Wokingham Borough Connect
 Prizes on offer for walking, cycling and more
To take part in our Wokingham Wednesday challenge, hosted on the Innovation Valley Rewards smartphone app, you need to walk, cycle or scoot for at least 20 minutes a day for seven consecutive days. You could also travel at least one mile by bus or train for seven consecutive days to earn a ticket into our weekly prize draw.
Each weekly challenge starts on a Wednesday and finishes the following Tuesday with the draw taking place the next day.
The prizes up for grabs are:
- Wednesday 8 March - £60 Mindful Chef e-voucher
- Wednesday 15 March - £30 Everyman cinema voucher
- Wednesday 22 March - Phil's Good Food voucher
- Wednesday, 29 March - three-month Brompton bike hire subscription
 Spring into action and jump in the saddle
We’re inviting cyclists of all ages and abilities to take three simple steps towards enjoying more rides this spring by joining the Love to Ride scheme, which we support. And there are three big prizes up for grabs - one for each step that you achieve!
Here’s how it works, once you’ve registered for free at Love to Ride Wokingham:
- Set a goal = prize entry number 1 worth £2,000
- Go for a bike ride = prize entry number 2 worth £2,000
- Achieve your goal = prize entry number 3 worth £2,000
If you’ve got an Apple device, you can also download the Love to Ride app for iOS – an Android version will be following soon.
 Ramblers and council team up to map walking routes
If you’re planning a hike around the borough, we’ve produced a new online interactive tool in partnership with Loddon Valley Ramblers to make it easier.
We’ve updated our definitive rights of way map with help from the charity, whose volunteers walked all 238 km (140 miles) of our footpaths, bridleways and byways and recorded the location of all stiles, gates, bridges, benches and signs.
You can search for the nearest routes in your area, then click on points of interest to find out more. If you encounter something not listed on your travels, report it and we’ll aim to update the map or fix faults as soon as we can.
We hope this map will be especially helpful for people with mobility issues and we’re working to replace as many of these with gates as possible. Our thanks go to the Ramblers - we’d really have struggled to produce this without them.
While you’re out, why not take part in the My Journey Wokingham challenge on the Innovation Valley Rewards app? Find out more about this, and what we’re doing to promote walking and cycling, on our My Journey Wokingham page.
 What we’ve been up to in our schools…
Pupils get creative to improve air quality
Our active travel officer has been running a poster competition with six of our air quality schools to reduce the number of cars with their engines left running, or idling, at drop off and pick up times.
The aim is to produce a clear bold eye-catching design and slogan that grabs parents’ and pupils’ attention. The winning design from each school will be made into a banner and displayed outside to spread the message.
The schools that took part were Charvil Piggott Primary, The Colleton School, Twyford, Nine Mile Ride Primary School, Finchampstead, Wheatfield Primary School, Winnersh and St Teresa’s RC Academy and Emmbrook Junior School, both in Wokingham.
Air pollution is associated with several health problems and is a contributing factor in the onset of heart disease and cancer. It is estimated that 40,000 deaths a year in the UK are linked to air pollution, with engine idling contributing to this.
Join the UK’s biggest active school run!
We currently have 23 schools signed up to Sustran’s Big Walk and Wheel, which runs from 20 to 31 March, and there’s still plenty of time for all primary and secondary schools including SEN schools to get on board.
This is the UK’s largest inter-school walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling challenge, inspiring pupils to help improve air quality in their neighbourhood and discover how small changes can benefit their world.
On each day of the challenge schools compete to see who can record the most pupils walking, using a wheelchair, scooting or cycling to school. Find out more, including details of how to enter, on the Big Walk and Wheel website.
Schools recognised for increasing active travel
Congratulations to Westende Junior and Nine Mile Ride Primary Schools, in Wokingham and Finchampstead, for achieving their bronze accreditation under the Modeshift STARS active travel scheme.
Each school has carried out a survey to find out how their pupils currently travel. They have also completed at least ten travel initiatives, five supporting initiatives and two consultations.
Nine Mile Ride held a Dr Bike session ahead of Bikeability cycle skills training for their Year 6 pupils. 26 bikes were checked to ensure that they were safe to use. The school also held a 'Try a Train workshop', teaching their Year 6 pupils about travelling by train as preparation for secondary school.
Westende Junior School held a car free day with 133 pupils taking part, a 'Bling Your Bike' day where children decorated their bikes and a 'Be Bright Be Seen' day, where children wore high vis clothing. In all, pupils completed over 20 activities.
Active Travel Scavenger Hunt
Don't forget to send us your completed entries of our recent active travel scavenger hunt as today (Tuesday, 28 February) is the last day to submit your entries. Full information of the competition can be found on our website here.
 Free checks and markings keep cyclists safe
My Journey was an added attraction at Wokingham market on Saturday 18 February, arriving on one of our smart new e-cargo bikes. In partnership with Thames Valley Police, the team offered residents free Dr Bike checks and bike security marking.
The event was a success, with 36 bikes checked and made roadworthy, and 40 security marked to make them traceable and deter bike theft, which is an ongoing issue in Wokingham. We were also pleased to offer cycling maps of the borough and water bottles to help riders on their travels.
 How could we improve journeys around the borough?
We want everyone who walks, cycles, takes public transport or drives around the borough to answer some simple questions to help us make this safer and easier as we face the challenges of the future.
Your views will guide our updated Local Transport Plan, a strategy document outlining how we maintain and improve footways, cycle lanes, roads and other routes.
This will offer more ways of getting around and opportunities to leave the car at home, especially for shorter journeys, which is essential as we strive to reduce air pollution and congestion, tackle the climate emergency and promote healthy living.
During this initial engagement, which runs until Sunday, 12 March, we’re asking your thoughts on things like more support for electric vehicles and cycle parking, or providing more space for pedestrians on pavements in village and town centres.
This will be followed by more detailed consultation, but we’d like you to take part now so the draft reflects your wants and needs from the outset.
 Another funding lifeline for local buses
Subsidised buses in Wokingham Borough have received a funding boost to keep them going until we can agree new long-term contracts with operators.
We've extended our support, which was due to expire on 31 March, until 31 August to help services facing reduced passenger numbers and high running costs.
Our executive has agreed to put the contracts to tender for three years from September, allowing for increased costs. We previously sought the same service at the same rate but weren't successful.
The contracted routes, currently run by Reading Buses and Thames Valley Buses, serve Wokingham town centre and its surroundings, villages south of the M4, the A327 corridor and the number 19 routes from Lower Earley to Reading.
The extended funding and new contracts will be partly funded by payments that developers must make towards local services or infrastructure. We're committed to supporting public transport, along with walking and cycling options, to meet our environmental commitments and help you live healthily and affordably.
 Regular cycle training and activities
- Bikeability Learn to Ride sessions (£6) at FBC in Finchampstead on Wednesdays and Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley on Thursdays
- FREE Balance Bike Clubs at FBC on Wednesdays and Woodford Park Leisure Centre on Thursdays
- FREE Dr Bike checks at Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley on Thursdays
- FREE Dr Bike checks at Twyford Parish Council on Saturday, 4 March
- FREE Dr Bike checks at Shinfield on Saturday, 11 March
- Colouring competition until 31 March - win a goody bag
- FREE Dr Bike checks at Mulberry Grove, Wokingham on Sunday, 2 April
- My Journey Bike Bonanza - Easter holidays - date to be confirmed
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Three Counties Cycle Ride (Bracknell) - Sunday, 4 June - 15, 33 and 54 mile routes. Online registration is open now, with early bird discounts for people enrolling in February or March
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Wokingham Bikeathon (from Cantley Park) on 11 June - Registration opens 1 April 2023 – This year there will be a choice of 15 mile, 25 mile or 35 mile routes and a new 50 mile route being developed by Wokingham Cycle Club
For more information on our regular cycle training and activities, visit our website
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