaps Wokingham borough’s bidding to become even more ‘developer-friendly’?

Building up reserves On local radio last week Cllr John Kaiser, WBC’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Finance, said that the Borough Council had been building up reserves.

Fact-checking showed that this was at odds with previous council leaders’ and the Chief fianncial officers’ pronouncements.

The General Fund Balance in successive years from 2015 was £11.1 million, £10.4 million, £10 million, £9.1 million, then £8.8 million in 2019 and projected as £8.5 million in 2020.

So it’s a downwards sort of building-up.

Unless promised Government bail-out funds arrive as promised, then 2020’s number will look more like ‘worst ever’ than ‘building-up’.

Northamptonshire anyone?

The Omnishambles Not so much ‘Malcolm the Silent’ as ‘Malcolm the Silenced’ because Wokingham’s IT (henceforth WIT), appeared as much responsible as the leader was for the

catastrophically badly- run Full Council meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Fortunately Keith Baker (deputy mayor) wasn’t among the WIT-less and, using his own kit, was able to step in and run the show well until the Shute Endians could start WITtering on again.

A review of the video gave WITness to this not being the only problem - as the way questions, motions, even the shonky ‘hands up’ voting system showed.

Although a ‘light bulb moment’ had come a couple of days before this review, it was reinforced some 2 hours, 29 minutes and 5 seconds into the meeting when WBC Leader Cllr John Halsall said “One of the victims was a very popular Holt schoolteacher, James Furlough”.

For the record, this gentle man’s name was James Furlong.

Requiescat in Pace.

Looking ahead, I’d like to wish every success to those at WIT’s End for tonight’s omnishambles.

Sorry, Full Council.

Barbecue of the Vanities The Woke-splaining started back in May 2016 when a letter from WBC Licensing told the owner of the BBQ King van that his license wasn’t being renewed because “the lay-by you occupy will be classified as a proper bus stop”.

Which was rather odd as the hardstanding WBC provided for the van lay under the trees, set well back from the road, not in a lay-by at all. caveat.lector@icloud.com

The other key issue is still outstanding.

Dealing with children’s mental health, including the impact of domestic abuse, is even more important now, due to the covid-19 pandemic.

We suggested additional funds for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which was rejected in 2019 – but we noticed extra money did go in to the budget for this year.

We have recently set up our own internal working group to look at what has happened with regard to domestic abuse and to come up with new ideas for how to tackle it.

Things are going to get more difficult.

Schools’ and the council’s budgets are under pressure.

There is still work to do.

The Lib Dems are pleased to have contributed to the council making progress on Children’s Services and intend to continue pushing the department in the right direction.

In the meantime, we would like to thank all the staff at the council and in the schools in the Borough, who have worked so hard during the pandemic to look after vulnerable children, and to provide education for them remotely or at school in very difficult circumstances.

Cllr Prue Bray is the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for children’s service on Wokingham Borough Council EDITOR’S NOTE: This is our new series of columns. On alternate weeks, we will have a view from a Conservative or Lib Dem councillor and there will be a monthly column from Labour; Independents will also be invited to contribute

16 | NEWS

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WHAT’S BREWING

WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

If you’re fed up o jim jams all day, A

IN FINCHAMPSTEAD?

By TAZ USHER tusher@wokinghampaper.co.uk “IF YOU want to try something new, go for it and embrace your decision.”

Remember to look up at the stars and now down at your feet.

Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.

And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.

It matters that you don’t just give up.

That quote from Stephen Hawking is one that resonates with us here at Siren.

Especially in these days of the new normal, and the importance of keeping on.

We’re not just big beer fans, we’re also fans of space exploration, astronomy and stargazing.

Those of you who have already tried our newest flagship beer – 4.2% Session IPA, Lumina – will have noticed the celestial themes in the can designs.

This sense of energy and continually exploring, that curiosity to endeavour into new techniques and new adventures is exciting.

With that in mind, we couldn’t just launch a new beer during a pandemic and leave it at that, we wanted to pair it with something not seen before in the world of brewing.

We often pair beers with food, or other drinks… we’re pairing our beer with the entirety of the observable universe.

On Friday, July 31, we’re hosting a Stargazing night, with the help and guidance of Dr Becky Smethurst, (MPhys Physics and Astronomy, 2012, Durham & DPhil Astrophysics, 2017, Oxon).

Dr Becky will be giving some incredible tips and advice for getting the most from your stargazing experience.

We’ll also have a photography competition and other fun stuff for the entire family to be a part of.

To join in, you’ll need to buy our Universal Bundle – a mixed case worth over £50 (not including the incredible value of the Dr Becky’s input) for just £35.

The bundle includes: 10 beers, a Lumina-etched glass, a Lumina themed ‘planisphere’ for tracking the stars, Lumina beer mats and stickers, a Lumina Star Chart Art Print, a Lumina booklet, three tins of Bier Nuts, A Hüüg bar, marshmallows for toasting and even a pack of Space Raiders!

To join in and pre-order your Universal Bundle, head to the link below: sirencraftbrew.com/universalbundle

SIREN CRAFT BREW 18 Marino Way, Hogwood Lane Industrial Estate, Finchampstead RG40 4RF

0118 973 0929 sirencraftbrew.com

Volunteer Suzy Turner delivering shopping to Pamela Barnard, 77

It takes a village to help each other in a pandemic

By SUE CORCORAN news@wokinghampaper.co.uk HURST’S band of more than 60 volunteers have performed hundreds of acts of kindness to help fellow villagers through the Covid-19 period.

Grateful residents, marooned at home shielding or self-isolating, have spoken of the amazing help they’ve had with shopping, collecting medicines and Post Office trips.

One of them, Pamela Barnard, 77, described the “horrendous situation” she and her late husband, Eldred, 80, found themselves in as the epidemic started.

While being treated for a broken leg, Eldred discovered he had cancer.

Pamela, a retired teacher who helps at St Nicholas School, devoted herself to looking after her husband.

Early on, neighbour Suzy Turner had delivered notes in her area offering help to those affected by the epidemic.

Fortunately, Pamela and Eldred did not have Covid-19, but the virus situation meant some support was not possible, said Pamela. So she turned to Suzy for help to pick up medication and groceries.

“Suzy and her husband James have been amazing, they should have sainthoods. I’d never met them before. It was just knowing Suzy was there across the road,” said Pamela, who has also been helped

by Louise Kendall and Liz Chaderton.

Very sadly, Eldred died just six weeks after hearing he had cancer.

Suzy also became one of the 60-plus who answered Hurst Parish Council’s call for volunteers to help during the epidemic.

The list of names, with telephone numbers, went to every Hurst home.

Suzy said: “For all of us I think going into lockdown was quite a frightening, unknown time.

“We needed to do something positive. Being part of the group means we can contribute and know that no one need flounder on their own.”

Chris Bovis, 70, has been helped by volunteer Becky Vaughan: “I haven’t had to use the volunteers very often but when I have needed to Becky has been there for me.”

Becky said: “Volunteers also took round frozen meals from Cook, chocolates from Chocoholics of Hurst and also Easter eggs.

“Some vulnerable themselves help with friendly phone calls.

“Quite a few people here live on their own.

“Some have families with their own caring responsibilities or who live far away.”

Hurst Parish Council chair Wayne Smith praised the volunteers’ “amazing response and marvellous help”.

He, a number of villagers and council clerk Maria Bradshaw founded the group. He said the Hurst Residents Coronavirus Action Group Facebook page started by Paul Palmer was now a valued community hub.

Pyjama days have became the norm during lockdown for many of us, as working from home and staying inside became a new way of life. But is there anything we can learn from our changing fashion habits?

Wokingham fashion expert Aparna Jain believes in dressing right to feel right and explains how adapting our wardrobes could give us the boost we need.

The owner of fashion business YunikuLondon, on Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead, has spent lockdown examining the ways clothes affect our mood and has reached a conclusion based on experiences of her own.

She said: “At the start of lockdown I would spend days in my pyjamas or hoodie lounged on the sofa not wanting to do anything.

“I made little effort with my clothes and wasn’t presentable and it really rubbed off on my mood.

“One day I decided to try something different, so I got up early, had a shower and put on a nice dress, lipstick and earrings.

“The result was amazing, I immediately felt motivated and in the right mode for working.

“As my sons were being homeschooled I then got them to do the same and it had a ripple effect on their attitudes.”

Ms Jain, who opened her Wokingham studio in August 2018, has been sharing her fashion wisdom with clients via Zoom sessions where she helps women adapt their wardrobes to suit their work and lifestyle needs.

She added: “As I had to close the studio due to the virus, I have been video calling my clients and giving them virtual shopping experiences.

“Some women come to me with a clear idea of what they want, and others want a fresh start and need my help with where to begin.

Wokingham fashion expert Aparna Jain believ to help residents discover the colours and styl

“We either focus on maximising their current wardrobes or pick them some new outfits to try.

“I have done contactless deliveries to clients as well as collection following a 72-hour quarantine of the clothes.”

The fashion expert also explained how the Zoom sessions have benefitted the women’s wellbeing, by helping them stay connected with people outside of their households.

Aparna said: “Lockdown has been a tough time for everyone and I could

Shirley’s masks are EVERYONE likes a bargain, so how about this one in time for Friday’s new law on wearing a face mask when in shops… You can buy one and get an astonishing five free.

The catch? Well, you won’t be wearing the five freebies.

And it’s not really a catch, as they’ll be going to help some of the world’s poorest people stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Wokingham-based Shirley Smith has been busy creating the face masks along with a team of volunteers.

They’re being sold for a fiver, plus a quid for post and packaging.

Funds from the sales go towards SEED Madagascar, a UK-based humanitarian and environmental charity working on the island of Madagascar. The charity commissions five masks to be made by the community. For £1, they can cover the cost of materials, labour at two-and-a-

half times the minimum wage and the distribution of a single mask.

They’re keen to help as almost four in five people earn less than £1.51 a day.

The island has few health services and mortality rates are among the worst in the world. The country’s communication systems that could spread vital health messages are poor.

And the virus is projected to take a terrible toll, not only in terms of human life but also in terms of levels of poverty.

Face masks on the island are therefore vitally important to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Enter Shirley’s project. She first visited Madagascar in 2006, returning regularly to support numerous projects as well as carrying out research there for her doctorate at the University of Reading.

Mark Jacobs, SEED Madagascar

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

of wearing your Aparna can help

ves in dressing right to feel right and is ready yles that suit them

see that it was affecting my clients’ mental health.

“As well as talking about their clothes, we used the video calls to share tips and stories from lockdown which helped keep both mine and their spirits high.

“The challenges of working from home usually came up in conversation and we began to list ways we could make ourselves stand out in video conferences and interviews.

“It’s always a good idea to wear a colourful top or dress in calls like these

and to try and put some make up and jewellery on to show you have made an effort.

“I also find wearing a bold necklace or long earrings helps you stand out as it shows your personality and can boost your confidence.”

The clothing expert also explained how lockdown may have a positive impact on people’s styles in months to come.

She added: “Lots of people have used this time at home to try new styles, make up and hair cuts which they wouldn’t have attempted in normal life.

“Coming out of lockdown I think people will have more confidence to wear new colours and have fun with their look as this period has taught us that life is too short to be boring.

“You shouldn’t spend your life worrying what others will think of you.

If you want to try something new, go for it and embrace your decision.

“This is something I tell a lot of my clients when they come to me saying they won’t wear a certain piece of clothing because it doesn’t suit them or their conscious of their legs or waist.

“It doesn’t matter what size or shape you are, the sooner you realise you’re beautiful, the sooner you will feel happy in your own skin.”

YunikuLondon features a range of women’s clothing and accessories including scarfs and handbags.

Aparna is now also selling 100% cotton face coverings which are reusable, reversible and washable and can be bought as a pack of two or four.

And she is now welcoming customers back to her studio by appointment only.

A maximum of two customers can attend at a time and safety precautions including hand sanitiser and gloves can be expected during your visit.

For more information or to book a consultation visit www.facebook.com/ yunikulondon or contact Aparna at yunikulondon@gmail.com or on 07903267135.

a real lifesaver

Some of the masks (left) ready to be distributed across Madagascar.

Recipients include children (above)

Director, is grateful for Shirley’s help.

“Helping communities halt the spread of coronavirus is vital,” he said.

“We’ve commissioned more than 7,000 masks so far and we’re doing all we can to protect the most vulnerable, but we need more

support to build our response.

“It is terrifying to think about what this pandemic will do in Madagascar.”

To find out more, to volunteer or to buy a face mask, log on to www.madagascar.co.uk/maskexchange

NEWS | 17

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Tik Tok! Pensioners join in the latest video craze

angelagarwood Honest motherhood

The Colourful Kind

A

By JOHN WAKEFIELD news@wokinghampaper.co.uk IT’S THE social media craze that sees teenagers creating short, fun videos to share.

But we doubt its creators ever imagined some of our older residents getting on board.

Residents of Sunrise of Sonning joined in the recent #CelebrateCareHomes campaign by making some special TikTok videos.

The event looks to celebrate staff members for their work in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic and residents at the Old Bath Road home were more than happy to help out.

Eleanor Smith, who is a spritely 91, said: “I used to live alone in Surrey after my husband died 12 years ago. I was far away from my children and other family.

“I thought I was being independent but was having falls and accidents, I didn’t eat well enough and ended up at hospital a few times.

“I came to this care home straight from hospital and I wasn’t very well at all.

“As soon as I moved in, I realised how lonely I have been living alone. I have been neglecting myself.”

She continues: “Since being in a care home, I recovered incredibly well, started walking independently

and regained my strength. All of my friends and family say I am like a brand-new person.

“There are lots of activities to join in, if I want to, but I also have all of my independence and privacy.

I would not want to live anywhere else. I believe it is important to #CelebrateCareHomes because most of them do a brilliant job.”

She added: “Government did not provide the support that was necessary, and they had to fend off for themselves. We need to recognise care home staff more and appreciate them.”

This view is echoed by Pippa Boyd, daughter of one of the home’s residents.

“Care home staff are unfailingly polite and cheerful and always have time for a smile and a chat,” she says.

“They take the time to know their residents and to adjust their responses accordingly. Events are numerous and well run and the team works as a family, putting residents needs at the forefront.

They are genuinely fond of residents and it shows.

“We all need to get together to celebrate care homes and applaud them for their outstanding contribution to society.”

For more information on the #CelebrateCareHomes campaign, visit https://www.sunrise-care.co.uk/ celebrate-care-homes

Save this sinner Oh, dear Lord, in your mercy save me From the lure of a Bassett’s Jelly Baby Let me shun all supermarket deals On chocolate, sweets and Wagon Wheels Please put my taste buds in denial Lead me steadfast to the aisle Where lettuce green and radish red Will satisfy my needs instead And, dear Lord, if it please your eyes Let me reduce my thunder-thighs Please curb my thirst when on a bender And let my waist again be slender And while you have it in your power Please do not let me devour Cake and biscuits, pizza, pies And in your wisdom please devise A single plan, a fool proof scheme To give me a body sleek and lean

So hear my prayer and let me cease Before I’m clinically obese From all temptation save this sinner McDonald fries and a chip-shop dinner Just let me binge on leafy greens And curly kale and runner beans And, dear Lord, let me aspire To evade the gluttony and desire For puddings lashed with dairy cream And let me focus on my dream Don’t see my hopes again be shelved Let me fit my jeans, a perfect twelve Jean Hill � Have you written any lockdowninspired verse? We’d love to be able to share them with our readers, email news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

CCORDING to my Bounty app we have approximately 21 days till the baby arrives.

And so naturally, given I could go into labour any day now, I have taken to painting feature walls in my offsprings’ bedrooms.

Maia’s wall, which she and I designed together, is complete with a rainbow, shooting star, unicorn horn and other age-appropriate images. (Plus a load of nondescript abstract swishes and doodles I added on a playful artistic whim.)

And, of course, her name slap bang in the centre of it all.

I really threw caution to the wind when it came to the colour palette.

Meaning, there isn’t one.

I waddled into Homebase and, after a moment of hesitation with a rather beautiful animal wallpaper, I began picking up every £1 tester pot that caught my eye. (I had to call my partner and check the sophisticated wallpaper wasn’t a better option, he confirmed it was indeed a faff, and that I’d enjoy painting).

For someone who can often be indecisive in other retail environments, I was pleasantly surprised and rather proud of my absolute colourrelated decisiveness that afternoon.

Choosing colours turned out to be a rather enjoyable mission, I felt like a child at a Pic N Mix station. (Or just myself at a Pic N Mix station). £46 later, I waddled out, excited for my creative endeavours, with a trolley full of pots of joy and some new brushes.

And yes, the painting is the joy I hoped it’d be.

In parts. I do get tired quickly.

Podcasts are put on (specifically How to Fail with Elizabeth Day) and in moments where I need a boost of energy, I down some orange juice and play the Songs to Sing in the Car playlist on Spotify.

Other times, or if I become at all achy, I sit in my nursing chair, scroll through Instagram and eat biscuits for a short while. I’m soon revived enough to press on.

Michelangelo Friends have commented on how late in the pregnancy I have decided to do this.

“Should you be doing that?”, “Is that safe?”

It wasn’t really an active decision, more a compulsion. Like the urge to “nest”. I suppose nesting takes on many forms. Some, no doubt most women, like to clean or arrange their towel drawers. I prefer to paint.

In terms of safety, no it’s not ideal, but I’m not launching up any step ladders, more just trying not to break my six year old’s plastic bathroom stool with the extra weight I’m carrying.

My sudden desire to Michelangelo their rooms hasn’t come out of nowhere. I began discussing the idea of splashing a rainbow of colour onto the walls at the start of lockdown.

My partner bravely entrusted me to go wild on our landing. But the weeks went by, the homeware stores were closed and it never manifested.

Which is probably a good thing because our landing is a smidgen longer than a feature wall and I’d have needed more than £30 worth of tester pots.

Either way, I’ve got my rainbow now. Two remarkably imperfect, yet glorious children’s feature walls. If you squint, I am convinced they look a bit naff, but friends have assured me this is all in my head and they look awesome.

Most importantly, Maia is very happy with her mother’s artistic outburst. So much so she has begun asking if she could do her own thing on a downstairs wall.

I politely declined her offer. � I’ll be taking a short break from column-writing for the summer, as I attempt to parent two tiny humans.

But I am hoping to return in October for more tales of sometimes far-too-honest motherhood. Till then, follow my Honest Updates on my blog The Colourful Kind or on Instagram @colourfulkind

18 | SOCIETY

helenabadger volunteer corner

Help those in need

To advertise email advertising@wokinghampaper.co.uk employment through the supervised provision of services and facilities not otherwise provided by the Employment Service.

The charity is looking for a two new Trustees to assist with management oversight.

One will ideally have some marketing/ publicity skills to employ in support the promotion of the services offered and one will ideally have IT skills and some operational skills to support of the day-to-day running of the office.

Time requirements are variable with around four Trustee meetings a year, one AGM and some ad hoc meetings plus some practical advice and guidance as and when required.

WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

INTHECOMMUNITY

News from your community groups, clubs and societies Send your reports to news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

� Age UK Berkshire offers a Home From Hospital

T

HE Cowshed is a charity that provides support to people of all backgrounds in a time of personal crisis.

The aim of The Cowshed is to provide good quality cleaned and ironed clothes and other essentials free to anyone in need.

We have recently opened a new distribution centre in Winnersh and are looking for more volunteers.

We are currently looking for a couple of volunteers on Fridays to help sort and wash/iron donations from 10am-1pm and 1pm-4pm. � Wokingham Job Support Centre is a local

charity established around 28 years ago as there is no government Job Centre in the Borough.

The charity operates from an office in the centre of Wokingham town and is open five days per week.

It aims to assist both those looking for a better job and also unemployed residents of Wokingham and Bracknell Forest areas to gain

service free of charge to older people who are resident in the Wokingham Borough Council area.

The service is for people who are being discharged from hospital and live alone, to help them through the first couple of weeks and make sure they have what they need to regain their confidence, settle into a routine, and re-adjust to living back at home.

Its volunteer home visitors provide a few hours of social and practical support just after someone has left hospital.

The volunteer coordinator makes an initial assessment before your visit, and will tell you what the client needs.

It could be as simple as a cup of tea and a chat, doing a bit of light shopping, accompanying someone to a GP or outpatient appointment, or picking up a prescription. � These are just some of the latest opportunities on our books. Contact us: 0118 977 0749, email volunteer@wok-vol.org.uk or visit www. volunteerwokinghamborough.org.uk to find out more and see all the roles we have to offer.

Teachers from Farley Hill Primary School collect their seed pots from a Woodbury House team member; Below: A resident helps plant seeds

Seeds of hope: care home gives away wildflower gift LAST MONTH, residents of a Farley Hill care home gifted wildflower seeds to those who have supported them throughout the pandemic.

To mark national care home day on Friday, June 26, residents prepared the seed packets to be picked up outside the homes — available for everyone in their local communities as a symbol of appreciation and hope for the future.

Woodbury House joined brighterkind’s homes across the UK to give out more than 54,000 wildflowers that day.

Sally Harrison-Exton, group head of product development at Four Seasons Health Care Group, said: “It’s fair to say the last few months have been

Twyford and Ruscombe Horticultural Association AS our usual Spring and Summer shows have had to be cancelled this year the TRHA are currently running a Virtual Summer Show.

You can access it on our website trha.org.uk and go to Events/Shows. The entries have been posted and our members are currently voting.

We usually have professional

pretty difficult for everyone in the UK. “We wanted to bring a bit of joy to the communities that have supported us through these unprecedented times; adding some light into what has judges at our shows but, because all the entries had to be photographed, the competition isn't quite the same and we thought it would be more fun for the members to judge.

The show was devised by our Membership Secretary, Jenny Wager.

Our store selling horticultural goods is open to members on Sunday mornings.

We are, of course, practising social distancing and it is doing a tremendous trade, which is encouraging. We are still

Woodley and Earley Arts group WE are very much looking forward to an online painting demonstration, running from 7pm to 9pm on Thursday, July 30.

Our tutor is professional artist Catherine Beale. She specialises in contemporary watercolours and has exhibited with the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour.

She says: “I look forward to introducing you to my impressionistic watercolours as, step-by-step, I create a quiet scene from my favourite stretch

been quite a dark few months for everyone, by bringing a pot of sunshine into the homes of our friends and neighbours who have shown care and encouragement.

“It is extremely important now more than ever to keep our residents’ spirits high and for them to continue engaging with the team, their fellow residents and where we can their local community – this lovely initiative has helped do just that.

“We hope that next year we’ll be with our friends and neighbours from the care homes local areas, to celebrate our care home open day together and continue to build the community that has supported us so wonderfully.” accepting membership and anybody in Twyford, or its environs, may join bysending an email to: TRHAmembership@gmail.com.

All of our other activities have had to be curtailed this year but we are still publishing our monthly newsletter which is emailed to members.

We hope to commence distributing paper copies of the newsletter to those members who can't otherwise access it, in September.

Diane Thirtle

of canal towpath in Bath.

“Watch the way pooling paints behave as I use lots of water and fewer brushstrokes to merge bright pigments and create loose, ‘gravity-painted’ watercolours on a near-vertical easel.”

Catherine will be demonstrating via YouTube. On the night visit: youtu.be/ R574s0LmCp8 which will take you into the live demonstration.

Catherine’s website is: www.catherinebeale.com

COATS TREVOR JONES was looking forward to jumping from a plane 13,000ft over Oxfordshire in May only to have his tandem skydive postponed due to the Covid19 pandemic.

He was pleased to hear that the jump has now been rescheduled for next month Trevor moved to the Crowthorne area in late 2019 and soon made his way to the COATS Centre where he quickly made new friends.

Originally from the North East, Trevor served five years as an infantryman in the Green Howards before setting up a successful printing business. He retired to the sunshine of Cyprus 20 years ago and arrived in Crowthorne last year to be near his daughter.

Trevor said: “I am keen to

make a contribution to my new community and so have decided, at the age of 84, to do a tandem skydive to raise money for COATS. Please support me in my adventure and COATS in their great work with a donation no matter how small.”

The Skydive will take place on Sunday, August 16,

at Chiltern Park Airfield in Ipsden, Oxfordshire. Trevor will be jumping out of the plane at 13,000ft over the Oxfordshire countryside.

The aim of the COATS charity is to improve the well-being of older people who live in or near Crowthorne.

In normal times, the

Easthampstead Rotary WITH a 25-year career in the Arts, Craig Titley came to South Hill Park nine years ago, and was announced as chief executive last year.

Craig joined 25 Easthampstead Rotarians via Zoom last week, and spoke eloquently about the devastating effect the Covid19 shutdown has had on the centre.

South Hill Park is the creative heart of Berkshire, hosting more than 300 shows, films and events a year, as well as holding over 250 courses and workshops.

Sir Kenneth Branagh, who is a patron of the centre, said: “South Hill Park has been at the heart of the community in Bracknell for almost 50 years.

“Each year over 200,000 people enjoy all that this Art Centre has to offer, but that could all disappear.

“For so many reasons it’s vital that we do everything we can to protect the arts in our community and

Craig Titley and Sir Kenneth Branagh are backing South Hill Park

to protect South Hill Park.”

Easthampstead Rotarians have worked with South Hill Park over the years, hosting the Bracknell Together Walk which supports dozens of local schools and voluntary groups.

Also showing Breathe the film of Polio victim Robin Cavendish, during which purple-themed cupcakes were served.

Rotarians worldwide have been instrumental in supporting the End Polio Now campaign, together with the Bill and Melinda Gates

Wokingham Scouts WOKINGHAM SCOUTS used modern technology to hold their AGM earlier this month.

Troops from across the borough gathered virtually to look back over the past 12 months, and look ahead to the next.

Special guest was Wokingham town mayor Cllr Tony Lack, who was wearing his woggle.

He praised the leaders for their work helping youngsters have fun and learn new skills.

“It’s great to see so much going on,” he told them. “Thank you for the various things you do. It’s great to hear that the Duke of Edinburgh awards are still going strong and the potential joining list (to Scout troops) is as big as ever. I’m very pleased to see that.”

The District Commissioner Neil Graham said that it had been an interesting year: “There were lots of plans and ideas, then along came this thing called covid-19”.

But he said that despite that the year had been busy.

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Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

Foundation, and the global network of healthcare professionals and volunteers have succeeded over the years in limiting cases of Polio to just 85 in the year to date in only two countries Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Just 30 years ago, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative began, polio paralysed more than 1,000 children worldwide every day.

Importantly, the global Polio inoculation infrastructure is in place for

The annual Remembrance Sunday parade took place last November and, for the first time, there was a separate service for younger members.

“We hope to do something like this again,” Mr Graham said. “But it may be a Zoom service.”

Although groups have been able to meet physically during lockdown, Mr Graham said: “Here in Wokingham, Scouting has continued, it’s shown resilience and the ability to adapt.

“Scouting has continued in different ways.”

County Commissioner Nigel Bevan closed the meeting, speaking of his pride at how Scouting has continued over the past few months.

“My thanks to everyone, people have done huge amounts of stuff over the past few months in difficult circumstances,” he said.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

“I hope we can get back to reality in the not-too-distant future.”

COATS Centre for senior citizens provides companionship, freshly cooked meals, activities and entertainments Monday to Thursday between 10am and 4pm and 10am to 2pm Friday.

A minibus service is provided in Crowthorne to transport less mobile Visitors to and from the Centre.

The charity is supported by many volunteers who help the professionally qualified staff run The Centre and the minibus transport. Its charity shop is run entirely by volunteers.

Although currently closed due to covid-19 plans, are already underway in anticipation of re-opening in the near future. � For details visit coatscrowthorne.org.uk

when a Coronavirus vaccine becomes available.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged a total of $250 million toward Covid-19 research, “to support development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines... and help mitigate the social and economic impacts of the virus.”

Thanking Craig for his insights, recently elected club president, Les Howard said "We look forward to co-operating with South Hill Park on more community projects in the months to come."

Easthampstead Rotarians aim to make a difference in the community, New members always welcome. Post-Covid, we meet most Monday evenings at The Coppid Beech.

For more information, call Brian on 07720 321 526.

Check out our website: easthampsteadrotary.org Or follow us at www.facebook.com/ easthampsteadrotaryclub PETER VON BERGEN

Younger People With Dementia LOCKDOWN has not curtailed our services, which are used by people living with Young Onset Dementia and their carers.

Some creative thinking, thanks to donations from local organisations like Wokingham United Charities, has led to a raft of new online services to combat the detrimental impact of isolation on this vulnerable group.

As a result of lockdown YPWD has reached out to grant-making organisations to assist in keeping services available during the pandemic. As with many charities, fundraising donations have all but disappeared since March.

The charity has been supported by a number of generous organisations including Wokingham United Charities, which helps needy people resident in the parishes of Wokingham, Wokingham Without, St Nicholas Hurst, Ruscombe and Finchampstead who are in poverty, hardship or distress.

Thanks to Wokingham United Charities YPWD can maintain employment of its specialist team who can continue to provide live online video workshops, regular calls to carers, pre-recorded workshop videos and personalised activity boxes. Maintaining the contact that was there from

before lockdown.

This frontline service is incredibly important for many, as one of YPWD’s people living with young onset dementia explained: “The team have been there for me especially on my low days. They’ve been caring and understanding.

It’s lovely to see some of the group online each week.”

Tracey Hedgecox, from Wokingham United Charities, said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to fund YPWD’s work in Wokingham. Providing meaningful activities will allow those with Dementia under the age of 65 to lead a more fulfilling life and hopefully slow down the progression of the disease.

Providing support and information for the carers is also vital.”

YPWD’s director Mark Hainy said: “The donations that the charity has received during lockdown are directly targeted at delivering services, we welcome Wokingham United Charities’ grant at a time when they are under immense pressure to help as many charities as possible. Without YPWD there would be very little support available to those living with Young Onset Dementia and their carers, increasing the possibility of health crises for some.” � For more information, visit: ypwd.info

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EDUCATION | 21

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Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

Presspack

At school? This is the page you can write! We welcome your articles, poems, pictures and stories for this page. Send your articles to news@ wokinghampaper.co.uk

News from schools | Stories from pupils

‘Remarkable’ poem wins reporter contest

By SUE CORCORAN news@wokinghampaper.co.uk A REMARKABLE young writer’s poem about her father’s death and much more has won a prize in a competition.

Molly Akers, 18, of Lower Earley, won the 12-18 section of the competition to write about positive experiences of life in lockdown.

Despite her loss, Molly, a student at The Piggott School, Wargrave, achieved the competition’s aim to great effect.

The young reporter contest was run by the virtual Hurst Show and Country Fayre.

Molly’s father Mac Akers, a former headteacher at South Lake Primary School, Woodley, died on May 9.

He had been ill with dementia for some time.

“The poem is about my Dad, but also about the things you learn from hardship and about the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Molly.

“Through the pandemic people have complained about not going out and socialising.

You do miss people and it makes you realise how much you miss giving them a cuddle.

“But there have been positives brought to life, like reduced pollution due to less road use.

“In our family we have a group Zoom call every Sunday so now we talk to them more than we did before.

“There’s a message in my writing and it also helps me figure things out.” She hoped her writing would help others.

She added: “There is a lot of strength in pain, a lot of things to gain from it.

“It has set me up for life now and means I appreciate things I would not have done before.”

She said her father, who wrote children’s poetry books, would be proud of her success.

She praised The Piggott School teachers for their support and said she wants to study international business with maths at Leeds.

Molly went to Robert Piggott Infant and Junior Schools at Wargrave.

Her mother Sally Ann Akers has recently resigned as executive head of Robert Piggott Infant and Junior Schools Federation.

She was to take early retirement last summer to look after her husband but agreed to stay on for two days a week.

Organiser of the young reporter competition, Sophie Vyse, praised the winners’ work: “Reading their pieces was inspirational and they made me laugh as well as cry,” she said.

The contest judge was local journalist Sue Corcoran.

The primary section winners were: juniors, Sophie Randles, 10, and infants, Will Randles, seven, who go to St Nicholas School, Hurst. � To help the fundraising for good causes visit: www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/hurst-show � To order a Hurst Souvenir Magazine 2020 visit: www.hurstshow.uk/souvenir

Sophie and Will Randles with the subjects of their writing: Harry Potter and Lego Picture: Sue Corcoran

Absence of you Close your doors and stay inside this is going to be one rollercoaster of ride To do as they were told was not the easiest thing But it made them realise together they had everything They laughed and cried and witnessed such great loss, Tears and heartache, to them so much it cost Isolation, not everyone made it through But just by chance you do And so, you should be grateful But for those who didn’t it does come true That with great loss, you lose a bit of you too.

Yet the absence of you helped more than you thought

BENNY’S CONFLICT

By James Lomax Part 26 of 26 Well, this is it. The end for Benny, Carlos and Shana. About to face trial on Izen Dopolous’ flagship, their ship a smoking ruin, the remains of Carlson the android inside, certain death to await them. Surely there is no way for them to survive?

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HE trio were led into a large, formal room, important-looking humans seated on wooden furnishings. Benny recognised Bernard and Bertha among them.

Seated in the centre of the room, his disciples around him, was Izen Dopolous, although it was clear he had undergone a makeover.

The robotic form he now had was a larger, more powerful dark android, eyes glowing red on a pointed face that lacked any other features.

Once Benny, Carlos and Shana were led to a podium, he addressed the crowd.

“My esteemed disciples, it is time

to decide the fate of these three, one of them I trusted with my life. An error I will not make again.”

He turned towards his prisoners. “Now, where to begin with your list of crimes?

First of all, Benny, the young human with the light hair. His list starts with my murder—” “Actually,” Benny interrupted, “ you’ve got it wrong.”

Izen was clearly shocked. “Do not interrupt me. However, I shall hear what you have to say. Out of the three you deserve it the most.”

“The thing is, Izen doesn’t remember what led to his death. He jumped to a bunch of conclusions when he met us, none of which I confirmed to be true.

“He saw me talking with Shana and Carlos, and didn’t think I might have been lying to them.

“You see, when Izen sent me to kill Shana, I didn’t just want to kill her immediately, like a crude hitman. I wanted

For when you look out of the window you knew That the absence of you meant the world grew and grew Into something more beautiful, for me and for you And so, I am grateful and you should be too That now we can open our doors and the world is grown We learnt how to tackle anything on our own And so, we sing and laugh and cuddle again but we will never forget the rain for that rollercoaster ride didn’t always feel sane but looking through the pane in your window frame something told you, you will never look at the world the same.

By Molly Akers, 18

to make her death hurt. I wanted to make it a betrayal.

“So I proved my trust by killing Izen, and then used her skills to rescue Bernard and Bertha, valuable members of Izen’s code.

And I was going to betray her, but then Izen put a stop to that, directly before I would have done it.

“You see, I was going to use the android.

If you could take me to it, I could prove to you I’m not lying.”

Izen was silent for a moment, and Benny hoped he believed the lies he had just said.

He’d learnt to direct his skill of lying at the right people, not at everybody like he had done before.

His path was clear now. No more internal conflicts.

Speaking of internal conflicts, Izen was done thinking.

“Very well. It did seem strange that you of all people would betray me. Guards, take the prisoners to the remains of their ship.

I hope their droid is intact enough.”

So do I, Benny thought as he, Carlos and Shana were led out of the hall by three guards.

He looked as Izen watched them go, his robotic face expressionless. He didn’t know

Will enjoyed a Lego challenge I liked having more time at home and I have been doing a Lego challenge, I really enjoyed it.

We have been doing Joe Wicks but we slightly forgot about it.

Then a couple of weeks later we came back and it had finished.

At the Hurst Show the hobby horses were spectacular also the cars were brilliant and it went surprisingly well.

I have really missed my friends.

By Will Randles, seven

Good things have come out of lockdown LOCKDOWN has presented us with lots of challenges, but some good things

it at the time, but this was the last time he would see Izen for a good while.

The trio were led back into the hanger to the smoking wreckage, and Benny rooted through the rubble, finding the remains of Carlson, which Carlos assured him was enough.

Quickly, and without hesitation, Carlos turned around, the superlaser partially formed in his hands, and fired at the guards, immediately sending bits of them flying everywhere.

They didn’t have much time, so the trio ran towards the Nebulous Dragonfly Benny had eyed, and Shana began to turn it on.

Thankfully, it still had power. Carlos aimed at the airlock, and it exploded, sucking anything not anchored on into the vacuum of space, including most of the ships.

The superlaser fell apart in his hands, the remains of Carlson zooming out, along with the Nebulous Dragonfly.

Benny looked behind him at the rapidly shrinking asteroid, and didn’t stop looking until it was long gone, and Shana didn’t stop piloting until they reached a safe little space station they could dock and land in.

have come out of it, like realising how much we need our friends.

When everything goes back to normal I think we will appreciate our friends much more.

Home schooling has allowed us to enjoy more time at home as well as showing us all we need professional teachers! :-) Although I have missed clubs such as netball and swimming, hopefully they can start up again soon.

The virtual Hurst Show was a great weekend.

It was lots of fun although the weather wasn’t on our side for the whole weekend.

It was lots of fun and everybody enjoyed it.

There was an ice cream van, a delivery of sweets, book stall, plant stall, art trail, virtual dog show and a virtual hobby horse competition.

Not forgetting the virtual disco.

In lockdown we have been going on lots of walks around Dinton Pastures and doing lots of online shopping.

My favourite thing about lockdown is not having to get up early in the morning and reading Harry Potter.

I am hoping to have finished all of the books by the end of lockdown!

I have also enjoyed watching the movies.

Lockdown hasn’t really been that bad on the whole!

By Sophie Randles, 10

Everybody, still panting, couldn’t help smiling at each other about their impossible escape.

Carlos turned to Benny, “Well, we’ve reached the end of the road. The road to forgiveness. I officially forgive you for killing my Gorgon friend.”

“I knew that Gorgon. We used to be good friends,” Shana added, “I forgive you too, Benny. In fact, I should be saying thank you! We couldn’t have gotten this far without you. My only regret is Izen’s survival.”

But Benny said nothing.

He stared out the window at the darkness of space, broken by an uncountable number of tiny white dots.

They had escaped, but Izen was still at large, his influence spreading deep into the government.

Aliens would never be seen as equal as long as he kept doing what he was doing. He knew in order to achieve their eventual goal, Izen must be stopped. But that was for later.

Right now he was relaxing, celebrating with his friends, enjoying another beautiful morning in the void of space.

THE END … FOR NOW

22 | LEISURE

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plasticfreehome Dave Lamont facebook.com/PlasticFreeHomeUK

Let them eat hake!

Climate change – a golden opportunity missed?

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T times like this it’s less difficult to believe that humans still share around 60% of their DNA with a banana.

On a good day, witnessing some peoples’ behaviours and observing their apparent priorities, often unbelievably short-termist, can lead to despair for others.

But never more so than in recent weeks, which have offered a stark reminder of how stupid (forgive the use of such a blunt instrument), selfish and short-sighted the human race can sometimes be.

In a world ravaged by the deadliest pandemic in over a century, are we so hellbent on rediscovering normality and so fixated upon the economy that we will miss this golden opportunity, perhaps our last, to change?

At the time of writing, Covid-19 has very sadly taken the lives of close to half a million people worldwide. The crisis has affected our daily lives on a scale not seen since two world wars. On a personal level, as a family, we have adopted a very cautious approach and we have shown this devastating virus the ‘respect’ it deserves. For three months we have done very little but work remotely fulltime, home school and look after two young boys and enjoy nature – be it in the garden or on regular countryside walks.

Yet, there is an event greater, too often forgotten a threat lurking in parallel, climate change.

In 2016, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that 12.6 million people are dying annually of ‘avoidable deaths’ resulting from environmental risks, linked to factors including non-communicable diseases, climate change, pollution and the use of synthetic

chemicals. That means, that since the likes of the SARS epidemic in 2002, more than 200 million lives may have been lost, equivalent to the entire population of Brazil.

In 2020, there is an incredible 7.6 billion of us sharing the Earth, a four-fold increase in just a century, and the futures of every single person on this planet are threatened by the consequences of our accelerating destruction of the natural world. And have we barely begun to register this challenge, let alone to tackle it? Sadly not. Have we deployed the world’s greatest scientific minds or near bankrupted countries in response? No. Despite the fact that we have all been locked away indoors, doing very little for many months. Travelling less, consuming less and so on, emission levels have only returned to a point last seen in 2006.

It demonstrates the scale and the urgency of the challenge that lies ahead.

And it is not just our own species that is threatened. Today, more than one million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction and ecologists continue to warn that we are in the midst of the so-called sixth great extinction. Some argue that between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year – up to 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.

Experts have placed mankind’s impact upon life on our planet on a par with other major disasters in the last 600 million years, during which over 90% of life on our planet disappeared.

Habitat loss also continues to play a major role in the problem. There were once six trillion trees helping our planet to breathe easily, a figure that has halved since the emergence of mankind. They are still being

WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

felled at a rate ten times higher than any possible level of regrowth. Tropical forests contain at least half the Eart’'s species, yet around 20% of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared in just 50 years.

So, what about the impact on our climate?

Well, worldwide the ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998. There’s more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere now than at any time in human history. The ice sheets, vital in helping to maintain balance and sea levels, are melting three times faster than in 2003.

Nearly three quarters of the extreme weather events in the last two decades, including increasingly powerful storms and devastating flooding, heat waves and drought, have been influenced by humans. And even here in the UK, it is predicted that we could run short of drinking water by 2050.

I could go on.

Facts like the above are sobering, or should be, for all of us. It is also unfathomable that in the 21st century we are still trying to eliminate other stains on the human race, like racism. I would champion the fact that we need to far better educate ourselves and our children on where we came from, how and why, and how connected we all once were with one another and with nature.

Because at the same time as evolving, we have gone backwards in so many ways.

It is time we stepped up, once and for all.

Because, as Dame Jane Goodall has warned: “Humanity will be finished” if we do not change our ways. � On Wednesday, July 8, it was a pleasure to speak to the lovely ladies of the Wokingham Women’s Institute – thank you for having me.

W

ITH some of the UK’s most famous and beautiful coastline, the waters of south east England serve up not only a treat for tourists, but some of the best seafood in the country.

Fishing vessels at some of coasts’ busiest fishing ports including Shoreham, Dover, Ramsgate and Whistable catch tonnes of fresh fish and hundreds of different species, from crab, to premium Dover sole and turbot, as well as favourites like mackerel.

Sea for Yourself is a campaign launched by Seafish, the public body that supports the £10bn UK seafood industry, in partnership with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to encourage people to cook with UK caught fish species.

Fresh seafood is available from local supermarkets or fishmongers and an array of traditionally wholesale suppliers in the south east have adapted to offer home deliveries.

Julie Waites, Regional Manager for South East England at Seafish, said: “Many of our fish businesses can’t currently supply to restaurants or export and it’s great that we can all continue to support our national seafood industry by continuing to buy, eat and enjoy the south east’s delicious and diverse seafood.”

Hake in a Hurry Recipe by Sea for Yourself by Seafish Prep time: 10-12 minutes Cooking time: 16-20 minutes Serves: 4 Skill level: Easy Peasy

Ingredients � 4 x 170g skinless and boneless hake fillets � 2 tbsp vegetable oil

� 80g homemade breadcrumbs � Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped, plus a few sprigs to garnish � Salt and pepper � Lemon wedges, to serve

Method Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.

Wash and dry the hake fillets. Pour the oil into a large baking tray.

Place the hake fillets in the tray and gently turn them over and around in the oil to cover them. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine the breadcrumbs with the chopped parsley. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the fish fillets. Bake in a oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and crispy, and the fish cooked through.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges, garnished with parsley sprigs. � For more information , local stockists and more recipes log on to: www.fishisthedish.co.uk

Thursday, July 23, 2020 WOKINGHAM.TODAY

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‘We will get through this’ Panto producer Steve Boden shares his sadness at the lack of a show with PHIL CREIGHTON

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HE OLD adage that the show must go on has, for the first time in theatre’s history, been proved wrong.

This Christmas, there will be no ‘behind you’ and ‘oh no it isn’t’ being shouted in auditoriums across the country: pantomimes across the country are being postponed and move to 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The festive treat is almost impossible to hold under Covid-secure conditions.

The auditorium is full of excited children who engage with the onstage action at the tops of their voices. The schedule is demanding limiting cleaning time, and annual panto-flu a risk.

Add in audience uncertainty, a worry that there would be a reduced number of seats, and the fears that someone, be it cast, junior ensemble, or production team, test positive for coronavirus, shutting the theatre down for at least 14 days and you can quickly see how hard it will be for any producer to take the risk and insist that the panto goes ahead.

Last week, Imagine Theatre, which produces pantomime for Reading Arts, announced the suspension of Beauty and the Beast — its planned show for Christmas 2020. It will star CBeebies legend Justin Fletcher and his sidekick as the dame, Paul Morse. Both have agreed to appear in the rearranged dates in December 2021.

Producer Steve Boden said that it was the right thing to do, adding that the team have spoken with other panto producers across the country, all coming to same decisions.

“We have to make difficult decisions now to safeguard the future,” he said.

“There is an ecosystem. There’s such a family around the shows.

Carpenters, seamstresses, props, transport … all of these people are impacted by the decision to postpone.

The ripple effect of this will be felt for some time.”

He added that had the shows gone ahead, and team members contracted Covid, “It could wipe out the entire panto production. These are the decisions we had to consider.”

Surely the feeling among the Imagine team must be low? “We’re determined,” Steve says.

“We’ve furloughed the team bar three, but we’re able to talk together once a week to keep in touch.

“We know we will get through this.

The art form that is panto will evolve, ready for the next chapter.”

Steve is hopeful that there will be some kind of show this year, in whatever form it takes.

“The three of us are pushing forward, looking at alternative options.

“We’re looking for positives and this

can shape the way in which we engage in the future.

“We’re exploring online provision for that, what we can develop and strengthen on the back of this.

“We’re feeling incredibly excited about the opportunity and to realise the challenges this presents.”

He adds: “We’re suspending what we love, and doing something very different in the short term.

“We’re very clear that postponement is a bitter pill to swallow, but we don’t want to leave Reading and the surrounding areas without any seasonal entertainment.”

Steve is pleased that both Justin and Paul are on board for next year’s revised Beauty and the Beast: “They have been very supportive.

“We all agree that we didn’t want to cancel completely.

“We’ve postponed and it will all be there next year.

“Both said, ‘Of course we’ll be there’.

It might be 12 months later than planned, but they will be there.”

It’s not the only support Imagine has received: Steve says: “We’ve had nothing but warm messages of support and complete understanding. It makes such a difference. People are really coming together.”

Imagine has built up enough of a reserve to keep it going through these lean times, and Steve is hopeful that the Government-announced funding for the arts will also help.

“We have to batten down the hatches,” he warns, “help is on the horizon from the Government, but we’re not sure how that will be distributed.”

Pantomime isn’t just the first experience of watching theatre that some children have, it’s also the first time that they’ll get on stage too. Imagine has a tradition of open auditions for youngsters who want to join their chorus line and auditions would have taken place this weekend. That’s now on hold.

“This is a highlight for many children,” Steve says.

“We look forward to them, they are important to youngsters, and we’re acutely aware that it’s important to the children. We welcome 200 of them every year.

“We can announce that the audition dates for children next year in Reading will be Sunday, July 25.”

Steve is also sanguine about the postponement.

At the end of Cinderella’s run, he was looking forward to the challenges that 2020 would bring.

But no one expected that to be a virus that brought the world to a standstill.

“You couldn’t write this. People would just look at you and think you were mad,” he said.

“But it’s circumstance that’s preventing pantomime from taking place this year, rather than neglect.

“There is comfort in that no one has done anything wrong.”

Justin Fletcher – aka Mr Tumble – has pledged to take part in the remounted Hexagon pantomime in 2021 Pictures: Philip Tull

Panto postponed Coronavirus has meant that this year’s Hexagon show, Beauty and the Beast will now take place in 2021.

PHIL CREIGHTON explains

F

OR MANY families, it’s the highlight of their year and a perfect introduction to theatre. But this year’s Reading Hexagon pantomime is another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

Reading Arts and Imagine Theatre had planned to reunite Justin Fletcher and Paul Morse for Beauty and the Beast this Christmas, but in light of current Government guidelines, it is postponing the production until Christmas 2021.

Both Justin – known to millions of youngsters as Mr Tumble – and Paul, one of the best dames in the business, have pledged to make audiences laugh at the rearranged show.

In a statement, Reading Arts said that the decision was made after they had carefully assessed its options in light of social distancing regulations and the financial risk.

Tickets for the show had gone on sale in January, and existing ticket holders will be contacted to port their seats for the new shows.

But Reading Arts is also offering refunds or taking a credit for a future booking, as well as transferring to another performance.

The Hexagon’s phone lines are currently unavailable as staff are working remotely.

Steve Boden of Imagine Theatre, which produces the show for Reading Arts, said: “We are very disappointed that we will be unable to stage pantomime in The Hexagon this Christmas but are delighted that this is only a temporary postponement and that Justin Fletcher and Paul Morse will star in Beauty and the Beast in December 2021.”

This view was echoed by Cllr Karen Rowland, Reading Borough Council’s lead member for culture, heritage and recreation, who had been looking forward to booing the villains and going ‘It’s behind you!’ during the ghost scene.

“Reading’s award-winning panto is one of the highlights of the entertainment calendar – so this is very sad news indeed – but understandable given the current safety restrictions in place for theatres,” she said.

“We will all eagerly look forward to its return the following year.”

Although it’s curtains for Beauty and the Beast this year, Reading Borough Council is looking to reopen its venues, which includes South Street and the Concert Hall, as soon as it can and in a safe way.

Cllr Rowland said: “Unlike museums and libraries, there is yet to be a government announcement on when live indoor performances can restart.

“We are working closely with our tour promoters, artistes and partners to reschedule shows and events wherever possible and we will update all ticket holders as soon as these options are confirmed.

“For a cultural fix, I would really encourage people to visit Reading Culture Live www.readingculturelive.co.uk, created in collaboration with Reading UK CIC, brings together in a virtual venue, performances and activities from a wide range of Reading’s arts and cultural organisations.”

The rearranged Beauty and the Beast will run from Saturday, December 4, 2021 through to Monday, January 3, 2022. � For more details, log on to whatsonreading.com/venues/hexagon/ whats-on/beauty-and-beast

24 | LEISURE

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See Fleabag on the big screen

wokinghamlovesmusic Chris Hillman

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bit.ly/wokingham lovesmusic

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HO WANTS more than 10 records? We know from feedback that you’re loving our new hit parade, so this week there’s 12 tunes to spin on your jukebox, all compiled by Chris Hillman from White Star Records.

The Wokingham Love Music soundtrack features songs from bands and artists with some connection to Wokingham’s music scene.

There’s a range of musical styles to enjoy meaning that there’s something for everyone You can listen for FREE via Spotify. There’s a special page set-up at bit.ly/wokinghamlovesmusic Lonely Robot – The Silent Life Did you know that Wokingham-based record label, White Star Records, is part-owned by producer and musician John Mitchell?

Did you know that John runs his own Outhouse Studios in Reading? Did you know that John is a member of many internationally known bands including Frost*, Arena, It Bites, Kino and his own Lonely Robot?

Well, if you do, you’ll know about his excellent new Lonely Robot album, Feelings Are Good. Here’s a wonderful track from it. www.johnmitchellhq.com Lewis and Leigh – The 4.19 With, sadly no gigs at Wokingham Music Club (WMC) for a while, due to virus restrictions, here’s another track chosen by WMC founder Stan Hetherington from his past favourite gigs. It’s by a duo from Wales and Mississippi and Stan explained that their gig at WMC will last in his memory forever. “They finished the evening by standing in the middle of the audience singing this track a capella,” hr recalls.

“It was so beautiful, I was moved to tears” www.facebook.com/lewisandleighmusic Voices From The Fuselage – Domus (Orchestral Arrangement) Gorgeously re-imagined orchestral version of a track that had originally been on their, White Star Records released, second album Odyssey : The Founder of Dreams – www.facebook.com/ VoicesFromTheFuselage Duke Pearson – I Don’t Care Who Knows It Wallen Bink is a new record label in Wokingham specialising in quality vinyl reissues of rare jazz recordings. Their first release is from this legendary pianist – www.wallenbink.com Never The Bride – You’re Not Alone Wokingham Music Club’s Stan Hetherington picked this track from the band as one of his faves from past club gigs – www.neverthebride.com Selina and the Howlin Dogs – Music Is A local band that, in lockdown, created a new community based video for this track – www.facebook.com/SelinaandtheHowlinDogs The Paradox Twin – Planeta Progressive Music Awards nominated (twice) Reading-based band on local record label, White Star Records – www.theparadoxtwin.com Spriggan Mist – Magical Ways This band, with their magical blend of rock and folk, have previously played at Wokingham Music Club and Wokingham Festival – www.sprigganmist.com Reliant – Broken People Four-piece indie band from Wokingham and Reading that has been championed by BBC Introducing Berkshire – www.facebook.com/WeAreReliant Dennis Siggery & Neil Sadler – Don’t Want Your Tears Local blues rock duo with a track recorded in Wokingham’s No Machine Studios – www.ericstreetband.com/dennis-solo.html The Room – Broken Local band with track from their latest album Caught by the Machine – www.theroom.band That Joe Payne – End of the Tunnel Joe headlined the Wokingham Music Club stage at last year’s Wokingham Festival – www.thatjoepayne.com

WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

South Hill Park’s reopening

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BRACKNELL-BASED arts centre is welcoming customers back to its restaurant and amphitheatre, following three months of closure due to the pandemic.

South Hill Park Arts Centre reopened The Atrium Bar & Restaurant for take-out service on Saturday, July 4 and its dine-in service on Thursday, July 16.

The venue marked the return of the eatery with entertainment from funky jazz rock band Eat at Joe’s on Saturday, July 18.

And following government guidelines which allow outdoor theatre to open, South Hill Park will host a performance of Wind in the Willows in its amphitheatre from Friday, August 14 until Sunday, August 16.

The centre’s gradual re-opening follows a period of financial difficulty due to Covid-19 which caused it to lose 86% of its income overnight.

This forced South Hill Park to launch an emergency fundraising campaign on Friday, June 12 which so far has raised over £55,000 along with the Government’s grant

and loan package for the Arts industry.

Chief executive Craig Titley said: “South Hill Park welcomes the Government’s grant and loan package on behalf of the arts industry.

“It is definitely a positive step forward, but the devil will be in the detail.

“The fund aims to protect the ‘crown jewels’ such as the Royal Albert Hall as well as local venues but even £1.57bn will only go so far.

“What that means for South Hill Park we are yet to find out. If the Arts Centre is eligible an application will be made, but there are no guarantees of success or how much we can apply for and whether it will be enough.

“It is therefore essential that we continue with our own fundraising campaign to secure South Hill Park’s future.”

To donate to the South Hill Park fundraising campaign log on to southhillpark.org.uk/donate.

TAZ USHER

ANS of the BBC comedy-drama Fleabag will have a chance to see the play that inspired the show thanks to a Winnersh cinema.

Showcase reopened earlier this month under Covid-secure conditions, screening classic films from across the years.

Now it is teaming up with the National Theatre to screen some of its best plays, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s award-winning one-woman show, which had been broadcast live from the West End last year.

Fleabag is the tale of a woman with nothing to lose, facing strained friendships and a guinea pig cafe struggling to stay afloat.

And best of all, tickets are just £5 each.

Also joining the Event Cinema line-up is provocative comedy, Present Laughter, directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic. If it’s a love story you’re after, Cyrano de Bergerac stars James McAvoy. This powerful adaptation from The Jamie Lloyd Company follows Cyrano as he tries to win over Roxanne using his eloquent way with words.

Showcase is also planning an ongoing programme of National Theatre Live plays throughout this year to help support the wider theatre industry: theatres are still unable to stage live performances indoors.

Throughout 2020, Showcase will also show performances from Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus, Gwendoline Christie in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sir Ian McKellen in King Lear, and Sally Field and Bill Pullman in All My Sons.

On the Event Cinema line-up, James Dobbin, Director of Event Cinema, UK & International, Showcase Cinemas, said: “We’re really excited to announce that we will be screening a number of plays from National Theatre Live.

“It’s been a tough time for the theatre industry and theatre fans, so we’d like to show our support by bringing these performances to the big screen for fans to enjoy.”

There is more to the Event Cinema line-up. It will also include Riverdance, Princess Mononoke and family favourites Zog and Highway Rat. Guests are advised to book tickets online in advance or use the self-service ticket machines in the cinema lobby.

All Showcase sites opening have a thorough cleaning regime in place, plus multiple hand sanitising stations for guests to use.

For the full list of screenings, to book tickets and watch the ‘Be Showcase Safe’ video, visit: www.showcasecinemas.co.uk

Norden Farm’s summer holiday fun

I

T MIGHT not feel like school is out for summer, but formal lessons are over until September.

And after six months of homeschooling, the prospect of six weeks of no lessons might seem tough for families.

Help is at hand thanks to a Maidenhead-based arts centre.

Norden Farm Centre for the Arts is planning a range of online activities that can be enjoyed from the safety of your home – the site itself is still closed.

Activities get underway on Monday with a weekly session called Kayleigh’s Crafts. It runs from 10.30am to 11.15am and sees Kayleigh Galvin lead a different crafty creation each week. Plans include making a fantasy castle, musical instruments, an out of this world lava lamp and slime.

It’s aimed at children aged four and upwards, place cost £5 per session.

Magician and performer Patrick Ashe will continue to lead a weekly Magic and Storytelling session each Tuesday from 1.30pm-2pm across the holidays.

Alongside the stories, Patrick shows how the magic works and teaches a trick or two. As Patrick is in the magic circle you must promise to keep the secrets.

Aimed at ages five upwards, places are £5 per session.

Kite Making takes place on Thursdays between 11am and 11.45am. Places cost £10 per kite, which includes materials.

The packs must be collected in advance from Norden Farm.

And there’s also a Community Kite Project via Zoom to create a Japanese Sode Kite.

Children aged 5-11 can take part in a yoga activity called Chill Club. The weekly sessions are led by Carly Brown and run on Fridays from 10.30am to

11am. Places cost £8 per session.

Also on Fridays, young people can get involved in a special Digi Den: Summer Sessions course. Tickets are £32 for the four-week term, running from Friday, July 31, between 5.15pm and 5.45pm.

Led by DJ Mhlanga, the sessions are said to be a great opportunity to share creativity, explore music and film editing.

The course is suitable for school years 7 to 13.

Norden Farm’s Activity Weeks are also going digital this summer, taking place over Zoom.

Art Week: Back to Life, Back to Reality runs from Monday, August 3Friday, August 7, between 10am and 4pm.

Artist Lawrence Dodgson will lead the week that’s packed with different activities including drawing, painting, creative writing and sculpture.

Plans include self-portraits, making a coronavirus-hat and starring in a music video.

Suitable for ages eight upwards, places cost £95 per person. .And there is also a dance week, running from 10am to 1pm from Monday, August 17 through to Friday, August 21, between 10am and 1pm.

Led by dance teacher Charlie Dixon, participants can enjoy contemporary dance technique classes, choreography workshops and the opportunity to participate in designing and crafting a brand new dance film – Dancing from my Sofa.

It is an open level course for dancers with mixed abilities that’s suitable for ages eight and up.

Tickets cost £80. � For more details, or to book, log on to norden.farm/pages/online-classes-andworkshops

CLASSIFIEDS | 25

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PUBLIC NOTICES WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL PLANNING APPLICATION

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 INQUIRY TO BE HELD AS A VIRTUAL EVENT (Appeals against Enforcement Notice)

The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 AND/OR Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 The following application(s) have been submitted and are advertised for the reasons below: Application

Address

Reasons for Advert Description

201644

Spice Lounge,

Conservation Area

45 High Street, Wargrave

201645

Spice Lounge, 45 High Street, Wargrave

(Affect setting of) Listed Building

Full application for the proposed change of use of the existing restaurant (Use Class A3) to 6 no. dwellings (Use Class C3) consisting of 2 x 2 bedroom and 4 x 1 bedroom flats, plus internal alterations and changes to fenestration.

Application for Listed Building consent for the proposed change of use of the existing restaurant (Use Class A3) to 6 no. dwellings (Use Class C3) consisting of 2 x 2 bedroom and 4 x 1 bedroom flats, plus internal alterations and changes to fenestration.

Appeals by Candice Jules and Dean Jules against an enforcement notice issued by Wokingham Borough Council in relation to land at White Heart Grove, Land at The Coombes, Coombes Lane, Barkham, RG41 5SU. The matters which are alleged to constitute a breach of planning control are without planning permission the unauthorised construction of a timber building and its use as a dwelling.

R Merrett BSc(Hons), DipTP, MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State, will hold an inquiry opening on 04 August 2020 at 10.00 to decide the appeal. The inquiry will be held as a virtual event run by an Inspector in the normal way, but with the parties invited to join via Microsoft Teams or telephone.

Documents relating to the appeal can be viewed on the Council website (reference: 190309). Anyone wishing to attend the inquiry must make that interest known to the Planning Inspectorate Case Officer as soon as possible prior to the inquiry, either by email or telephone after reading the Inquiry Attendance Information set out below. When contacting the Case Officer, it would be helpful if you could confirm whether you want to take an active part in the proceedings or anticipate attending just as an observer (see below).

Inquiry Attendance Information Before deciding whether to take an active part in the inquiry, you need to think carefully about the points you wish to make. All written submissions which have been made in relation to the appeal will be taken into account by the Inspector and re-stating the same points won’t add any additional weight to them.

If you feel that taking part in the inquiry is right for you in whatever capacity, you can participate in a number of ways:

The application is available to view online at wokingham.gov.uk � Planning � Search planning applications and typing in the application number above. All libraries in the Borough have internet access in order to view this page.

Comments on the application can be made online from this web page.

To take part using video, participants will need to have access to Microsoft Teams (via an app or web browser). This link gives further information on how to use this. https://support.office.com/en-us/teams. Alternatively, you can take part by telephone. Calls would be to an 020 number which will incur charges https://www.gov.uk/call-charges

Any comments must arrive on or before 14th August 2020. Any comments made are not confidential and can be seen by anyone as they form part of the public record. The comments, unless offensive, discriminatory and/or racist, will appear on the Council’s website within 24 hours and include the submitted name and address. Due to the high volume of comments received we do not provide individual responses.

If you just wish to observe the event, you should make that clear in your response to the Case Officer.

Date: 23rd July 2020

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL (REMENHAM CHURCH LANE, REMENHAM) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2020 NOTICE IS HEREBY given that Wokingham Borough Council as Traffic Authority proposes to make an Order under Section 14 (1) (a) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which is prohibit any vehicle from proceeding along: Remenham Church Lane, Remenham between its junctions with Remenham Lane and A4130 White Hill.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via A4130 White Hill, A4130 Henley Bridge and Remenham Lane or by this route in reverse.

Works requiring this restriction will take place between 10th August and 1st September 2020.

The reason for these prohibitions is to allow Gigaclear contractors to undertake BDUK Superfast Broadband work in safety.

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL (A3290 NORTHBOUND OFF SLIP, EARLEY) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2020 NOTICE IS HEREBY given that on the 23rd July 2020 Wokingham Borough Council as Traffic Authority made an Order under Section 14 (1) (a) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which is to prohibit any vehicle from proceeding along: 1. A3290 Northbound off slip from its junction with A3290 Bravo.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via A3290 Bravo, Thames Valley Park Drive, A3290 Alpha off slip to Suttons Park and A4 London Road Works requiring this restriction will take place between 27th July and 28th August 2020 The reason for these prohibitions is to allow Wokingham Borough Council contractors to undertake signal refurbishment work in safety.

Access for residents and businesses within the boundaries of these restrictions will be maintained at all times.

Access for residents and businesses within the boundaries of these restrictions will be maintained at all times.

The restriction imposed by the Order shall only apply during those periods when traffic signs complying with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 are lawfully displayed.

The restriction imposed by the Order shall only apply during those periods when traffic signs complying with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 are lawfully displayed.

The restrictions contained in the Order shall come into operation on the 27th July 2020 and shall continue in force for a period not exceeding 18 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

The restrictions contained in the Order shall come into operation on the 10th August 2020 and shall continue in force for a period not exceeding 18 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

Dated this 23rd July 2020

Dated this 23rd July 2020 Mark Cupit Assistant Director – Delivery and Infrastructure Wokingham Borough Council Civic Offices Shute End Wokingham Berkshire RG40 1WL

Mark Cupit, Assistant Director – Delivery and Infrastructure Wokingham Borough Council Civic Offices Shute End Wokingham Berkshire RG40 1WL

If you wish to take an active part in the proceedings, please make clear in your response whether you wish only to appear at the inquiry and make a statement, or whether you would also wish to ask questions on particular topics.

If you want to take an active part but feel unable to for any reason, and/or the points you want to make are not covered in the evidence of others, consider whether someone else could raise them on your behalf.

Registered participants in whatever capacity will receive individual joining instructions, providing details of any requirements, guidance and support, whether joining by Teams or telephone.

Planning Inspectorate Reference:

Case Officer:

APP/X0360/C/19/3221552

Sasha Coke Tel: 0303 444 5100

APP/X0360/C/19/3221553

Email: teame3@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL (EASTHAMPSTEAD ROAD, WOKINGHAM) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2020 NOTICE IS HEREBY given that Wokingham Borough Council as Traffic Authority proposes to make an Order under Section 14 (1) (a) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which is prohibit any vehicle from proceeding along: Easthampstead Road and for a distance of 10m on either side of the level crossing.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via Easthampstead Road, Waterloo Road, Old Wokingham Road and Easthampstead Road or by this route in reverse.

Works requiring this restriction will take place on 14th August 2020 between 00:30 and 04:30.

The reason for these prohibitions is to allow Network Rail contractors to undertake level crossing work in safety.

Access for residents and businesses within the boundaries of these restrictions will be maintained at all times.

The restriction imposed by the Order shall only apply during those periods when traffic signs complying with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 are lawfully displayed.

The restrictions contained in the Order shall come into operation on the 14th August 2020 and shall continue in force for a period not exceeding 18 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

Dated this 23rd July 2020 Mark Cupit Assistant Director – Delivery and Infrastructure Wokingham Borough Council Civic Offices Shute End Wokingham Berkshire RG40 1WL

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SERVICES

GOODS VEHICLE OPERATOR’S LICENCE JD Drains Ltd of 105 Hyde End Lane, Ryeish Green, Reading, Berkshire. RG7 1ES is applying to change an existing licence as follows: To add an operating centre to keep 2 goods vehicles and 0 trailers at: Tanners Warehouse. Tanners Dairy, Swallowfield Road. RG2 9LA. Owners or occupiers of land (including buildings near the operating centre(s) Who believe that their use or enjoyment of that land would be affected, should make written representations to the Traffic Commissioner at Hillcrest House, 386 Harehills Lane, Leeds, LS9 6NF, stating their reasons, within 21 days of this notice. Representors must at the same time send a copy of their representations to the applicant at the address given at the top of this notice. A Guide to Making Representations is available from the Traffic Commissioner’s office.

26 | CLASSIFIEDS

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WOKINGHAM.TODAY Thursday, July 23, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICES ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 A. PROPOSED PROHIBITION OF VEHICLES – CUTBUSH LANE. B. PROPOSED SPEED LIMIT REDUCTION – CUTBUSH LANE AND CUTBUSH LANE EAST 60MPH TO 30 MPH – SECTION B 60MPH TO 30 MPH. WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL (CUTBUSH LANE EAST & CUTBUSH LANE WEST, SHINFIELD) (PROHIBITION OF DRIVING & 30MPH SPEED LIMIT) ORDER 202* NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT Wokingham Borough Council as Traffic Authority proposes to make the above named Order under Sections 1 and 2, 84 and Part III of Schedule 9 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

The effect of the Order would be to: (a) introduce a prohibition of all motor vehicles on Cutbush Lane East Shinfield, (ridden cycles permitted) from a point 385.0 metres east of its junction with Shinfield Eastern Relief Road, north-eastward for a distance of 20.0 metres; (b) reduce the existing 60 mph to 30mph speed limit on: (i) Cutbush Lane East, from its junction with Shinfield Eastern Relief Road to a point opposite the northernmost point of the British Museum Archaelogical Research Collection building; and (ii) Cutbush Lane West from its junctions with Shinfield Eastern Relief Road to Oaklands Road.

Copies of the draft Order, Statement of Reasons and plan may be inspected at the offices of the Traffic Management Team, Place & Growth, at the address given below between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm, Mondays to Fridays. These documents are also available online at ‘www.wokingham.gov.uk/consultations’.

Any objections to the proposals, together with the grounds in which they are made, should be sent in writing to the Traffic Management Team, Place & Growth, P.O. Box 153, Shute End, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1WL or via e-mail to ‘TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk’ by no later than the 13 August 2020.

Dated this 23rd July 2020 Christine Traill, Director Place & Growth, Wokingham Borough Council, Shute End, Wokingham, RG40 1WL.

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL (A3290 ALPHA AND BRAVO, WINNERSH) (TEMPORARY PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2020

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT EXPERIMENTAL 20MPH SPEED LIMITS – BROAD STREET, BUCKINGHAM COURT, CROSS STREET, EASTHAMPSTEAD ROAD, GLEBELANDS ROAD, LONDON ROAD, OSBORNE ROAD, PALMER SCHOOL ROAD, PEACH STREET, RECTORY CLOSE, RECTORY ROAD, ROSE STREET, SHUTE END AND WILTSHIRE ROAD. THE WOKINGHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL EXPERIMENTAL ORDER NO. 4 2020 NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the Wokingham Borough Council, on the 21 July 2020 made the above-mentioned Order under section 9 and Part III of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as amended and all enabling powers. The Order, which will come into force on the 30 July 2020.

The general effect of the experimental Order will be to reduce the existing speed limit of 30mph by imposing a 20mph speed limits on lengths of roads within an area of Wokingham Town Centre mentioned in the Schedule to this Notice.

SCHEDULE 20mph Speed Limit Area

Broad Street, Buckingham Court, Cross Street, Easthampstead Road, Glebelands Road, London Road, Norreys Avenue, Osborne Road, Palmer School Road, Peach Street, Rectory Close, Rectory Road, Rose Street, Shute End and Wilstshire Road.

A copy of the above named Order, plan and statement of reasons for making the Experimental Order may be inspected at Traffic Management Team, Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham, RG40 1WL, during Mondays to Fridays between 9am-5pm.

Any person requiring further information with connection with this Order should contact the Council's Traffic Management Section on telephone number 0118 974 6000.

The Order provides that the Director Customer and Localities or a person authorised by him, may, if it appears to him or that person essential in the interests of the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic or for preserving or improving the amenities of the area through which any road affected by the Order runs, modify or suspend the Order or any provision thereof.

Within a period of 6 months beginning with the day on which the experimental Order came into force, or if that Order is varied by another order or modified pursuant to Section 10(2) of the Act, beginning with the day on which the variation or modification or the latest variation or modification came into force, any person may object to the making of an order for the purpose of such indefinite continuation.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given that on the 16th July 2020 Wokingham Borough Council as Traffic Authority made an Order under Section 14 (1) (a) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 the effect of which is to prohibit any vehicle from proceeding along: 1. A3290 Alpha between its junctions with A4 London Road and Loddon Bridge and The Bader Way Interchange.

Dated this 23rd July 2020

Works requiring this restriction will take place on 1st August 2020 between 05:00 and 11:00 and 22nd August and 23rd August 2020 between 20:00 and 06:00 2. A3290 Bravo between its junctions with Loddon Bridge and The Bader Way Interchange and A4 London Road.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via A329 Reading Road, A329 Wokingham Road, B3350 Church Lane, B3350 Pitts Lane and A4 London Road Works requiring this restriction will take place on 1st August 2020 between 05:00 and 11:00 and 22nd August and 23rd August 2020 between 20:00 and 06:00 3. Loddon Bridge Road, Woodley between its junctions with A329 Wokingham Road and Coppice Road.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via Headley Road East, Spitfire Way, Miles Way, The Bader Way, Loddon Bridge and The Bader Way Interchange and A329 Reading Road or by this route in reverse.

Works requiring this restriction will take place between 15th August and 16th August 2020 between 20:00 and 06:00.

The reason for these prohibitions is to allow Wokingham Borough Council contractors to undertake bridge inspections work in safety.

Access for residents and businesses within the boundaries of these restrictions will be maintained at all times.

The restriction imposed by the Order shall only apply during those periods when traffic signs complying with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 are lawfully displayed.

The restrictions contained in the Order shall come into operation on the 1st August 2020 and shall continue in force for a period not exceeding 18 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

Dated this 23rd July 2020 Mark Cupit, Assistant Director – Delivery and Infrastructure Wokingham Borough Council Civic Offices Shute End Wokingham Berkshire RG40 1WL

RURAL PIE CO. LTD of Unit 2, Apsley House, 27-29 London Road, Twyford, Berkshire, RG10 9EHproposes to carry on the following licensable activities at the above premises: Sale of Alcohol between the hours of 7:00 and 23:00 Monday to Saturday and between the hours of 9:00 and 22:30 on Sundays.

Representations may be made in writing by any responsible authority or interested party in the vicinity of the premises to the licensing authority Licensing Team, Wokingham Borough Council, POB 155, Shute End, Wokingham, RG40 1WW or by email to licensing@wokingham.gov.uk All representations made are open to public inspection Representations to be made by : 14th August 2020 This application has been made to the Licensing Team at Wokingham Borough Council where a register of applications is kept and a record of the application may be inspected. Contact 0118 974 6358 or www.wokingham.gov.uk Under S158 of the above act, a person commits an offence if he knowingly or recklessly makes a false statement in connection with an application. A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Dated: 23rd July 2020

The Council shall be considering in due course whether the provisions of the experimental Order should be continued in force indefinitely.

Any person desiring to object or to make other representations in relation to the making of an Order for the indefinite continuation of the experimental Order under Section 9 may within the aforementioned period of 6 months send a statement in writing of their objection and the grounds thereof to Traffic Management Team, Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1WL or via email to ‘TM.consultations@wokingham.gov.uk’.

The alternative route for all vehicles affected by this restriction shall be via A4 London Road, B3350 Pitts Lane, B3350 Church Lane, A329 Wokingham Road and A329 Reading Road

Wokingham Borough Council Licensing Act 2003 S17 Application for Premises Licence NEWSPAPER NOTICE

Christine Traill, Director Place & Growth, Wokingham Borough Council, Shute End, Wokingham, RG40 1WL.

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PROPERTY | 27

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Binfield victorious over Wokingham 2s

Binfield 1st XI (243-6) beat Wokingham 2nd XI (237-9) by six runs BINFIELD opened their season with a six-run win over Wokingham 2s in the first round of fixtures in Thames Valley League Division 2b.

In the 40-over match, Binfield took to the crease first and made a solid start to their innings as the opening pair of Wynand Lamprecht and Matt Humphrey recorded 69 before Humprhey fell on 2.

After a second wicket fell with Binfield on 77-2,Muhummad Fruquan added 25 more runs alongside Lamprecht to move their side onto 151 before the third wicket fell.

Tom Andrews batted an impressive innings as he smashed 74 runs before being bowled out by Lewis Sharp, while Chris Morgan added more valuable runs to the total with 45 before being run out.

The hosts ended their 40 overs innings on 243 having lost just six wickets.

Wokingham 2s started strongly as Tauseef Mehdi and George Horsley managed 40 runs before Mehdi was caught out by Furquan, bowled Thomas Nower.

The Oaks managed just one

more run before Will Legg was run out and then Horsley fell just five runs later.

Binfield’s prolific bowling spell continued as Stuart Hayter was dismissed for a duck caught by Lamprecht, bowled Nower.

Jack Fisher gave his team a chance as he displayed composure at the crease and scored 70 runs to push Wokingham towards the target. However, the wickets began to tumble at the end of the innings.

Binfield got the vital wicket of Fisher on 70 and managed to field well enough to defined their target as Wokingham finished their 40 overs on 237, leaving them six runs shy of claiming victory.

BINFIELD BATTING: Lamprecht 39, Humphrey 26, Furqan 25, Andrews 74, Morgan 45, Miller 9, Nower 4no, Staves dnb, Collet dnb, Adigantla dnb, Goddard dnb WOKINGHAM BOWLING: Sharp 2-39, Muirden 0-45, Pawar 0-42, McDonald 240, Pogson 1-69.

WOKINGHAM BATTING: Horsley 25, Mehdi 19, Legg 0, Hayter 0, Fisher 70, Myles 26, Pogson 26, Sharp 24, Muirden 34, Pawar 2no, McDonald 5no BINFIELD BOWLING: Andrews 1-51, Nower 2-42, Collet 1-57, Adigantla 0-34, Goddard 2-35, Lamprecht 1-17

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OAKS SNATCH VICTORY OVER

Wokingham made a winning start to their Home Counties Premier League campaign over local rivals Finchampstead. Pictures: Steve Smyth

Wokingham 1st XI (213/9) beat Finchampstead 1st XI (210 all out) by one wicket

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk WOKINGHAM began their Home Counties Premier league season with a narrow one wicket victory over local rivals Finchampstead.

The cricket season finally returned having been disrupted by Covid-19 with a local derby taking place in the first round of fixtures of the season.

Finchampstead won the toss and elected to bat first and they made a good start as opening batsmen Gregory Smith and Stuart Parsons built a good platform of 45 runs.

Max Uttley took the first wicket which triggered a superb bowling spell as the Oaks took three wickets for just three runs to leave Finch on 45-3.

Finch’s innings was looking in danger of ending early.

That was until Josh Lincoln took to the crease. He smashed a huge innings as he recorded 91 runs in just 49 balls before he was eventually bowled out by Callum Creighton.

Chris Peploe bowled brilliantly for the hosts as he took four wickets with Finch ending their innings on 210.

Wokingham set about their task of reaching the Finch total in a positive start as the opening pair of Mac Keast and Michael Bates reached a partnership of 60 runs before the first wicket fell.

Bates was bowled by Liam Bulteel, caught Dan Lincoln to end his innings of 30 from 28 balls, and his partner Keast was run out on 38.

Sukhmeet Kang took his side towards victory with a valuable contribution in the middle of the order as he scored 39 runs from 64 balls.

A strong bowling spell from

Finch saw the game go down to the wire as they took the ninth wicket, with Creighton being bowled

by Jason Soames with Wokingham on 202-9 and needing nine more runs to wrap up the win with just one wicket left.

But the hosts held firm to take themselves over the line with just four balls and one wicket remaining with Uttley and Charlie Carter knocking the Oaks to victory.

FINCHAMPSTEAD BATTING: Smith 21, Parsons 18, D Lincoln 15, Predgen 0, Soames 3, Leonard 17, J Lincoln 91, O’Donahue 8, Jones 8no, Woodford 6, Bulteel 1, WOKINGHAM BOWLING: Creighton 1-57, Carter 022, Uttley 3-36, Peploe 4-11, Rogers 1-34, Clark 0-44.

WOKINGHAM BATTING: Keast 38, Bates 30, Carter 9, Housego 7, Kang 39, Rogers 17, Peploe 0, Clark 16, Creighton 14, Uttley 6no, Carter 7no FINCHAMPSTEAD BOWLING: Soames 2-54, Jones 040, Bulteel 1-14, Woodford 2-29, O’Donahue 142, J Lincoln 1-33.

SPORT | 29

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Emmbrook defeated in season opener

Chalfont St Giles (109/6) beat Emmbrook & Bearwood (108 all out) by four wickets EMMBROOK and Bearwood were beaten in their first Chilterns Cricket League fixture of the season.

Emmbrook batted first as Alex Cobb and Will Wells managed a partnership of just 11 runs before the first wicket fell.

Chalfont bowled and fielded clinically as they took four more wickets in quick succession to leave Emmbrook on 36-5 and in danger of their innings ending prematurely.

However, a vital middle order performance from Andrew Robertson bolstered their total as he hit a quick 32 before being run out, while Mark Cobb added 16 more to the total.

The final wicket came with just over two overs left with Emmbrook & Bearwood setting Chalfont a chase of 109 to win.

Emmbrook made a superb start to defending their total as they picked up a wicket without Chalfont scoring a single run as Jack Narraway caught out Nick Zala, bowled Mark Cobb.

A strong bowling display put Emmbrook in a commanding position in the match and they had Chalfont on 19-4 with Jamie Gibbs taking two wickets and Cobb adding another.

However, Andy Hardy saved his side in the middle of the order with a stunning innings as he broke the fall of quick wickets and scored 58 runs to take his side towards Emmbrook’s total to recover their innings.

Chalfont eventually took the victory comfortably having stopped the early momentum of

Emmbrook and won with four wickets to spare after 24.2 overs.

EMMBROOK & BEARWOOD BATTING: A Cobb 18, Wells 8, Narraway 4, Mohite 0, Gibbs 3, Robertson 32, Cole 8, M Cobb 16, Bhraradwaj 4, Arain 1, Wells 0no EMMBROOK & BEARWOOD BOWLING: M Cobb 2-27, Gibbs 2-28, Cole 1-27, Robertson 1-27

Eversley (239/6) beat Fleet (215/9) by 24 runs EVERSLEY made a winning start to their Thames Valley Division 2b campaign with a 24-run win over Fleet.

Tom Nichols scored strongly with the bat as he struck 70, before Chris Last added 59 to the total and James Magowan provided 37 more runs.

Benjamin Salter and Edward Champion both took two wickets each as Eversley wrapped up victory as Fleet, nine wickets down, finished their 40 over innings on 215.

Earley 1st XI (101/9) beat West Reading XI (99 all out) by one wicket EARLEY made their return to cricket action in a friendly fixture against West Reading as they came out as victors by one wicket.

Deep Singh, Binny Zutshi, Aryan Sethi and Vernon Butcher all took two wickets each for Earley as the bowled West Reading all out for 99 runs in the first innings.

In a close encounter, Earley managed to surpass the target set after 21.5 overs with just one wicket to spare.

Zutshi hit the most impressive innings throughout the team with 32 runs, while Sethi saw them across the line to victory with a score of 10 not out.

30 | SPORT

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ICE HOCKEY

READING WOMEN FC

BEES BOOST DEFENCE BUT TWO DEPART

THREE NEW FACES SIGN UP FOR READING WOMEN’S NEW SEASON Royals boss Kelly Chambers has added three signings to her squad.

Picture: Neil Graham

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk READING WOMEN has confirmed a trio signing as Danielle Carter and Emma Mitchell both join the Royals from Arsenal Women, while Denana Cooper joins from Chelsea.

HEAD Coach of the TSI World Bees Doug Sheppard has announced his first new recruit of the summer as he inks a deal with 20 year old defenceman Deakan Fielder.

Shropshire-born Deakan started his hockey journey in Telford playing through to under 18s before heading to Swindon and linking up with the Okanagan Hockey Academy in 2015/16.

The following season, while still with Okanagan he played for the Wildcats scoring 3+3 for the NIHL2 team while also making two appearances for the EPIHL team. This was in addition to a very productive season in Under 18s which saw him score 7 and assist 10 in just 18 games.

2017/18 was a busy year with 11 Wildcats NIHL1 appearances alongside 10 NIHL2 and 20 under 18 games.

Last season he played in Cardiff for the Fire as well as putting up 5+21 in a further 46 games for the Fresno Monsters as the team topped their league before Covid-19 cancelled their playoffs.

Head Coach Doug Sheppard spoke of his new signing; “Deakan is a big strong kid that likes to play a physical game and skates very well.

“He is going to be a big help on the backend with his style of play.

“What I like most is his passion to get to the next level, I look forward to working with him.”

On signing with the Bees Deakan said; “I’m very excited to be joining the Bees, I’ve had three good years at OHA and two years with Fresno in the States.

“Both clubs have pushed me with my development, and after speaking to Doug I think Bees is a great place for me to keep developing and I think it’s time to step up to pro hockey.

“I’d like to help the team win some trophies this year and I’m looking forward to proving my self where I am able to be a key player in the team to show the great bee fans what I can do.”

Meanwhile, two players have also departed the Bees.

Aidan Doughty and Brendan Baird have both left the club and will play their hockey for new clubs from next season.

The Bees said: “The club have known about these decisions for a while now but decided the timing wasn’t right to make the announcement and give them their send off.

“We would like to thank both players for the time at the Hive and wish them all the best wherever they continue to play.”

Striker Carter joins Kelly Chambers’ side having made more than 100 appearances for the Gunners, which included scoring the winner in the 2016 FA Women’s Cup Final against Chelsea.

Carter has also represented England at international level and boasts an impressive goal scoring record of six goals in just four matches.

The 27-year-old has returned to fitness having suffered an ACL injury which kept her out of action for the long term.

Kelly Chambers said: “I am extremely excited to bring Dan to the club. I have watched her career for many years and have always loved the way she plays.

“She is an exciting, explosive player who is definitely one to get the fans on their feet.

“Dan is a great addition to the team and also a great person to have in the group. I cannot wait to work with her and get her back to what she does best, which can be world class.”

Defender Emma Mitchell also joins from Arsenal having played at the north London club since 2013.

“Emma is a great addition to the squad and is someone who knows what it takes to win and be successful,” continued Chambers.

“Personality and character is something I look for in players and Emma will definitely add to and fit in the group I have already.

“I am extremely excited to work with Emma, not only because of her ability but she is a very honest, hard working player who will add that competitive edge to everything we do.”

The Royals also secured the services of Cooper from current WSL champions Chelsea.

The centre-back made 29 appearances during her time with the Blues.

“Deanna is a player I’ve always liked watching and now want to see more of,” said Chambers.

“I have been interested in bringing her to Reading for some time and I am just delighted to get a deal done to bring her to the club.

“She is a gifted player who wears her heart on her sleeve and does everything for her team.

“I believe she will fit into my squad perfectly and definitely suits our style of play. I’m excited to see her in a Reading shirt.”

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Emergency funds for Kings

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk

A CASH BOOST will enable a wheelchair basketball club to purchase much-needed new equipment.

The Thames Valley Kings has been awarded £2,014 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund.

The team said that the grant will go towards the club purchasing their own 24 seconds shot clocks – specialist basketball equipment.

The outbreak of the coronavirus and the consequent shutdown of businesses as of March 23 has left the sport and physical activity sector facing a period of uncertainty.

In response, on March 31 Sport England announced a £195m package to help the sport and physical activity sector through covid-19.

Within the package is a £20m Community Emergency Fund, of National Lottery money to deliver immediate funding to those who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but are experiencing

short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus.

The grant has enabled the Kings to purchase the specialist basketball equipment which needed after recent successes on the court.

Lockdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for Kings – they were celebrating their 15th birthday and had run six of 15 planned events to fundraise for the club.

But the remaining nine had been cancelled, meaning they were unable to purchase the clocks nor the insurance needed to protect its 25 specially made wheelchairs, which have been adapated for

sporting use.

Club chair Jacqueline Scoins-Cass said: "We are very grateful to the National Lottery and Sport England to provide the emergency funding when we were unable to fundraise as planned through our 15 events for our 15th Birthday.

“We had hoped to complete a Skydive this summer.

“We don't know when fundraising events will be able to restart, this funding will help keep the club going.”

She added that the club was waiting for approval from British Wheelchair Basketball - before the team can re-start training.

“We have been offering our club members support and ensuring those who live alone are contacted weekly to check in on them,” she added.

“We have held weekly online sessions covering a number of topics for our club members.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said: “As the body responsible for the growth of sport and physical activity participation, we want the vital grassroots organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in this country to not just to come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future.

“The £20 million Community Emergency fund, made possible by National Lottery players is part of a multimillion pound package of support we are providing to ease the pressure on a huge number of the organisations who are central to the nation’s health and wellbeing.

“We are proud to be able to provide vital funding to Thames Valley Kings Wheelchair Basketball Club to help it through these extremely challenging times.”

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SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP

READING FC

ROVERS EDGE ROYALS

Gunter and McCleary to leave aﬞer eight years

Blackburn Rovers 4 Reading 3

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk

READING conceded late in the game to surrender a point in a seven goal thriller at Ewood Park in their final away trip of the season.

Blackburn Rovers took an early two goal lead in a storming start, but were pegged back by a brilliant John Swift free kick as three goals were struck in the opening 15 minutes.

Rovers scored a third and looked comfortable early in the second half until Sam Baldock and Yakou Meite scored two quickfire headers.

But it was Blackburn who took the points after Sam Gallagher headed an 87th minute winner.

With both sides safe from relegation but too far to make a play-off push, it may have been expected to fall into the category of a classic end of season game.

However, Blackburn showed no signs of fatigue as they made a fast start and opened the scoring after just three minutes.

Ben Brereton eased his way into the box from the right wing without being challenged by a Reading defender and stroked the ball

into the bottom corner.

Things went from bad to worse in the sixth minute for the Royals as they failed to cope with Rovers’ early pressure as the hosts made it two.

Adam Armstrong was given far too much time on the ball and he picked his spot as he fired into the bottom corner from just outside the box to double his sides advantage.

Having made a horrible start to the match, Mark Bowen’s team got themselves into the game.

But it was Reading’s midfield talisman, and captain for the day, John Swift, who produced a moment of magic to put the Royals back into the contest.

With just 15 minutes on the clock, the third goal of the game was struck when Swift hit a stunning free kick from 25 yards which flew past Walton into the corner.

Tom McIntyre was then forced off with a head injury after taking an Armstrong shot straight in the face and was replaced by club captain Liam Moore.

Blackburn could have opened up a two-goal cushion again just before the break had it not been for a goal saving sliding challenge from Moore who got his body in the way of Brereton’s shot

from close range.

Blackburn pushed home their superiority in the match and reinstated their two goal lead just 10 minutes into the half through Joe Rothwell.

He was given space to cut inside following a short corner and his goal bound shot took a cruel deflection off Tyler Blackett to beat Rafael.

A frustrated Bowen made two more changes after seeing his side concede as Sam Baldock, Garath McCleary and Jordan Obita came on for Puscas, Blackett and Omar Richards.

And the goals continued to flow as the Royals scored through the work of two substitutes.

Obita swung in a cross which was met by the strong leap of Baldock who sprung ahead of his marker and headed the ball past the keeper with just under half an hour remaining.

Baldock continued to cause problems for Blackburn and teed up an equaliser as the Royals found themselves level in the match.

The forward broke into the box and hung the ball up in the air as Yakou Meite got on the end of the cross and powered it into the corner with his head to equalise.

The momentum had swung the way of the Royals

FROM THE TILEHURST END With Olly Allen The end, for now

T

HE longest of all seasons is over.

Almost a year after kicking off against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, August 3, Reading have finally played their final game of the 2019/20 campaign.

It was a season of multiple false dawns – from the promising week in August which saw the Royals take seven points from a possible nine against Cardiff City, West Brom and Huddersfield Town, to the four-game winning run over Christmas – as we were frequently teased by the team’s potential, but ultimately left disappointed that it amounted to little more than a mid-table finish.

Nonetheless, after two consecutive 20th

place finishes in seasons spent worrying about relegation, wandering about in Championship obscurity is certainly a sign of progress.

For the third campaign in a row, Reading changed manager mid-season as Jose Gomes was sacked in October. The Portuguese may have left the club in the relegation zone, but his departure was met with a tinge of sadness considering his charismatic nature and genuine affection for the Royals.

Undoubtedly the lowest point of the campaign though was the 3-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic in February, when the team look devoid of all cohesion, spirit and ability.

Meanwhile, there is perhaps a slight sense of frustration that the team’s post-lockdown form was quite underwhelming.

As for the highs, George Puscas announced himself to the Championship with a brace in the 3-0 win over Cardiff, while

with the substitutes providing a fresh impetus to Reading’s attack as they searched for a winner.

Reading pushed forward and came close through Michael Olise. He jinked his way past a defender and onto his left foot but curled his effort just wide of the mark via a deflection.

Despite looking the better side for much of the second half, Reading fell behind once again as Blackburn retook the lead in the 88th minute.

A deep cross was met by Gallagher at the back post who nodded the ball into the back of the net.

With seven minutes of stoppage time added on Reading were unable to find an eighth goal of the game despite Meite having a big chance from a few yards out following a free kick.

BLACKBURN: Walton, Nyambe, Lenihan, Carter, Rankin-Costello, Travis, Johnson, Rothwell, Holtby, Armstrong, Brereton.

SUBS: Leutwiler, Bennett, Magloire, Buckley, Gallagher, Davenport, Vale, Chapman, Downing.

READING: Rafael, Gunter, Morrison, McIntyre, Blackett, Richards, Rinomhota, Swift, Olise, Meite, Puscas.

SUBS: Walker, Miazga, Moore, Baldock, Obita, McCleary, Boye, Araruna, Osho.

GOALS: Brereton 3, Armstrong 6, Swift 15, Rothwell 55, Baldock 63, Meite 67, Gallagher 87

Mark Bowen’s first game in charge over Preston was won in dramatic fashion through Matt Miazga’s 98th minute goal. Fulham away is always a well-attended fixture by Reading fans, and those who travelled to Craven Cottage on New Year’s Day were rewarded with one of the best performances of the season in a 2-1 win. There was a treat earlier this month too, as the Royals achieved their biggest win in six and a half years – a 5-0 victory away against Luton Town.

The stand-out players have come from all areas of the pitch. The task of replacing Emiliano Martinez in goal last summer looked a difficult one, but Brazilian Rafael has settled well in his debut season in England and become a dependable option between the sticks. In front of him, Michael Morrison has been somewhat of an unsung hero in the centre of defence, using his experience to put in a number of assured and dominant performances to keep opposition attackers at bay. John Swift has proven himself to be one of the Championship’s most creative players and appears to have earned himself a move to the Premier League with Sheffield United as a result. It’s also worth mentioning Yakou Meite, who finished as the club’s top goalscorer for the second year running.

No one is quite sure what the summer holds for Reading, with the club’s financial position remaining precarious, but the wait until the new season is shorter than usual, meaning we are ever closer to being allowed to watch our team in the flesh again.

McCleary (left) and Gunter (right) both joined Reading in 2012 from Forest. Pictures: Steve Smyth

READING confirmed that long term servants Garath McCleary and Chris Gunter will both leave the club when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

Both players joined the Royals from Nottingham Forest and have played eight seasons at the Madejski Stadium including a season in the Premier League, reaching an FA Cup semi-final and contesting the play-off final in 2017.

Winger McCleary has made 234 league appearances, scoring 23 goals during his time with the Royals but his playing time has been limited in his final season at

the club, making just 11 appearances this campaign.

Right-back Gunter has made 273 Championship appearances, with two goals to his name during his eight seasons at the club. He has made 13 league appearances this season.

Both players struggled after being cast aside from the first-team by former manager Jose Gomes but have featured again since Mark Bowen was appointed as manager.

However, both players will end their long stays at the club and will be available to be signed as free transfers at the end of the season.

READING FC

Barrow off to South Korea MODOU BARROW has left Reading for a fee believed to be around £1.5million to join South Korean club Jeonbuk Hyundai.

He has spent the 2019/20 season on loan in Turkey with Denizlispor but has now made a permanent move away from the Madejski Stadium.

The 27-year-old winger joined the Royals in 2017 on a free transfer from Swansea City and went on to score 14 goals in 77 Championship appearances.

Barrow posted a farewell message on Twitter: “The time has come for me to accept a new challenge in my career. As a professional football player we look forward to challenges and improving but to say goodbye sometimes is always the hardest.

“I would like to say I am grateful for the fond memories and great time spent with you all at Reading FC. To all the wonderful staff, I enjoyed working with you all.

“Special thank you to the amazing fans who show up come rain, come sunshine supporting and cheering us to reach our goals. For this I say a big thank you till we meet again once a ROYALS always a ROYALS – you guys will always be in my heart.

Barrow spent three seasons with the Royals. Picture: Steve Smyth

OAKS MAKE WINNING START

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ROYALS WOMEN SIGN TRIO

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BINFIELD BEAT WOKINGHAM

BOWEN DREAMS OF N O S A E S W NE

ROYALS BOSS: ‘IT CAN’T COME QUICK ENOUGH’

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokinghampaper.co.uk READING manager Mark Bowen says that next season ‘can’t come quick enough’ after he was left frustrated with a defeat in a seven goal thriller at Ewood Park.

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On Saturday, the Royals came from 3-1 down to equalise but were left pointless after a late Sam Gallagher winner.

It left the Royals gaffer thinking ahead to next season and what he can do with a revitalised and refreshed squad.

The team were in action last night in their final game of the extended Championship season. A full match report is on our website, Wokingham.Today.

“It’s very frustrating again. We

started slowly and didn’t have the intensity at the start,” said Bowen.

“We conceded two goals that were avoidable with more communication.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“We got back into it and I was thinking we were on top and then we conceded a third sloppy goal.

“At 3-3 I thought there was only one winner and I thought that would be us. But we made individual errors.”

This means that Bowen is now making plans for what the team will be like when the Championship resumes in the autumn.

“Next season can’t come quick enough.

“We’ll be losing a number of players so there will be a significant

amount of changes next season with players on loan and out of contract.”

Bowen was pleased with the impact of his substitutions after Sam Baldock came off the bench to score and set one up to get the Royals back into the game.

“Liam Moore came on and did well,” continued Bowen.

“Sam Baldock came on and had a real influence on the game which is what I want.

“They have to be ready to make a difference and contribute and that's what they did today.

“Tom (McIntyre) is feeling a bit shaken up by an injury. Until I speak to the doctor I won’t know the outcome.

“We've got to make sure we’re a lot more consistent than we are.

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“One game summed up what we’ve been like all season.

“There was a number of errors the fourth goal. We let an easy cross in the box and Sam Gallagher had a free header into the net.”

Bowen wants an improved consistency heading into next season and said that he expects there to be plenty of changes at the club heading into the new campaign.

“I’m very clear in my mind which way we need to go and which way we will go.

“The mind of a professional player is a complicated thing.

“If they know they wont be here next year, some players they might have made their mind up to change.

“I think in hindsight it has affected us.”