The year, the Great Big Green Week is taking place 24 September - 2 October. This is a nationwide celebration of action on climate change, and we are encouraging our community groups and town and parish councils to take part.

This Community Fund supports groups to organise local events, activities and festivals during the Great Big Green Week 2022. These should engage the local community and celebrate action and progress being made on climate change.

There are 3 sizes of fund grants available:

• Small Grant: £200 to £500 (deadline 30 June)
• Medium Grant: £500 to £5,000 (deadline 30 June)
• Large Grant: £5,000 to £10,000 (deadline 8 May)

Reading Buses have confirmed that over 6000 tickets were issued over the four days of the Easter free bus travel event, this included 2440 passengers that traveled on additional services operated in Newbury on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

This initiative helped support sustainable public transport and encouraged people to get out and about in Reading and to take a look at Newbury’s Easterfest.

Building on this success West Berkshire Council in partnership with Reading Buses and Thames Travel will be offering a similar travel offer over the 4 day Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June.

We have recently funded a new Handybus for use by residents! Run by the Volunteer Centre West Berkshire (VCWB), the new book-a-ride service will begin operating in the towns in the next couple of weeks.

The bus, which has been adapted to be fully accessible, was successfully funded through the Council’s Capital Grant Fund, which is available for all local community transport operators to bid for.

The new service will mean that those unable to use public transport will still have a more sustainable way to get around than each driving. The new service will provide access local town centres for shopping, attend appointments and meet friends.  

Did you know, composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your kettle produces annually? You can find out more information about the benefits and how to start composting online here!

All food and garden waste collected in West Berkshire goes to an in-vessel composting site based in Padworth. Here the waste is treated and turned into compost which is then sold locally. A video of the facility can be seen here.

For more information on where to buy composters please visit our webpage here.

Hampstead Norreys Community Shop are always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly and are delighted to introduce their newly acquired milk machine.

Buy a glass bottle (or bring your own), fill it up and take it home. Clean the bottle in a dishwasher, or use a bottlebrush, then bring back and refill, again and again. 

Better for the environment - no more plastic

​Better for your purse - 20p a litre cheaper than milk in plastic bottles in the shop.

Better flexibility - 250ml glass bottles available for those who would like to try the milk first, or for those who don't drink much milk.

Find them online here or visit them at Manor Courtyard, Hampstead Norreys, RG18 0TD

Sparkling Streams project comes to a close

Our hugely successful £400k partnership project – funded by the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund - came to a close on 31 March. Together with our partners - ARK, Town & Manor of Hungerford and Southern Streams Farmer Group - we took a catchment approach to improving the River Kennet, Shalbourne and Dun tributaries and their associated river and wetland habitats, increasing opportunities for wildlife to flourish and connecting people with nature.

Over 140 people gave over 1600 hours of their time to volunteer on a range of project activities including planting, surveying and construction. This project included West Berkshire and neighbouring counties. Photo of volunteers planting up the river edge at Standen Manor.

Key achievements include:

• 1,100m of new or enhanced chalk stream and a fish pass created at Eddington Mill, Hungerford
• 3,000m of enhanced in-river and riparian habitat work carried out on eight sites of the Dun and Shalbourne tributaries
• 1,000m of hedge (5,025 hedge plants) and 3,400 trees planted on six sites
• a rain garden created at Shalbourne School

Further information about the project is available on our website. We've also developed a 'story map' with details of all the activities within the project which you can find here.

The Farming in Protected Landscapes team has been busy delivering the first year of the programme. We have worked closely with the Local Assessment Panel, other team members from the AONB unit and a whole host of farmers, land managers and other stakeholders. 

With well over 100 enquiries and 28 applications approved, there is a wealth of interesting projects the programme is supporting.  Further information can be found on our website here. This project includes West Berkshire and neighbouring counties.

We are delighted we can confirm our final allocation for financial years (FY) 22/23 and 23/24.

Our overall allocation for FY 22/23 is £691,979. 

Our overall allocation for FY 23/24 is: £689,383.

We are looking forward to supporting more exciting projects in the AONB in the coming years. If you are interested in discussing an idea you have with the FiPL team, please get in touch with robertwest@northwessexdowns.org.uk.