SCHOOL UNVEILS MEMORIAL ART

To advertise email advertising@wokingham.today Holt School pupils unveil mural mosaic in memory of teacher

EXCLUSIVE

By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokingham.today

STUDENTS at The Holt School unveiled a mosaic to celebrate their former teacher, James Furlong.

On Tuesday morning, pupils at the school spoke about creating a permanent memorial to the former history teacher, who was killed in the Forbury Garden terror attack last June.

It was unveiled on Monday to the school community, and Mr Furlong’s immediate family with a ceremony.

Tamanna Steven, 18, led the project as part of her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

Mr Furlong had been her original supervisor, and after his death, she wanted to create a piece of art in her memory.

“He had such a massive impact on my life, I wanted to create some kind of permanent memorial,” she said.

Edie Sudlow, 14, who spoke at yesterday’s unveiling, described Mr Furlong as a “light of the school”.

The project raised £12,300 in donations, quadrupling the initial target to create a memorial.

With the money, the school commissioned Gary Drostle, an international award winning artist with more than 30 years experience with mosaics.

“It was a real privilege to be asked to create this,” he said. “When I found out about the project, I knew it was a big responsibility, after such a tragedy.

“There was a lot to think about to make it meaningful and positive,” he added. “Students have a lot of love for Mr Furlong.”

The mosaic depicts a golden heart, surrounded by symbolic images.

“For me, the golden heart in the middle is James,” Mr Drostle said. “The mirror represented the spirit of the students, reflecting them in the mosaic.”

There is a circle of hearts, created by students and staff, which is then surrounded by a mosaic rainbow, to represent Mr Furlong in the LGBTQ+ community.

The words passion, courage, dedication, kindness, integrity and humour then surround the shape, each chosen by students as a representation of their teacher’s values.

The mosaic also includes hunky punks, typically seen on Late Gothic churches, much like gargoyles. It is surrounded by a small garden with benches for reflection.

Mr Drostle added: “Mosaics are a nice medium for public work, they’re very accessible as people can see the amount of work that has gone into it.”

The design was shaped by student input, with workshops organised to help fine-tune the artwork.

Students new to the school in September last year did not know Mr Furlong, but Ms Steven said she wants to ensure his legacy lives on.

She will be creating a recurring “thought of the week” to introduce the former teacher to students, and explain the significance of the mural.

“I want to make sure his legacy lives on through everyone,” she said.

She spoke at yesterday’s event, and at the memorial service for all victims in Forbury Gardens last week.

FINISHED PIECE: Award winning artist Gary Drostle created the piece, and Tamanna Steven led the project as her Extended Project Qualification Pictures: Jess Warren

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT: Edie Sudlow, Holly Mackinnon and Daniela Bertolino were involved in shaping the design

Villagers raise a glass as charity beer fest returns

By CHARLOTTE KING cking@wokingham.today

THOUSANDS of punters braved the rain for the “best Twyford Beer Festival ever” last weekend, writes Charlotte King.

On Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26, people came out in droves to take part in the annual event on Stanlake Meadow Recreation Ground.

Organised by Ian Wisdom, more than 3,500 residents enjoyed beer, live music and dancing across the two days to raise money for charity.

“It was a really lovely atmosphere on both days,” the organiser said. “People walked around with big smiles on their faces, which is pretty much what I had hoped would happen.

“Even in the rain, people just put chairs over the tops of their heads and were dancing.”

The 11th Twyford Beer Festival continued its tradition of raising funds for male cancer charity Orchid — and the organiser said 2021’s donation will be bigger and better than ever.

“[In 2019] we raised £10,000 for Orchid, but I’m reasonably certain it’s going to be better this year,” Mr Wisdom explained.

According to the organiser, the two representatives from the charity were “absolutely made up” with the reception from everybody who attended the event, too.

“All of [the musical acts] thoroughly enjoyed it too,” he added. “They loved being able to get back out there and play in front of the public again.

“All the brewers also pulled out the stops to give us some well presented beers.”

Mr Wisdom will present Orchid with its donation in London in the future, once the team has calculated how much it raised this year.

Got a business story? Email news@ wokingham.today. or write to Wokingham.Today, Crown House, 231 Kings Road, Reading RG1 4LS Shoppers regaining confidence say Woodley market stall holders

EXCLUSIVE

By CHARLOTTE KING cking@wokingham.today

BUSINESS is picking up in Woodley town centre, market stall holders have said, as shoppers regain their confidence post-pandemic.

Despite the Government postponing the end of lockdown restrictions, the town’s retailers said business is booming.

Kathy Osborne, owner of Kathy at Shedkraft, has been selling at Woodley Market for more than two years and believes it is faring better than other places where she trades.

“Woodley is one of the nicest markets I do,” she said. “It’s not heaving, people feel comfortable, and it’s full of regular, local people.”

While footfall is down compared to pre-pandemic shopping, Ms Osborne said Woodley town centre has “a great mix” of retailers to draw customers in.

“It’s really diverse,” she said. “It’s not only fruit and veg but there are a lot of craft stalls — it’s a great mix and it’s keeping people like me going.”

Sarah Zeneli, founder of Sparkle Vegan Events, said the Vegan Market has seen many “supportive visitors” in recent weeks too.

“As we have measures in place such as social distancing and hand sanitising, we understand that residents have felt confident enough to return to the markets,” she said.

“I think the main effect of the pandemic is that people have less disposable income so are thinking more about where they should spend their money and, luckily for us, are choosing to support small businesses.”

But she said a few stallholders have closed their businesses due to coronavirus.

“However, with the final lifting of restrictions, we expect that customer confidence will build even stronger, more new businesses will start-up and join us,

PRAISE: Shedkraft’s Kathy Osborne says Woodley market is one of the nicest she visits layouts can be adapted to allow even more stalls, and markets will eventually return to ‘normal’,” Ms Zeneli added.

Brian Fennelly, Woodley town centre manager, also agreed that the town’s Saturday markets have come back stronger — but he said he is not confident “[covid] is over until it’s all over”.

According to the town centre manager, there are currently more market stalls than there were in March last year.

“This summer, we’re getting decent footfall,” Mr Fennelly said. “But it’s too early to tell [what will happen in the long term].

“There’s still a bit of nervousness which is not helped by the Delta variant, so it’s been a bit stop-start understandably.”

He said some of Woodley has reacted to the latest change in lockdown restrictions in a similar way to the rest of the nation, with a few residents lacking the confidence to come out and shop.

“The effect [of the pandemic] is more psychological,” he said. “The [lockdown] date has been pushed back for a reason.

“We are looking ahead with confidence and optimism but we’ve got to be realistic.”

Businesses called to join net carbon zero campaign

WOKINGHAM businesses are being urged to lead the fight against the climate emergency, following a new Government campaign.

It has launched the UK Business Climate Hub to encourage small businesses with 250 employees or less to commit to going net carbon zero by 2050.

Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVBLEP) is backing the new scheme, which also urges companies to halve their emissions over the next nine years.

Tracey Rawling Church (pictured), board director at TVBLEP and co-lead of the LEP’s Net Zero strategy, said: “Getting greener will look different for every business, but there are steps you can take whether you are starting out or further along the road to zero emissions.”

Strategies include switching to LED bulbs to adjusting heating systems and installing charging points.

TVBLEP has also commissioned a study of the net carbon zero strategies of Berkshire’s six local authorities, businesses and institutions. “[This will] identify and agree the actions needed to ensure Berkshire plays a leading role in the race to net zero,” Ms Church said.

The report will be published in the summer.

To find out more about UK Business Climate Hub, visit: www.businessclimatehub.org /uk

Water firm’s commitment to nature

THE ENVIRONMENT is on the agenda for South East Water, which has become the first UK water firm to make a 25 year nature plan.

The supplier is creating a roadmap to help ‘create and maintain’ the resilience of the environment in the future.

Last month, it held two workshops with a range of groups including NGOs, local authorities and housing developers to create a shared vision for the plan.

It will hold smaller workshops with employees and customers between now and November, before publishing the final strategy later this year.

Emma Gooddard, head of environment at South East Water, said: “Water and the environment are intrinsically linked and we recognise that an important part of this is making sure we consider the environmental impact of our operations.

“But for us, it’s about more than just continuing to supply water — we care deeply about the environment and want to protect and enhance it for future generations.”

The plan will be reviewed and updated every five years.

What’s next for furlough?

A THAMES Valley law firm has questioned whether the furlough scheme will be affected by the lockdown extension.

Following prime minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that lifting lockdown would be delayed until later this month, Andrea Corr from Blandy & Blandy has looked at whether changes could be made to the programme.

Following the lockdown extension last month, a whole host of bodies called for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which is in place until September, to be extended further into the year.

But Ms Corr said support will remain available for workers, even if the scheme is scrapped sooner.

“Specialist advice relating to the furlough scheme, for both employees and employers, is available from our Employment Law team,” she said.

“We can also advise on areas including workforce restructuring and redundancies, unfair dismissal claims and any other aspect of employment.”

According to chancellor Rishi Sunak, the furlough scheme has supported more than 11.5 million jobs since it was launched last spring.

Until yesterday, the Government was paying 80% of workers’ salaries for hours not worked, up to £2,500 a month.

Now, employers must cover 10% of wages for those hours not worked.