 As we come to the end of an exceptional school year, we want to thank parents, teachers and school staff for their hard work and support.
Remote learning and home schooling have been a huge challenge, requiring you to balance your own work, health and family needs while supporting learning.
You stepped up to that challenge and however well you feel you fared, you did it - thank you.
Councillor Dominic Boeck, our Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, has written a letter of thanks to parents to acknowledge the support shown for home learning this year.
 The green bin garden and food waste collection service has been suspended for two weeks from today.
The decision has been taken due to staff shortages caused by a number of our waste truck drivers and operatives having been advised to self-isolate by the track and trace system, and the impacts of current nationwide HGV driver shortage. Suspending the garden waste collection service will free up more crews to cover the core household waste collection service.
Our collection crews have been working hard to maintain waste services throughout the pandemic and we have worked closely with our contractor to ensure all other options have been exhausted before suspending this service for a short period. The limited number of staff still able to work are doing their best to keep these essential services going, but as you can imagine that has been made more difficult with the very hot weather we’ve been experiencing.
We apologise for the inconvenience to residents, and are grateful for their patience as we work to manage this disruption to the service.
By suspending the garden waste service, we can ensure that your rubbish (black bin) and recycling (green boxes and bag) continue to be collected as scheduled.
You can find our more on our Garden Waste Collection Service webpage and keep in touch by subscribing to our Waste and Recycling newsetter.
 Join Council Leader Lynne Doherty for an update on the local response to Covid-19 and the work to recover from the pandemic.
There will also be an opportunity to put your questions to the Leader during the event. It begins at 5pm next Monday (26th July) over on our Facebook page. Questions can be asked during the event, or submitted in advance by email by 2pm on Monday.
The event will also be available to watch back afterwards on YouTube.
A level 3 heatwave has been issued from now until Friday. Although the warmer weather is welcomed by many, excessive exposure to heat can be dangerous for those who are more vulnerable. We recommend following these top tips to help you beat the heat this week:
- Keep your environment cool
- Stay hydrated
- Check in on vulnerable neighbours/relatives to make sure they are staying cool and hydrated
- Stay out of the sun between 11am & 3pm
- Find shaded areas
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 Our Economic Development Team has just signed off agreements to fund 26 local businesses with a total of £112,852 through the Welcome Back Business Grant scheme.
The funding will support temporary changes, events and innovative measures that will allow these businesses to drive footfall to our streets as West Berkshire re-opens fully this summer. We had a huge variety of proposals, including Little Yum Factory's new presence at Newbury Market, a series of workshops across Hungerford, a new seating area at Crepe O'Clock, and a re-opening event for two businesses on Thatcham Broadway.
We are really excited to see all 26 proposals take shape over the next few months and to see the impact they have locally. You can read more about the Welcome Back Business Grant on our webpage, where we will soon be posting a programme of the successful proposals.
 It's already been a year since we launched our Environment Strategy.
Over the last 12 months we have achieved a great deal of progress in working towards some of the targets detailed in our Environment Delivery Plan. Some of the highlights include:
- Established an Environment Delivery Team
- Solar PV pilot leading to development of wider solar programme across Council's estate (council offices and schools)
- Installation of first phases of electric vehicle charge points
- LED replacement of street lighting and traffic lights
- Successful wildflower verges pilot leading to full project being established
- Set up a West Berkshire Parish Climate Forum
The Environment Delivery Plan - which will be updated regularly - highlights the collective effort that we, our partners and local communities have to play in responding to this challenge. Let’s all continue working together to ensure that West Berkshire evolves to be a green district we are proud of.
There is lots more still to come as we work towards becoming a carbon neutral district by 2030. You can find out more about our work delivering the Environment Strategy online or receive updates by signing up to our Environment News bulletin.
 In addition to the weekend opening, Shaw House will also be open on weekdays in the school summer holidays from Monday 26 July.
Visitors can explore the history of the House through the new costume exhibition ‘Dressed for Shaw’ and admire the recognisable ruffs of Elizabethan England, the flamboyant frills of the Georgian gentleman and the weathered wool of the Edwardian era. Along with the ‘Dressed for Battle’ civil war exhibition with displays of arms and armour from the Littlecote House collection, which is currently on loan from the Royal Armouries Museum. There are free interactive activities for younger visitors and detailed information booklets to purchase for those who want to learn more about our local heritage.
Free children’s trails are available from reception and visitors are welcome to bring a picnic and enjoy the Grade II listed grounds - dogs on leads can come along too!
You can find opening hours for Shaw House and information about events and activities online.
Please help us to keep our communities safe by continuing to wear a face covering whilst inside Shaw House, use the hand sanitiser on arrival and keep a reasonable distance from other customers.
 Our Wild World Heroes, Summer Reading Challenge 2021 for 4-11 year olds has got off to a flying start across the district, with more than 1,000 youngsters signed up to take part even before the school holidays began.
This fun challenge encourages children to keep reading over the summer. This year’s environmental theme also gets them thinking about what we can all do to make a difference to the area where we live.
West Berkshire Council Leader Lynne Doherty will be at Newbury Library on Monday afternoon (26 July) to help children sign up for the Challenge. Come and join Lynne or visit any West Berkshire library to get started. You can find more details about the Challenge on our website.
 Have you had your say on the draft Berkshire West Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2030?
It's very important that we receive your views so that we make any further refinements to the draft strategy, which aims to drive positive change to tackle the underlying causes of poor health and wellbeing. Thank you to everyone who has already taken the time to share feedback on the strategy.
The survey is open until midnight, 4 August.
 The Let’s Get Active Fund to improve access to physical activities in West Berkshire is still open for applications. We’ve partnered with Greenham Trust to offer the fund as part of the district’s recovery from Covid-19.
There's £33,600 available to community groups, organisations, social enterprises, charities, profit-with-purpose businesses and schools in West Berkshire.
In the words of Graham Bridgman, West Berkshire's Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing:
"West Berkshire is a great place to live, work and visit. However, there are some areas in the district where people don't have the opportunity to access and participate in the range of physical activities they'd like to.
"We're working with Greenham Trust to address these imbalances by promoting the Let's Get Active Fund to encourage community groups to bid for help to widen the range of activities on offer."
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