Wokingham Borough Connect
 Cycle September
Cycle September is the global bike riding event of the year, bringing together riders of every level to promote the benefits of bicycles – and we’d love as many people and workplaces as possible to get involved!
Anyone aged 13 or over who lives, works or studies in the borough can sign up and start encouraging friends, family or colleagues to take part. Everybody who logs at least one ride of at least 10 minutes every week, whether for work or leisure, will be entered into a prize draw.
The aim of the month is simple: to get more people riding bikes. It’s not about riding the most miles, it’s about encouraging others to join in, helping their workplace climb up the leaderboards, and riding for health, happiness and fun.
There are over 500 prizes up for grabs this September, picked especially for you, including an early-bird prize of a bike worth £1,000!
 Bus operator highlights climate crisis
Reading Buses, which operates services across Wokingham borough alongside its sister company Thames Valley Buses, has redecorated one of its fleet to draw attention to the climate emergency.
The single-decker vehicle has been decorated with blue and red "warming stripes" depicting the increase in global temperatures as a result of carbon emissions.
It’s powered by low-carbon bio methane and covers several routes including the Leopard 3, which runs from Reading to Shinfield, Arborfield and Wokingham town.
This serves the University of Reading, which was a partner in this initiative as the stripes were created by its climate science expert Professor Ed Hawkins. He produced the design, printed on recyclable vinyl, to illustrate the problem visually.
We support this gesture as we declared a climate emergency in 2019 and we’ve pledged to play as full a role as we can in reducing Wokingham borough's carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.
Using public transport is one of the easiest ways that residents can help cut emissions, along with walking and cycling more, which is why we're working to save our services as they strive to overcome the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.
Bus services roll on after urgent talks
As part of our commitment to sustainable travel, we've saved several key bus links whose futures were in doubt until at least 31 March next year.
We've agreed to subsidise alternative routes through villages south of the M4, between Reading and Wokingham town, which are currently served by Reading Buses' Tiger 7 and Leopard 3, 8 and 9.
These changes, including an extension of the 600 Mereoak Park and Ride service, will help keep communities connected as we work with the operator on a long-term solution.
Buses are currently struggling as passenger numbers are still lower than before covid-19 while running costs are increasing and future Government support is unclear.
However, they're still a highly affordable and environmentally friendly way of getting around - and if we don't use them now, we could lose them later. Our My Journey Wokingham website can help you plan your journey.
Promoting a greener school run
To help schools promote sustainable travel among pupils, parents and staff, My Journey works with Modeshift to provide a simple platform, called Modeshift STARS, for creating and monitoring travel plans. These explain how the school will encourage walking, cycling and other types of active travel.
Three Wokingham borough schools have submitted their accreditations to Modeshift STARS and we should hear whether they’ve been successful next month.
Active Travel to School Travel Maps
With just over a week until schools return after the summer holidays, why not plan your active or sustainable journeys to school. We produce an active travel map for each school which shows 5 minute and 10 minute walking distances from your school. There is also useful information about why you should actively travel to school as well as key dates for the diary this term. The maps have been updated and are being uploaded onto our website over the next few days.
Please visit our primary schools page to find your school's map.
We also produced maps for secondary schools too which can be found here.
Improving air quality at Twyford
Our air quality officer has recorded a podcast about Twyford crossroads, which is an air quality hot spot and was declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in 2015.
Levels of nitrogen dioxide gas went down during the pandemic but have been increasing since 2021, when travel restrictions were lifted. We submit an annual Air Quality Action Plan to DEFRA which includes actions to improve this.
In the podcast our air quality officer discusses how the Wokingham Air Quality project is working with schools in Twyford to reduce air pollution and encourage children to walk, scoot or cycle to school.
One simple action that anyone travelling through the crossroads can take, is to switch off their engine while waiting at the crossroads, as this will help to reduce the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide gas (NO2).
Identify the Tree Competition
Why not taking part in our identify the tree competition? We have ten pictures of trees and their leaves - see if you can identify the type of tree by looking at the pictures. These trees can all be found in Wokingham borough.
The competition closes on 4 September and the winning entry will receive a £25 Decathlon voucher and runners-up will get a My Journey goody bag.
 Summer Activities
Fun in the sun for families
My Journey supported three of the HAF (Holiday Activities and Food programme) events this summer holidays at FBC, Finchampstead, Southlake Crescent, Woodley and Shinfield Green, Shinfield with the first two events on very hot days - not that this put off the families participating in all the activities.
Our smoothie bike, Pedalicious, was run ragged and queues built up so much that we had to turn people away when the ingredients ran out! Lots of information and advice, and cycling and walking maps, were provided to those interested in trying out new routes during the summer break. We even managed to mend one bike and provide some cycle training.
Free bike checks prove popular
Our Dr Bike hosted four events in the summer: two at The Forest School and Rainbow Park in Winnersh, one at Montague Park in Wokingham alongside a guided nature walk round Buckhurst Meadows and the other at the new Long Acre development in Shinfield. The bikes checks were all popular with cyclists wanting to keep their bikes maintained, particularly in Winnersh where 25 were made roadworthy.
Look out for other Dr Bike events in the autumn term to be held at Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Woodley on Thursday afternoons during November and December which will be advertised on our website or social media pages.
Twyford Village Fete
My Journey supported Twyford Village Fete on Saturday, 20 August. This a great local event and has something for everyone including a dog show, a motorcycle display team and bubbleologist and stilt walker. We talked to lots of people about the benefits of active travel and our newly updated Twyford and Woodley cycle map
Lots of people made smoothies on Pedalicious our smoothie bike including the Twyford resident who came up with the brilliant name in a competition we ran earlier in the year to find a name for our smoothie bike.
Share your views on investment in transport
Transport for the South East have set out their 30 year vision for the region – it aligns with and supports government priorities to decarbonise the transport system, level-up left-behind communities and enable sustainable economic growth. in the South East.
It has been developed in partnership and written for and on the behalf of the South East’s residents, communities, businesses and political representatives.
The public consultation on the draft of this plan will end on 12 September and we invite everyone that it affects to read the draft and respond.
More time to comment on walking and cycling plan
We've extended the consultation on our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan until Sunday, 4 September, so there's still time to share your thoughts on our suggestions to improve the borough's active travel links.
It's been running since 11 July and we've had thousands of responses since then, but we want to make sure that everybody's had the chance to have their say before the summer holidays end.
The plan is a "high level" one so these are just ideas for now - we won't go ahead with anything until we've consulted in more depth. However, we need this plan to help secure Government funding in years to come and your comments will help us make sure we're on the right track.
Please take a look at our proposals and tell us what you think.
 Earn rewards when you travel actively or sustainably
Whether you walk, wheel, cycle or catch the train or bus, you’ll earn ValleyCoins and ValleyTickets for all your journeys when you use the free Innovation Valley Rewards smartphone app,
Extra rewards for CO2 Free Summer
CO2 Free Summer runs until 18 September and Wokingham participants have two additional rewards that are just for the My Journey Wokingham challenge:
☀️ Sustainable Summer bonus: A bonus 100 ValleyCoins every day for bus or train journeys over 1 mile.
☀️ Active Summer prize draw: A weekly draw for 5,000 ValleyCoins. Walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or run for 60 minutes or more per day and you'll earn your ticket into the weekly draw.
 Regular cycle training and activities
- Bikeability Learn to Ride sessions (£6) at FBC in Finchampstead (from Wednesday 14 September) and Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (from Thursday 15 September)
- FREE Balance Bike Clubs both at FBC (from Wednesday 14 September) and Woodford Park Leisure Centre (from Thursday 15 September)
- Woky Wheels 4 All at FBC in Finchampstead (from Thursday 15 September)
- Adult Cycle Training for Beginners/Improvers (£6) at Woodford Park Leisure Centre (from Saturday 17 September)
- Balance Bike Challenge (FREE) - Thursday 22 September
Further information and how to book can all be found on our website here.
Balance Bike Club Assistant
We are looking for a voluntary Balance Bike Club Assistant to help us with our Balance Bike Club at FBC, Finchampstead on a Wednesday afternoon. If you are interested in cycling and would like to help out then please contact us at: myjourney@wokingham.gov.uk
This role would be suitable for students aged 18+ or retired people looking to help in the community.
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