 A village pub in Beenham has benefitted from a project to bring a reliable 4G connection for its customers. The project – delivered by the Berkshire Digital Infrastructure Group in partnership with Vodafone – saw a shoebox-sized mini-mast installed on the Six Bells Pub.
Mobile connectivity continues to play a vital role in supporting rural economies. However, mobile network operators can struggle to gain planning permission for required masts, particularly in rural locations. The project utilised a new way of building a mobile site that can be smaller, lighter and more energy efficient, perfect for use in rural or remote communities.
Nigel, pub landlord said: "It's hugely important for customers to be able to come in and immediately get a decent mobile phone signal, which they can now do."
The Digital Infrastructure Group is a partnership between the six Berkshire local authorities working alongside the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Together, we are committed to achieving world-class digital connectivity across Berkshire through the delivery of projects such as this one.
Watch this short video to find out more.
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 Trading Standards Officers routinely carry out undercover purchasing of age restricted products, such as vapes, fireworks and alcohol.
They need to recruit volunteers (aged 15-17) to assist with this work, which will take place out of school hours throughout the year and be conducted under Officer supervision.
Many volunteers use the work they do with us to assist them in finding part time jobs or as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Awards. We also provide references for College and University applications.
If you know of any young people who may wish to volunteer please contact francesca.berry1@westberks.gov.uk
Due to the nature of this work, our Officers will discuss fully with the volunteers and their parents/guardians, the nature and implications of the work to be carried out. A full briefing and training will then be given to all successful candidates.
 Our local hospitals and frontline doctors are continuing to warn that winter virus cases are creeping up alongside extremely high demand for emergency care services. Local NHS teams are working hard to improve services and provide high quality care for patients who require emergency help.
However, up to half of patients currently attending local Emergency Departments could instead consider using other NHS services such as NHS 111, Urgent Care Centres or self-care at home, supported by specialist advice from local pharmacies. Find out more about this here.
Residents are encouraged to have their winter vaccines. Information about walk-in clinic locations is available here.
 Each Health and Wellbeing board has to assess the need for pharmaceutical services in its area – and we want your views to help with this work.
Called a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), these assessments must be published every three years and are used by NHS England to consider applications to open a new pharmacy, move an existing pharmacy, or to commission additional services from a pharmacy. It’s also useful to service commissioners to inform the local commissioning strategy within West Berkshire and may inform existing pharmaceutical services contractors who may wish to change the services they provide and/or by potential new entrants to the market.
To help produce the PNA, we're asking people to share their experiences of using pharmacies in West Berkshire. Your views are very important to us as they will help us to understand what you need, and this will help shape future pharmacy services in your area.
You can find out more and complete our survey through our online Consultation and Engagement Hub.
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