News

People with a learning disability are invited to come along and join in the SHINEplus Games, a football and athletics tournament at Cantley Park, Wokingham on Thursday June 20.

Participants will get the opportunity to try out different football and athletics skills. Working in a team they will score points at each activity. Once all points are added up, an award will be presented to the winning team.

The tournament is supported in partnership with Reading FC Community Trust.

This free event runs from 10am to 3pm and spaces must be booked in advance by calling Adam Godwin on (0118) 974 3729 or emailing: [email protected]. The deadline for booking a place is Friday May 31.

Taylor Wimpey’s The Pavilions Sshowhomes are now open in Wokingham, Berkshire.

Tim Betts, Regional Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey, says: “We’re thrilled at the phenomenal response we’ve already experienced from visitors eager to discover our exciting new showhomes at The Pavilions.

“It’s no surprise that these beautifully-designed homes have been so popular, as they offer a tantalising glimpse into the fabulous lifestyle opportunities which are waiting to be enjoyed at this exclusive and highly-desirable development.

“Anyone hoping to find their dream home at The Pavilions should make sure they experience these unique showhomes as soon as possible!”

To experience the stunning showhomes at The Pavilions, property-seekers should visit the Sales Information Centre, located off Wellington Road, Wokingham, RG40 2AW, and open daily from 10.30am to 5.30pm. Alternatively, log on to taylorwimpey.co.uk/westlondon.

The Wokingham town centre regeneration project has signed up Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain, to the scheme.

The 80-bedrooom hotel and restaurant will be developed on the corner of Wellington Road and Denmark Street, creating the gateway into the town centre. Whitbread, Premier Inn’s parent company, will invest £5million into the scheme on a capitalised lease basis.

The Premier Inn hotel and restaurant will attract more than 2,000 visitors per month into the town centre, creating greater footfall and business for the shops, bars and restaurants in the area.

The planning application for the Elms Field and Peach Place plaza part of the development will be submitted in the spring of 2013. The hotel will be built in the second phase of the development expected to start around spring 2014and should be ready for opening by mid 2016. This phase also includes the foodstore and the upgraded Elms Park.

Over 2,200 pupils at Wokingham Borough primary schools are welcoming a special guest this week (April 22 to 26) as road safety guru Louis Taylor teaches them all about how to cross the road safely.

The Louis Taylor Road Safety Show runs in the borough’s schools from today (Monday April 22) to Friday April 26 with a host of pals including Billy the Beacon and Mr Rocco.

Louis Taylor is an entertainer who has been running road safety workshops for children for many years. He uses a variety of ways to get important road safety messages across including magic, drama and puppets – like Billy the Beacon. Billy is hugely popular with children as he has two big feet to remind him to stop well back from the kerb, two big eyes to look all around very carefully, two big ears to listen to traffic and a big round head to think.

The road safety shows have been organised by Wokingham Borough Council’s road safety team in a bid to help children learn how to cross a road safely, where a road should be crossed and when it’s appropriate to hold on to a parent or guardian’s hand. Children also learn about why it is important to wear a cycle helmet.

From Monday April 22 fares for the Loddon Bridge Park and Ride bus service will increase by between 10pence and 30pence for return journeys.

Cllr Keith Baker, executive member for highways and planning, said: “Fares have remained the same since 2009. However, the cost of providing the service has increased several times during this time and reluctantly, in partnership with Reading Borough Council, we have been left with no option, but to increase the fares to maintain this high quality service.”

If anyone would like further information regarding the Loddon Bridge Park and Ride they should call Wokingham Direct on (0118) 974 6000 or email: [email protected].

The Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance was temporarily grounded in Ascot due to a technical failure after landing in sports fields to treat a patient. The helicopter, which covers Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire was able to take off the next day.

A statement issued by TVACAA said: “Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance can confirm that on Friday 12 April it was discovered, that shortly after landing in the Charters School sports fields to attend a sporting injury, the Helicopter main rotor blades had potentially made contact with some cable from a sports net. No patients were on board at the time.

“The patient in Ascot was conveyed by land ambulance to Frimley Park Hospital. The grounding of the helicopter has had no detrimental effect to the treatment of the patient, as there was no break in the continuity of care they received.

“A thorough engineering inspection of the air craft was carried out overnight in accordance with Bond Air Services procedures, suppliers of the aircraft to the charity. The helicopter was confirmed as fully operational and returned to active service this morning.

“Air Ambulance HBOB and the crew have been flying today attending incidents across the three counties its serves, including a major trauma in Oxfordshire this afternoon.”

People with disabilities visiting Dinton Pastures Country Park in Hurst can now take a comfort break in ease, thanks to Wokingham Borough Council and its countryside team.

Part of the £27,000 cost of the new specially designed Changing Places toilet was raised by community effort and council staff – led by countryside co-ordinator Chris Buggy who cycled the equivalent of the height of Everest.

The new high tech facility boasts a shower, hoist, changing table with adjustable height, and is part of the Radar Key Scheme so is available at all times when people with disabilities and their carers need it.

Changes Places are a national toilet standard designed for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well as other serious impairments such as spinal injuries, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis or an acquired brain injury.

They often need extra facilities to allow them to use public toilets comfortably. Changing Places toilets offer the specialised features and additional space to meet these needs.

There are two other Changing Places toilets in Wokingham, but Dinton Pasture’s is the first with Radar key access.

Young people in the Wokingham Borough are being invited to take part in a special survey to highlight what crime and disorder issues affect them, and what they would like done about it.

The Youth Community Safety Survey, organised by Wokingham Borough Council, will run from April 15 to May 24 and is open to all 11 to 18-year-olds attending a school in the borough.

It is part of the council’s annual Safe Communities Survey which gathers the views of residents. Although adult response rates are excellent, not enough young people take part, so a youth version of the survey has been devised to overcome this.

The survey will ask questions more appropriate for younger people to find out what issues affect them, what they would like the council, police, and other services to do to make them feel safer, as well as issues they think are important.

The survey has been developed with the help of students from The Piggott School in Wargrave, who used discussion forums and feedback sessions in class to shape the final questions and answer options.

It will be distributed to young people via their schools, but will also be available online via a secure site which only the pupils can access.

The schools taking part include Addington, Bulmershe, Emmbrook, Forest, Foundry College, Holt, Maiden Erlegh, Oakbank, Piggott, St Crispins, Southfield and Waingels College.

Wokingham Borough Council has given £8,870 to ReadiBus towards the cost of a new minibus helping residents with restricted mobility across the Wokingham Borough.

The ReadiBus service is a transport lifeline for people who cannot make their journeys in any other way, and operates in Central and West Berkshire and parts of South Oxfordshire.

The new £50,000 Mercedes Sprinter is specially designed to be fully accessible and can accommodate up to three wheelchair users and six seated passengers at a time. It will travel more than 200,000 miles and complete many thousands of journeys across the borough during the next decade. It replaces an older bus which has now reached the end of its serviceable life.

ReadiBus is always on the lookout for new drivers, with the appropriate clean driving licence and able to spare even just a few hours per week.

The annual spring clean up organised by Wokingham Borough Council with town and parish councils, neighbourhood action groups, resident and environmental groups collected two and half tonnes of litter on March 23 and 24.

Items found include two child car seats, a large amount of tyres and car parts, two TV’s and a TV unit, a large picture frame, two bicycles, carrier bags of food, a gas boiler, a gas bottle, a pram canopy, a kettle, a very large bag of shoes, an office chair, two toilets and a stolen handbag and purse. A box of fancy dress items, a model aircraft, a tent and a deer skull with antlers.

Residents can help throughout the year, to keep their neighbourhoods green and litter free, by joining the adopt-a-street/green space scheme. The borough council’s waste and recycling team will provide them with a litter picker and bags, which can be left out for collection with their normal weekly household rubbish.