Foster Care Fortnight – 'most fulfilling thing I've done'
Being a single working professional and living in rented accommodation was no barrier to fostering for new carer Sian, who says it’s the most fulfilling thing she’s ever done.
Having lived in the borough for much of her life, and taught in a local secondary school for more than a decade, she felt ready to take the next step in giving young people a secure and loving start.
When she approached our fostering team to express an interest in late 2021, she was worried that she would struggle to balance fostering with her work commitments.
Our fostering team offered help and assurance from the beginning, making sure she knew what to expect, how to tackle the common challenges and how to fit her job around it.
New Mayor of Wokingham Borough
Cllr Beth Rowland has been elected as Wokingham Borough Mayor for the coming year (2023-24). She has taken over the chain of office from Cllr Caroline Smith.
The Mayor is officially the ‘first citizen’ of the borough with a civic role, representing the council and the people of the borough as well as presiding over borough council meetings.
Unless His Majesty The King or his representative is in attendance, the Mayor takes precedence over any other dignitaries at events within Wokingham Borough.
Cllr Rowland represents the South Lake ward in Woodley. She has been a resident of South Lake for almost 50 years and has four children who were all educated locally and eight grandchildren.
Deputy Mayor for the year is Cllr Adrian Mather, who represents Evendons ward in Wokingham. Cllr Mather has been a resident of Wokingham since 1999 and has three grown-up children who were all born and educated locally.
New executive
Last week we announced Cllr Stephen Conway as our new leader and Cllr Prue Bray as deputy leader.
This was part of our Annual Council meeting last week and Cllr Conway announced his new decision-making executive, which remains largely unchanged from last year.
Resurfacing and road maintenance continues
Our annual maintenance programme continues with all the main surfacing dressing works now complete. This treatment seals the road surface from water while also enhancing its skid resistance.
Next week the team will be carrying out final works as part of the surface dressing phase of the programme which include painting road markings.
Ironworks will also be carried out to ensure all drains and manhole covers are level with the resurfaced road.
Details of where our team are working this month can be found on our website.
As always, works are weather dependent and subject to change but the signage on roadside of where the work is due to take place will display up-to-date information if changes do occur.
Didn't get £400 off energy bills? Apply before 31 May
If you live in a park home or care home and didn’t get the Energy Bills Support Scheme automatically last winter, then you could be eligible for £400 off your energy bills.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding is available to more than 900,000 households across the country who don’t have a domestic electricity supply, but you must apply before 31 May 2023.
Check eligibility and apply on the Government’s website. Check our cost of living help hub for local support options if you're struggling with money.
How to use one blue bag per week
Have you started using your new roll of blue rubbish bags delivered to you earlier this year?
We reduced the number of blue bags to 54 this year. That means you should be using on average one per week, so you don't run out of blue bags before next year's delivery.
If you find that difficult, have a look at what you put in your blue bag and see if you can find anything that can be recycled using the green bags, the food waste caddy or taken to a recycling point.
A study by re3 shows that food waste, paper, cardboard and magazines and soft plastics are the top three types of recyclable materials in the average blue bag.
Check out our latest rubbish and recycling e-newsletter for some top tips to recycle these items.
What you might have missed
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Reading Green Park Station is set to open on Saturday (27 May). It’s in Reading Borough but very close to the borough boundary and will become the closest station for residents in Shinfield, Three Mile Cross, Spencers Wood and other villages in the west of the borough
- Residents who catch the train from Twyford, Wargrave or Reading into London will be impacted by GWR changes to travel patterns in the Thames Valley. These planned improvements started this week and improve connections following the opening of the Elizabeth line
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Check our jobs board for the latest vacancies, which include:
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