Join us in supporting National Thank You Day
We are supporting the first ever National Thank You Day, which will take place on Sunday, 4 July.
Residents are being encouraged to get on board and support the national event, which is centred on saying thank you to all those people who have offered help to others throughout the pandemic.
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Summer activities in West Berkshire
Summer Fun
We’ve been working hard to bring as much summer fun to West Berkshire as we can while keeping socially distanced and safe. There are so many activities and great ways to keep children, young people and families happy and active through the summer holidays. Click on the link below to get a copy of our Summer Fun brochure.
*Download Summer Fun 2021 brochure*
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Vision for Newbury – let us know your views
Help us to make sure that Newbury continues to be a successful, modern market town by taking a short survey to give us your thoughts on our draft ‘Vision for Newbury Town Centre.’
This proposal takes into account feedback from meetings and workshops with a range of businesses, residents’ groups, students, and other stakeholders, as well as our initial public survey that received more than 4,000 responses.
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Refreshed Economic Development Strategy
We have reviewed and refreshed our Economic Development Strategy 2020-2023 [ https://info.westberks.gov.uk/economicdevelopmentstrategy ] to take account of the challenges posed to local economic recovery and renewal by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The refreshed strategy looks at what we have achieved so far, such as: town centre master planning, welcome back business grants, employment support for young adults, and applying for additional funding for the Lido.
We have developed actions in the following four areas believed to have the most relevance locally:
* People – good jobs and greater earning power for all in West Berkshire
* Places – creating prosperous communities across West Berkshire
* Infrastructure – future-proofing West Berkshire’s infrastructure
* Business Environment – making West Berkshire the best place to start a grow a business
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Climate Emergency – progress update
It’s been two years since we declared a Climate Emergency. Since then we have been busy on our route towards carbon neutrality for the district. We launched our Environment Strategy [ https://info.westberks.gov.uk/environment ] in 2020 and this year released our Environment Strategy draft Delivery Plan [ https://info.westberks.gov.uk/EnvironmentDP ] which outlines our actions between now and 2030.
In the lead up to COP26 [ https://ukcop26.org/ ], we are excited to be working on lots of local environmental projects. If you want to hear more about COP26, join Laura Farris MP and local experts for the *Pre-COP26 Climate Summit on Friday 16 July, 2 – 3.30pm*.
*See Pre-COP26 invite from Laura Farris MP*
*Register for our monthly Environment newsletter*
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Draft Health and Wellbeing Strategy
Councillor Graham Bridgman, our Deputy Leader as well as Chairman of our Health and Wellbeing Board, invites residents to review and provide feedback on the draft Berkshire West Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2030 [ https://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=51023&p=0 ].
We’d like to understand if the proposal meets your expectations, and to refine and confirm the final strategy.
The survey is open until midnight, 4 August.
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Do you have items to loan for Hungerford exhibition?
West Berkshire Museum is continuing its series of exhibitions focusing on each of the parishes in the area by looking at Hungerford, a town with a very interesting history.
Although there are many items from Hungerford in the collection, the Museum staff are always keen to fill any gaps.
If you have any items connected to the town’s early history that you would be willing to loan for the exhibition, the staff would love to hear from you before the end of September.
Please email: collections@westberks.gov.uk or call the Museum [ http://track.vuelio.uk.com/z.z?l=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2VzdGJlcmtzaGlyZWhlcml0YWdlLm9yZy93ZXN0LWJlcmtzaGlyZS1tdXNldW0%3d&r=13360616940&d=14136424&p=1&t=h&h=49341262f1a1e1d36bd65deea2ad8fd0 ] during opening hours (currently Wednesday-Saturday 10am-4pm) on: 01635 519562.
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Join the first Community Cafe – 7 July, Newbury
Educafe is extending a warm invitation to its first Community Cafe on *Wednesday, 7 July from 11am to 3pm*, at the Globe Indoor Garden in Newbury.
The purpose of the Community Cafe is to bring people together in safe, friendly spaces to eat, learn and make new friends. There will be an opportunity to meet community services in person, and there will free tea and cake for all.
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Cycling & Wellbeing Festival – 10 July, Calcot
Come and join us at this free event in Holybrook Linear Park, *10am-3pm Saturday 10 July*, and explore ways to be more active.
Marvel at the BMX stunt display team, meet Dr Bike and have your bike MOT’d, enjoy a guided ride on the grounds or have your bike security marked – plus lots more.
We will be following Covid guidance to ensure the safety of all of our staff and attendees. We encourage all visitors to take a rapid Covid-19 test before arriving; see more information on our lateral flow testing webpage [ https://info.westberks.gov.uk/lateralflowtesting ].
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Wild World Heroes Summer Reading Challenge
Pictured: Felicity Harrison, West Berkshire Libraries Manager, and Cllr Howard Woollaston, our Executive Member for Leisure and Culture, are shown launching the Wild World Heroes, Summer Reading Challenge 2021. They are pictured in Hungerford Library, one of the eight West Berkshire Libraries, all of which are running the Challenge this summer.
West Berkshire Libraries is challenging children to read up to six library books between 1 July and 15 September and to collect free incentives from their local library for their achievements as they read. There will be medals and certificates for everyone who completes the challenge.
The Wild World Heroes theme is a celebration of books, nature and action for the environment, and was developed in partnership with WWF, the world’s leading independent conservation organisation.
