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A new learning space for children with physical disabilities was officially opened yesterday by Paralympian Louise Sugden. Louise is a former Speenhamland and Keevill pupil and has competed both as a former wheelchair basketball player and current powerlifter.
 The Keevill Unit is part of an £860,000 transformation project funded by West Berkshire Council. The first phase saw the refurbishment of the Pelican Building, an existing structure on the school site, into an inspiring learning environment for Early Years children. It provides two new classrooms, a designated outdoor learning zone, accessible toilet and hoist for children with physical disabilities and extra indoor and outdoor space, for all pupils to enjoy.
When the Pelican Building was complete, work began to relocate the Keevill Unit for children with physical difficulties. The expanded area now provides two classrooms, a dedicated Special Educational Needs therapy room, an accessible hygiene room, two resource areas/office and a kitchen area.
 We've recently launched a new recruitment section on our website to showcase what it’s like to be an employee, what the Council offers as an employer and of course what exciting vacancies we have available.
Work has been underway over the last couple of months and we're now pleased to be able to share it with you. One of the many reasons for this project was to ensure that our website remains up-to-date and that the user experience is as seamless as possible. One new feature in particular we've introduced is our ‘featured vacancies’ snapshot which is visible from on the main homepage. Here you will find a range of available positions that we are wanting to highlight and that may be of particular interest to job seekers.
What are you waiting for? Come and see if we have the perfect position for you!
 Join Shaw House for their annual bank holiday Open Days where you will have the opportunity to access many areas which are not normally open to the public, including the ‘Forbidden Corridor’ on the second floor and the basement tunnel running along the length of the House.
You can also visit the exhibition rooms and our historic costume exhibition ‘Dressed for Shaw’ and the English Civil War arms and armoury exhibition ‘Dressed for Battle’.
There is no need to book to explore the House, exhibitions and café.
Sunday 1 & Monday 2 May | 11am – 4pm | Free
 We want to better understand how people use digital platforms to find out about the help, information and activities available across the district.
Our current digital signposting platform is the West Berkshire Directory, which provides information and advice on how to find support in your local community, help at home, leisure activities, financial guidance, care homes, support for those caring for and with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, and voluntary and community organisations.
We all have different information needs from time to time which may lead us to search, find and connect with local support and activities. We’re keen to hear from as many people as possible, from all parts of our community about their experience of using the West Berkshire Directory, and whether they use any other digital signposting platforms. Whether you live, work or support someone in West Berkshire, your feedback will be valuable in helping us to understand what information you need, and how you prefer to access it. The information gathered will help to inform how we develop our digital signposting platform in the future.
Please help us to help you stay connected by completing our short survey which will inform the way this important information can be accessed in the future. The survey is live until 11 May 2022 and takes around 5-10 minutes to complete.
 Earlier this month, we held a Virtual Open Day to introduce The Castle @ Theale, a new specialist educational centre for students with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties and Autism. This exciting new facility will be run and managed as a satellite provision by the Castle School in Newbury and is due to open in September 2022.
Professionals and families who attended were given a presentation about the exciting new provision, including the vision for learning and development, the support structure, the ethos of therapeutic thinking underpinning our approach and a virtual tour of the newly developed and refurbished site.
 We're asking for your views on a proposal to close Notrees Care Home in Kintbury by December this year. The proposal is being made principally due to changing demands for Adult Social Care in recent years, in part due to the impact of the pandemic on the needs of older people, with reduced need for the type of care Notrees provides.
In addition, the rural location of the home presents challenges, particularly with recruitment and retention, as well as the size and condition of the building. The home can accommodate up to 18 people and there are 10 residents currently being cared for. Notrees residents and their families would be supported to relocate to one of our other care homes, or an alternative private service and staff will be redeployed to another team within the adult social care service.
Full information about the proposal and a link to the survey, which is open until 8 June 2022, are available here: https://www.westberks.gov.uk/Notrees. Hard copies are also available by calling 01635 503050 to request a pack.
A proposal to develop a new grass playing pitch at Manor Park Recreation Ground on Stoney Lane, Newbury is out for public consultation.
This follows a need identified in our Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) for more pitches in Newbury and Thatcham. We’ve made a detailed analysis across the district and it's clear that there’s a high level of demand for football and rugby in those areas, and that more grass pitches are needed. We’re proposing that one be created at Manor Park and want to find out what level of support there would be for this.
Have your say on the Manor Park proposal at http://www.westberks.gov.uk/manorparkpitch
It’s less than three weeks until this year’s Dementia Action Week and the Dementia Friendly team have a number of free events planned including an awareness event outside the Corn Exchange on Wednesday 18 May from 9.00am-4.00pm when you can find out more about dementia and learn how you can support others in the community.
There will also be a Dementia Walk at Reading Football Club on Thursday 19 May from 10.00am-12.00pm as well as an Afternoon Tea Dance at the Fairclose Centre in Newbury on Friday 20th May at 2.00pm.
You can find out more about these, and other special events for the week, as well as accessing information about the dementia support available in West Berkshire by emailing Victoria.Rowland@AgeUKBerkshire.co.uk, calling 0118 959 4242 or visiting www.dfwb.co.uk.
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