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This week, 7 to 13 March is Food Waste Action Week, if you visit Love Food, Hate Waste you can find out more on how you can waste less food and save money.
In households in the UK, we waste 4.5 million tonnes of edible food, which is enough to fill 38 million wheelie bins or 90 Royal Albert Halls!
 So many of the ideas are simple, including:
- Create meal plans, and make a shopping list
- Make the most of your fridge, freezer and microwave
- Understanding Use-by and Best Before
By visiting the Love Food, Hate Waste site, you can find ideas, portion planners, recipes and much more. You can share your ideas on our Facebook page too.
If you'd like to find out more on reducing your household waste, there are more ideas on our website, including information on single-use plastic, sustainable fashion and much more.
How are you feeling today? A bit run-down? Have you thought about going to the doctors but don't want to bother them?
By using one of the new 'Health Kiosks' in Hungerford, Thatcham and Newbury libraries, you might be able to put your mind at ease and get further information at the same time.
The kiosks are free to use and can help you get a better understanding of your general health and well-being. They measure your height, weight, BMI, blood pressure, heart age and cardiovascular risk. If the kiosk readings reach specific markers, it will direct you to your doctor to book an appointment.
With new courses starting from this Friday, Educafe is helping our community expand their skills and use of English across a range of courses.
English and Maths Coffee Club
Starting this Friday, 11th, at 1pm, is the English and Maths Coffee Club, based at Speenhamland School. The course is to help improve your reading and writing skills for work and life. A great example of how this can help you is for you to help and advise your children with their homework.
The course is free to eligible learners in West Berkshire. To find out more, please follow this link.
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English for Maternity
They have two courses running this year, one starting in April and one in October, to help pregnant women understand the language used by health professionals, for pregnancy and birth.
The course is designed to encourage women to begin to learn or improve their English to access healthcare for themselves. By doing this, they can also access Further Education, training and employment opportunities.
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The course lasts for eight weeks and includes learning the language to understand birth, pain relief, breast and bottle feeding, and more.
It also includes a befriending and mentoring service which is incredibly valuable if you are new to the area.
The course is based at Newbury Library.
If you would like to find out more or know someone who might be, please follow this link.
Job Support Club and English for Work
From 24th March, Educafe is running six free 3 hour-long sessions for eligible adults to improve their English skills and use them to start or return to work, volunteer, reconnect with learning and/or further training.
It will include using language to describe jobs, work and people, job hunting and writing a CV, plus practising interview skills.
If you would like to find out more, please visit the Educafe website for more details.
The Berkshire Digital Infrastructure Group represent all 6 Local Authorities in the region. They’ve just launched their first ‘digital’ survey to look at digital infrastructure, such as broadband and mobile, and how it’s used across Berkshire.
It aims to highlight areas where access or coverage could be improved and build a clear picture of how the internet is used at home and work, and where people need some help with improving digital skills.
Rob Pocock, Digital Infrastructure Project Administrator says, “We want to know how people use the internet at home and at work and how that usage differs. We want to know what challenges they face when using digital technology so that we can help.
“The voices of local people are integral to making sure that Berkshire is truly connected. Once people have completed the survey, we’re asking them to Tell 10 others – friends, businesses, family members – to do the same.”
You can spread the word via a text message, word of mouth, social media or just chat around the coffee machine.
To find out more, follow the @BerksDIG social media channels to see the survey progress and results.
The survey starts on Monday 7 March and will run for 5 weeks.
The Household Support Fund (HSF), provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) since the autumn, has successfully helped to support over 1,400 households and assisted 4,000 children across West Berkshire as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.
The scheme has supported vulnerable households in the district who need it most by providing financial support to pay for energy bills, food, clothing, and housing costs in exceptional circumstances.
In addition, the funding has also supported children by providing Free School Meal (FSM) vouchers, recognising the additional financial pressure during this time
The funding is coming to an end very soon – closing on 31 March 2022 and must be paid before this date. Subject to the Council fully utilising the funding, this scheme will close on 18 March 2022 to enable the administration of the payments and request any additional information or clarification on the applications.
Vulnerable residents in need of support with household essentials are encouraged to apply for the remaining funding available as soon as possible as applications are still open.
And finally...
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Did you know that you can view all Council meetings on our YouTube channel, so if you missed something, you can view it anytime.
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You can also follow us on Facebook, where you can keep up to date with special events and the latest news.
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