Wokingham Borough Connect
 Free bus travel this festive season
If you board a bus within Wokingham Borough on any Saturday between 18 November and 23 December, you won’t need to pay. Additionally, the Lion 4/X4 will be free on 26 November for the Wokingham Winter Carnival and the Orange 13/14 on 3 December for Woodley Christmas Extravaganza.
If you’re travelling outside the borough, you will need to pay for your return journey, unless a similar scheme is in place in the area where you board.
This will only be on local buses, operated by Reading Buses and Thames Valley Buses and won’t be provided on services such as park and rides or football specials.
 Park and Ride sites revived thanks to grants
We’ve agreed to provide funding, through a Government grant, to relaunch a park and ride bus between Winnersh Triangle and central Reading from Saturday, 25 November. Details of fares and parking costs can be found here.
It’ll run every 20 minutes on Saturdays until at least April 2024. We’d like to extend it to weekdays as well, depending on passenger numbers.
Funding for this renewed Reading Buses service is time-limited, so it must become commercially viable by March 2025 or it might have to stop again.
We’re also opening Coppid Beech car park, off Oak Avenue in Wokingham town, so passengers can park near the Lion 4/X4 bus stops on London Road.
Parking charges:
- £1.50 for 4 hours
- £3.00 for over 4 hours.
Usage of the site, which also has 14 electric vehicle chargepoints, will be monitored and it could shut again if it isn’t well used. Please make the most of it if you can.
The Department for Transport provided funding to support our Bus Service Improvement Plan. We published this as part of our efforts to cut air pollution and tackle the climate emergency.
The park and ride sites were funded by the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and contributions from housing developers.
No more cold feet – you’ll Love to Ride this winter
Love to Ride, a global biking organisation, is thrilled to announce the return of its exhilarating Winter Wheelers event from 1 to 25 December 2023.
Winter Wheelers is an all-inclusive daily challenge that welcomes both seasoned riders and those who haven't been on a bike in years (or ever) – and all kinds of prizes are up for grabs, even for short rides.
Riders can make the most of Quick Courses and a wealth of helpful advice articles to help boost their biking confidence.
All participants will receive personalised emails to help them overcome their own personal barriers and guide them toward riding in a winter wonderland.
How to take part
- Register for free at Love to Ride Wokingham
- Log your bike rides before midnight to enter the daily prize draws
- Invite others to take part for more chances to win
Prizes
- Register before midnight on 30 November and you could win a Trivan gravel bike worth up to £1,000 from Decathlon
- Daily cycling goodies to be won
- An electric Brompton C-Line Explore to be won on 25 December
Points make prizes on global awareness day
You can also earn points on our My Journey Wokingham challenge, hosted on the free BetterPoints app, along with some special seasonal prizes.
We’re encouraging people to sign up during the countdown to World Sustainable Transport Day, which was declared by the United Nations’ General Assembly in May to promote environmentally friendly alternatives to driving.
By choosing cleaner and greener transport options in the run-up to Christmas, you can win a range of rewards that will help with the festive shopping.
The app automatically tracks all active journeys or those made on public transport and awards points to exchange for high street vouchers or charity donations.
It hosts lots of different challenges throughout the year, so make sure you sign up and keep logging on in 2024!
 Keep active in the autumn weather
With the weather getting colder, how about warming up in a local cafe? Don’t let the November breeze put you off getting out and about to explore new places! Learn how your autumnal walks can help to support local businesses
Walking, scooting or cycling your commute to work is a brilliant way to feel ready for the day. Making an active swap from car journeys to energising bike rides benefits your health as well as being great for the planet!
Why not start by cycling one day a week? Find out how we can support you in switching from two wheels instead of four. Finally, read more about why we’re encouraging active swaps to help keep you and your community healthy, green and connected.
 Wokingham school is top for active travel
The Hawthorns Primary School in Wokingham has just been named Local Authority STARS School of the Year 2023/24 for Wokingham borough at this year’s Modeshift STARS South East Regional Awards for its excellent work on their school travel plan.
The school completed 31 initiatives to encourage active travel, including cycle training, a bike maintenance session, an anti-idling banner competition, The Big Walk and Wheel and many more.
In 2022, almost 60 per cent of pupils walked to The Hawthorns, and nearly 6 per cent cycled and 11 per cent scooted.
Congratulations to all staff, pupils and parents who worked hard to achieve this.
Emmbrook pupils put best feet forward for award
Our school travel officer gave an assembly at Emmbrook Junior School in Wokingham to present pupils with their Modeshift STARS bronze accreditation.
Pupils were congratulated for all the different things they had done to encourage and increase walking, cycling or scooting to school including a Dr Bike session as well as taking part in Walk to School Week. Members of the school council collected the award.
Improving air quality at Wokingham schools
Schools in our borough are continuing to host a range of activities to tackle air pollution as part of our Government-funded Air Quality Project.
So far this academic year, three Dr Bike checks have been given at Hawkedon Primary School in Lower Earley and St Crispin’s Secondary and The Hawthorns Primary School, both in Wokingham town.
Our team have presented whole-school assemblies at The Hawthorns, Westende Junior School and Evendons Primary School, all in Wokingham town to raise awareness about air pollution and promote active travel.
Year 5 pupils at Westende were also really excited to participate in a workshop measuring air pollution around their school grounds using handheld monitors.
The project runs until 30 September 2024 and aims to get more people walking, wheeling and scooting to reduce air pollution. It’s funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The five schools above are all taking part, as is St Teresa’s Catholic Academy in Wokingham town, as they’re all in or near Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) where air pollution is higher.
Trees are great at reducing air pollution!
As part of the Air Quality Project, we’re working with local charity Freely Fruity to plant fruit trees at our air quality schools.
The charity’s mission is to plant more fruit trees for people to enjoy - and their generous gesture coincides with National Tree Week, which takes place between 25 November to 3 December.
This is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration, which unites the conservation sector with schools, volunteer groups and all-round nature lovers to plant thousands of trees at the start of the planting season.
Tree and hedgerow planting has been shown to reduce air pollution and can also help us achieve our ambitious climate emergency targets. The season runs between November and March - so it’s time to get planting!
Festive bling your bike, scooter or yourselves
Between 28 November and 13 December we are inviting you to bling your bike, scooter or yourselves for your active journey to or from school. Please take a photo and send your designs to us. The best entry will win a £25 Decathlon voucher. There are prizes for the winners-up too!
Bright ideas needed for high vis jacket design
We're challenging all Wokingham Borough primary school pupils to create a design for the back of a high vis jacket to ensure they're visible on active journeys.
You can download a template from our from our website - please note that a black and white design will look best.
Please send your designs to us by Saturday, 25 November.
 We’ve got the power with new vehicle chargers
Electric vehicle chargepoints are now available in 18 more locations thanks to a £173,500 contribution from the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV).
We’ve installed them in residential streets and car parks - and Flowbird, the supplier, is also helping towards the cost, ensure no net expense to taxpayers.
They work on using Flowbird’s pay-as-you-go smartphone app, which is free and easy to use, and are available around the clock.
You’ll find them at:
- Wokingham - William Heelas Way, Pigott Road, St Paul’s Gate and Rose Street, Denmark Street and Cockpit Path car parks
- Twyford - Station Road, Polehampton Close (East) permit holders’ car park
- Earley - Westminster Way, Maiden Place, Station Road car park
- Winnersh – Chatsworth Avenue
- Woodley - Wheble Drive, Pitford Road and Headley Road car parks
- Arborfield - Bramshill Close
- Finchampstead - Roycroft Lane
- Wargrave - Braybrooke Road
Our thanks to Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) and VolkerHighways for supporting the installation works.
These chargepoints will help residents to adopt electric vehicles, in turn helping us honour our climate emergency goals. We’re applying for more OZEV funding soon, so if you think your street could benefit then let us know.
 Regular Activities and Events
- FREE Balance Bike Club at FBC (Wednesdays) which is sponsored by Complete Childcare
- FREE Balance Bike Club at Woodford Park Leisure Centre (Thursdays)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£6) at FBC in Finchampstead (Wednesdays)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£6) at Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (Thursdays)
- Dr Bike at Woodford Park Leisure Centre, Woodley (between 2.30-3.30pm - booking essential)
- Build a Christmas tree trail (at Lower Earley Library, Woodley Library, Twyford Library, Wokingham Library and Finchampstead Library).
For more information on our regular cycle training and activities, visit our website.
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