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This is your last Residents' Round-up of the year and the 99th of 2022. Thank you for reading throughout the year. Everyone here wishes you and your families a wonderful festive period. We'll be back with you on Friday 6 January.
You'll find everything you need on opening hours, festive waste collection changes and more below.
 Extra funding to help families in festive period
Families in Wokingham Borough will be given more than £20,000 to help with the cost of living during the festive break.
More than 1,200 households will receive an additional £15 per household if any child they have receives means-tested free school meals.
This will top up the £30 per child they will already receive during the two-week Christmas school holiday.
Money comes from our use of the Government’s Household Support Fund scheme.
Residents who are struggling to pay their energy bills or buy food can also apply to the Household Support Fund. Our partners can provide £120 with a food, fuel or cash voucher
 Mayor’s charity receives fireworks display donation
Wokingham Fireworks Charitable Trust held their annual, charity fireworks spectacular in Cantley Park’s event field in Wokingham, raising £31,000 for local charities and deserving causes in the Borough last month.
Of the money raised, £6,000 was distributed to each of the five participating service clubs allowing donations to be made to their respective nominated charities and deserving causes in Wokingham Borough. A further £500 was donated to each of the Borough Mayor and Town Mayor’s charities.
The Wokingham Foodbank is Borough Mayor Cllr Caroline Smith’s chosen charity of the year and is a project founded by local churches and community groups, working together towards stopping hunger in the local area.
The Foodbank is available to all Borough residents. It relies on the generosity of people in Wokingham Borough and surrounding areas to donate sufficient food, supplies and cash to allow them to carry out this much-needed service to local people in need.
The Wokingham Foodbank is one of many organisations working alongside the council to help residents with rising food, energy and other costs. Visit the cost of living help hub for all the latest support.
New website user testing
We're creating a new website and want your help to test parts of it. We're currently testing how you move around it and what language you use to find things.
This survey has tasks and questions about how and where you look for information.
It will take a few minutes and helps us make sure we create the best new site for our residents.
 Festive waste and recycling collections
There are small tweaks to the bin collection schedule next week so crews can have time off at Christmas with their families. It means most collections are moved back a day next week.
You can see the Christmas bin schedule changes or download the handy PDF guide to screengrab to save to your phone.
Collections start earlier on Tuesday 27 December, Saturday 31 December and Monday 2 January at 5.30am, so please put your waste out the night before. Collections return to normal days from Monday 2 January.
Or we can send you weekly reminders for this information for the next few weeks, just sign up for Rubbish and Recycling updates using the button below.
 Opening hours during festive break
We’ve announced our adjusted hours for the festive break over the next few weeks. This applies to our customer teams and the opening of our main Shute End office in Wokingham.
Here’s when you’ll be able to contact us during Christmas and the New Year:
- Friday, 23 December - 9am to 3pm
- Saturday, 24 December - closed
- Sunday, 25 December (Christmas Day) - closed
- Monday, 26 December (Boxing Day) - closed
- Tuesday, 27 December (Substitute bank holiday for Christmas) - closed
- Wednesday, 28 December - 9am to 5pm
- Thursday, 29 December - 9am to 5pm
- Friday, 30 December - 9am to 3pm
- Saturday, 31 December (New Year’s Eve) - closed
- Sunday, 1 January (New Year’s Day) - Closed
- Monday, 2 January (bank holiday) - closed
- Tuesday, 3 January - 9am to 5pm (hours return to normal)
Libraries
All Wokingham Borough libraries will close at 3pm on Friday 23 December and 30 December, or their normal closing time, whichever is earlier.
All libraries will be closed from Saturday 24 December to Tuesday 27 December inclusive, as well as New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Monday 2 January. Normal opening hours will operate at all other times.
Country Parks
Dinton Activity Centre will be closed for Christmas and New Year from Saturday 24 December, and re-open on Monday 3 January.
Our two country parks, Dinton Pastures and California Country Park, will remain open to public during the festive break.
- Jacksons' Café, California Country Park - open except Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December). Opening times may vary on different days. Please check Jacksons' website or Facebook page before you visit
- Coffee Deck and Coffee House, Dinton Pastures Country Park - open except Christmas Day (25 December). Please check Dinton Pastures Cafes Facebook page for opening times
Parking isn't free at the country parks on bank holidays so you will still need to pay if you're visiting. Parking charges also apply on bank holidays at Station Road, Earley, and Winnersh Triangle park and ride.
Leisure centres
Check the Places Leisure centre map to see opening times during the festive break.
Out of hours and emergencies
You can still get help out of hours if it’s an emergency. Here are the contact numbers:
- General emergency out-of-hours – (0800) 212 111
- Social services emergencies out of hours - 01344 351999
- Repairs to council properties - (0800) 515 287
- Heating repairs for council properties (office hours only) - (0800) 389 8789
- Community mental health crisis team - (0300) 365 9999
What you might have missed
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