DECEMBER 2020 E – NEWS Wokingham Borough Community
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E – NEWS DECEMBER 2020 Wokingham Borough Community Response (WBCR) continues to be ready - if and when you need support this winter. One Front Door is run by Citizens Advice Wokingham, supported by Wokingham Borough Council. One Front Door works closely with the Borough Council and local voluntary organisations such as the Wokingham Volunteer Centre, First Days, Involve, Link Visiting Scheme, Age UK Berkshire and others. Do get in touch if you need help, for example, with prescription collections or a shopping service because you are self-isolating. It can also help with other Covid-19 effects such as debt advice from losing your job, statutory sick pay and benefits, mental health, and wellbeing. You can contact One Front Door on 0300 330 1189, by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk For the latest Covid-19 updates visit www.wokingham.gov.uk and sign up for the Covid-19 newsletter You can find the latest information on local cases and statistics on the Covid-19 dashboard at www.berkshirepublichealth.co.uk Over 700 people have already signed up to become Covid Community Information Champions! You can join them and help your friends, family and community stay up to date with the latest facts, information, and advice about about Covid-19. To get involved, visit https://cutt.ly/5g0w2Zt enter your email and select ‘Covid Community Information Champions’. 1 E – NEWS DECEMBER 2020 Do you like a real tree? The local Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is having its annual Christmas tree fundraiser on Saturday 12 December from 11am to 3pm at Edgbarrow Woods Car Park, Wildmoor Heath, Sandhurst Road, Crowthorne near RG45 7PP The Scots pine trees are sourced from local heathland by the Wildlife Trust. The ‘green’ Christmas trees are sustainably grown, freshly cut the weekend of the sale and drop-resistant. Felling the trees helps with the heathland management and restoration. Mistletoe, holly, pine cones, willow stars, Wildlife Trust cards and calendars will also be on sale - and all are recyclable For further details visit https://www.bbowt.org.uk/events This year the Advent Calendar is celebrating performances from live events held in the last 7 years. At 9am each morning to 24 December a new video will be released. Visit www.wokinghamadvent.org.uk or view on Facebook @wokinghamadvent This is a partnership project between Wokingham Town Council and ‘more arts’. Wokingham Christmas Windows This festive season why not decorate a window in your home for all your neighbours to see! You could use tissue paper, cut outs, lights, figures, pictures - whatever you would like to! For more information, ideas and to share your pictures visit Facebook @wokinghamchristmaswindows This event is organised by Churches Together Wokingham There is free festive parking in Borough Council car parks on Saturdays on the run up to Christmas. Alternatively enjoy your Christmas gift shopping safely from home while also supporting the borough’s small craft and gift artisans at this difficult time. Visit Facebook and search for Wokingham Virtual Christmas Market 2020 2 E – NEWS DECEMBER 2020 Rubbish and recycling If you need more blue bags, garden waste sacks or food waste items in the run up to Christmas, there are now more locations open for you to get them. Waste items are available to collect at libraries in Woodley, Lower Earley and Wokingham, which are operating with limited in-person services and reduced hours. You can order blue bags or garden waste sacks online at www.wokingham.gov.uk (search for ‘rubbish and recycling’) then bring your receipt, or just turn up for any food waste items you need. If you can’t visit at the times below, delivery can be arranged but check the instructions on the webpages for each item. Locations and timings are as follows: Location Days Timings Shute End office, Wokingham Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- 9.30am-5pm (RG40 1BN) day Wokingham library Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 9.30am-1.30pm (RG40 2BB) Woodley library Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9am-1pm (RG5 4JA) Lower Earley library Monday, Thursday 9.30am-1.30pm Ryeish Green Sports Hub (RG7 Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm 1EP) There is so much you can recycle at this time of year, from cardboard to foil sweet wrappers, food waste to real Christmas trees. If wrapping paper can be scrunched into a ball it can be recycled too, but please remove any tape, bows or ribbons first. Visit www.wokingham.gov.uk or download the Re3cyclopedia app to find out what you can recycle and where. Put your paint to community use Over 100,000 litres of paint a year, enough to cover almost 180 football pitches, is disposed of by re3 residents. re3paint is a new initiative that encourages residents to use up their leftover paint and offers free tins of full or partly used paint to residents and communities. Never tip paint down the sink or your drains as one litre of improperly disposed of paint can pollute up to 250,000 litres of water. If you have any left-over paint that you no longer need, don’t put it out with your normal rubbish, instead bring it to the Recycling Centres so it can be redistributed to others. www.re3.fccenvironment.co.uk 3 E – NEWS DECEMBER 2020 More on rubbish and recycling Did you know that 75 per cent of all the materials in your old electrical items can be recycled and turned into useful things like life-saving equipment, children’s playground equipment and even new electricals? Re3 is running a campaign to encourage residents to recycle any old electricals they don't use or need. Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled. If your old electrical item contains batteries or bulbs they need to be removed before recycling. With computers or smart devices remove the memory and SIM cards and delete your data. All you have to do is bag them and take them to the Recycling Centres in Reading or Bracknell. Remember if your small electricals are in working order, you should leave them at the Reuse Area. For more information visit www.wokingham.gov.uk or www.re3.fccenvironment.co.uk Please recycle batteries responsibly Batteries can be recycled but they should never go into blue rubbish bags or recycling boxes. You should always check whether batteries are in other items, then remove them and recycle the batteries separately. These can be taken to your nearest battery recycling facility, often at a nearby shop or supermarket. You can find your closest battery recycling point at www.recyclenow.com An update on food waste recycling It is now 18 months since food waste recycling started and since then over 8000 tonnes have been diverted from landfill. More than 500 tonnes is now being collected from the kerbside each month which goes through an anaerobic digestion process to turn it into energy. What Wokingham borough has recycled so far is enough to provide power for 32,288 homes for a day or 88 homes for a year. The 2019/20 figure for food waste equates to reducing 52,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (the measure for carbon footprint) helping us to move to the Borough Council’s goal of a carbon neutral borough by 2030. 4 E – NEWS DECEMBER 2020 Roads and pavements • We know that there are a few problems with our roadsides in the Parish, from damaged and dirty roads signs or encroaching vegetation to narrow pavements. We are working with the Borough Council - the Highway Authority - to resolve these issues but it will take some time. • If your property is alongside a road or pavement you can do your bit by ensuring that hedges, trees and shrubs in your garden are cut back so that they dont cause an obstruction for pedestrians. This is particularly important for those with limited mobility, visual impairments or with prams or buggies. • You can report problems by visiting www.wokingham.gov.uk/roadworks-and-outdoor- maintenance/report-a-problem-with-roads-and-streets/ Flyposting • We have removed lots of old and unwanted notices from lamp columns, bus stops and other places recently, particularly on Barkham Ride, the Finchampstead Road and at the California Crossroads. As long as it is safe for you to do so, you can remove unwanted notices too. If in doubt just get in touch with us. Thames Valley Alert Thames Valley Police has advised of an increase in online shopping fraud, delivery scams, cyber attacks and even thefts of catalytic converters from cars. For information, crime alerts, tips on how to shop online securely, advice on securing garden buildings used by those working from home and much more sign up to Thames Valley Alert at www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk Out and about on foot and bike in Finchampstead We have produced an advice note on which rights of way can be used by cyclists and horse riders, explaining why there are restrictions. You can see this on our website www.finchampstead-pc.gov.uk (search for local walks) and we are also circulating it with this newsletter. Winter Wheelers and a new interactive cycle map Wokingham Borough Council has launched an interactive cycle map that will help residents find appropriate cycle routes around the borough. This shows routes on and off road, as well as helpful information like places to securely lock up your bike. The council hopes that the new map, together with new cycling infrastructure, including on London Road in Wokingham and the new relief road Observer Way in Arborfield, will encourage residents to sign up this year for Winter Wheelers, a cycling challenge.