Winnersh
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Winnersh Parish Council Winnersh Community Centre, New Road, Wokingham RG41 5DU 0118 978 0244
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Page last updated: Mar 2010
Local News 2009
See www.getwokingham.co.uk for local news for the Wokingham area provided by the Wokingham Times.
Wokingham Times
Winnersh Annual Parish Meeting May 2009
At the Winnersh Annual Parish Meeting held on 12th May Bridget Graham was presented with the Parish Council's Civic Award for her services to the Rainbow Guide group in Winnersh. The award was presented by the Council Chairman, Cllr John Southgate, who told the meeting that Bridget had been running the group for 5 to 7 year olds for nearly ten years and has been dedicated to ensuring that the girls get the most benefit from the experience as well as having fun.
Bridget was nominated for the award by fellow Guider Cathy Whittington. Bridget said that she had thoroughly enjoyed her role in the Guides and being part of the community in Winnersh. She added that there was a waiting list of 70 to join the group.
In his annual report to the Parish Cllr Southgate said that it had been a busy year when the Council had built on its work to generate a greater degree of community involvement. He highlighted the fete as a one of the major events and explained how Big Lottery funding had enabled the Parish Council to install play equipment that gave access to children of all abilities and that it was being well used by families from all over the borough. See the full annual report here.
The guest speaker for the meeting was Cllr Hellier Symons who spoke of her role as Wokingham Borough Mayor and all the many activities in which she had been involved over the past year.
Bridget Graham receives the award certificate from Cllr John Southgate
Parish Component of Council Tax Frozen February 2009
Winnersh Parish Council has voted to keep the parish component of the Council Tax for 2009/10 the same as for last year. This amounts to just £26.97 per annum for a Band D household. In fact the amount charged to Winnersh Council Tax payers has risen only 1.6% (in money terms) over the past five years against an inflation figure of over 16%.
One aspect of managing the Council’s finances has been the careful refurbishment of the Winnersh Community Centre over the past few years. Now complete, the facility is not only significantly improved for its users but also maintenance costs have been reduced.
Anti-
An anti-
The two keynote speakers were former Eastenders actress Brooke Kinsella, whose brother Ben was killed in a knife incident last year, and Lynn Costello, chair of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression.
The campaign has been organised by Winnersh Community Wardens Lesley McCambridge and Emma LeRoy and will be rolled out to other schools in the borough.
Over 30 people turned out on Saturday 28th March to improve the public open space now to be called “Winnersh Meadows”. This is the area just south of the A329(M) between Winnersh Triangle and Robinhood Lane which was given over for public use as part of the original Winnersh Triangle development.
It is now being improved for recreational use and the first phase of this was a Community and Environmental Day funded by SEGRO (Slough Estates Group, owners of Winnersh Triangle). A 250 metre hedge was planted between Winnersh Meadows and the Forest School playing field, paths were cut back and litter cleared. Winnersh residents joined with Winnersh Triangle employees and volunteers from the WBC Countryside Service and were treated to an excellent lunch and refreshments throughout the day.
Further work will be carried out later in the year. It is hoped that this will be largely funded by a grant from the BIG Lottery Fund that the Winnersh NAG has bid for, with WBC and WPC also making contributions.
Community Day at Winnersh Meadows March 2009
Parish Website Relaunched February 2009
A trial version of a new Winnersh Parish Website has been published for testing.
To start with there’s lots of information about the parish and the Parish Council
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The website is also being expanded to include more information about the locality and its organisations and businesses. The Winnersh & District Historical Society is developing more material about the area and its history and pictures are being collected to add to the ‘gallery’ page.
If you’re a local organisation or business or run events locally please do send us your details to be added to the site. We are also offering to host a page for some local voluntary organisations that don’t otherwise have a presence on the web (see here).
Battle of the Bands Final April 2009
The Battle of the Bands reached its final round on Friday April 24th. Organised by the Winnersh Neighbourhood Action Group together with Forest School, the competition, run over three rounds plus the final, was a great success.
Twenty bands competed this year, including five from Forest School, playing to capacity audiences at the Wokingham Youth Centre. The final winners, ‘Streetfight Silence’ from Bracknell, so impressed the judges that they gave a unanimous decision despite some other excellent performances. The band won £200 plus a day at the Whitehouse Studios in Reading.
Organisers Penny Bradshaw from the Forest School and Pat Rowell, Chairman of the Winnersh NAG, are now planning for another competition next year. For more information see http://www.seeds.org.uk/winnersh.nag/ and for lots more photos of the event see www.myspace.com/pennyandpatbotb.
Left to right: Simon Maltby (judge), Chris Penfold, Chris Cooley and Russ Merry
(Streetfight Silence), Alex (White House Studios) and Penny Bradshaw (co-
Winnersh Litter Pick April 2009
Over 40 Winnersh residents joined volunteers from across the Borough on April 26th
to clear litter from the streets and raise awareness of the anti-
Organised by Winnersh Parish Council as part of the national Big Tidy Up campaign, volunteers included Bearwood Junior Community Wardens, 2nd Winnersh Brownies, NAG members, Friends of Winnersh Meadows, Councillors and other Winnersh residents. 60 bags of rubbish were collected from throughout the parish and Sainsbury’s kindly provided refreshments at the end of the litter pick.
Winnersh volunteers gather in Sainsbury’s car park before the litter pick
Cycling Success for Cameron May 2009
Fifteen year old Cameron Swarbrick from Winnersh recently won the British Schools Cycling Association Hard Track Event.
Cameron is a pupil at the Emmbrook School Wokingham and is now riding with adults in the Reading ' Senior B ' Track League. His successes there include the B Victory and coming third overall in the Unknown Distance Race.
Family Fun at Winnersh Village Fete June 2009
Hundreds of Winnersh residents had a fun afternoon on Saturday 20th June at the Winnersh Village Fete 2009. The children’s favourites included the Circus Workshop, Megaslide and Jousting Pole and the face painters were kept busy throughout the four hours of the fete and beyond.
Most voluntary groups based in Winnersh were represented as well as national charities with a local connection. Entertainment was provided by the Saint Sebastian’s Brass Band, maypole dancers from Bearwood Primary School and the Hurst Handbell Ringers. Rock ‘N’ Roll dancers and a Kung Fu demonstration by the CWK club added variety to the programme.
The fete ended with the very popular LEAD Dog Agility display followed by the draw of the Grand Raffle by the Mayor of Wokingham Borough, Cllr Barrie Patman.
Many Winnersh residents commented that the fete had a “really friendly atmosphere”. Despite the threat of showers the afternoon stayed fine and even more people came than last year.
The fete was organised by Winnersh Parish Council and Chairman, Cllr John Southgate, said “Last year we organised the first fete in Winnersh since 1976. It was such a success that we felt that we had to follow up with a fete again this year and I hope that it will become an annual event. The primary aim was to get people in Winnersh together for an enjoyable afternoon, but we were also able to make quite a lot of money for local charities and voluntary groups. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and many said that they wanted to come again next year.”
For more on the fete see 2009 Fete
The Circus Workshop kept children (and some adults) amused
The Dog Agility display was popular
with everyone
Outdoor Gym Opened August 2009
The outdoor gym was opened by Cllr Barrie Patman, Mayor of Wokingham Borough Council, and Cllr John Southgate, Chairman of Winnersh Parish Council, on Thursday 6th August (pictured). Local MP the Rt Hon John Redwood also attended and tried out the equipment afterwards.
Another guest to be one of the first users of the gym was Stan Webb from Lord Harris Court. Although largely confined to a wheelchair Stan tried out the leg press and said that he would like to become a regular user and progress to other types of equipment in due course.
The project has been jointly funded by the Parish and Borough Councils. Winnersh Parish Council provides a wide range of facilities for young people at the recreation ground and the new equipment is sited close to existing play areas so that parents will be able to ‘play’ alongside their children.
An outdoor gym has been opened at the Bearwood Recreation Ground which will enable people of all ages to get the benefits of taking more exercise. The equipment is suitable for most people and is fun, convenient and free to use.
The outdoor gym includes five different types of equipment. The exercise bike and
ski machine enable people to get cardio-
Allotment Competition Winners September 2009
Judge Les Moody again reported improvements in the standard of the Winnersh allotments year on year. He had even more difficulty in deciding on the winners this year with only a few points separating the top five allotment holders.
Garden centre vouchers and certificates were awarded at the September Parish Council
meeting with the top awards going to Robert Wigley and
Jim Dyke. Carol Purcell and
David Nelms were joint third with last year’s winner
Geoff Harper just pipped into
fifth place.
With the increasing popularity of allotments over recent years they are in great
demand and there is now a waiting list of over 40 Winnersh residents. Among other
measures the Parish Council is splitting some of the allotments into half-
Winner Robert Wigley (right) and Jim Dyke (left -
Mill Lane Reopens September 2009
During August the Bailey Bridge in Mill Lane was replaced. The old bridge was coming to the end of its useful life and the Borough Council decided to replace it during the school holidays. Despite this timing the Reading Road became much busier even than usual! So it was with some relief that the works finished on time and Mill Lane was reopened before the new term began. The opportunity was also taken to repair the bridge by the Moat House Hotel, clear ditches and resurface sections of the road.
Winnersh ‘Lights Up’ for Christmas December 2009
Over 150 people gathered on Friday 11th December to watch the Christmas lights switched on at the Bearwood Recreation Ground. They also enjoyed carols and other seasonal songs sung by children from both Bearwood and Winnersh Primary Schools, as well as mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies . The lights were switched on by the Mayor of Wokingham Borough, Cllr Barrie Patman, who is a former Chairman of Winnersh Parish Council, and this was followed by a spectacular fireworks display.
This was the third annual ‘lighting up’ event and we were again lucky to have an evening free from rain (and considerably less cold than last year!).
Thanks go to all those who organised and participated in the event, especially the children and choir leaders of both schools and Lauren from the Rainbow Community Centre who served the refreshments, and of course all the parents and other Winnersh residents who came along and participated in the countdown before the lights were switched on! Hope to see you all again next year.
The Bearwood Primary School singers
The Winnersh Primary School singers
Toy Run roars through Winnersh December 2009
The ‘Toy Run’ is an annual charity motorcycle run of bikers who join together in bringing gifts of toys to Barnardo's for distribution to children around the UK. The bikers ride from Foster Wheeler (near M4 junction 11) to Barnardo’s in Wiltshire Road, Wokingham. This year the run was held on Sunday 6th December and many of the estimated 2,500 riders dressed up in seasonal costumes. The picture shows some of them travelling through Winnersh along the Reading Road.
Tree O’Clock Project December 2009
Parish Councillors turned out on Saturday 5th December to plant trees on Bearwood Recreation Ground as part of the Tree O'Clock project. In support of National Tree Week the Tree O’Clock project is a Guinness world record attempt to plant the most trees in one hour (11 am to 12 noon on 5th December). See www.bbc.co.uk/breathingpl aces/treeoclock for further details.
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