Wokingham Borough Connect
 Get on your bike this Cycle September
It's quick, free and easy to sign up for Love to Ride's annual Cycle September challenge, which we're supporting to help people travel more sustainably.
All you have to do is register and start logging your trips - which you can do all year round as part of the Love to Ride campaign, but there are loads of extra rewards for doing it in September.
This year there is a £1,000 bike from Berkshire Bikes to be won for Wokingham participants in Cycle September.
There's also a £1,000 cash prize for early birds who register before 31 August, a grand cash prize of £2,000 and a prize draw for those who encourage others to sign up.
There are also workplace prizes as well as goodies like sweaters, T-shirts and more.
You can log journeys and win points with the Love to Ride app (available for Apple or Android devices) or by syncing it to Strava or MapMyRide, and there are points for getting your friends and family on board!
 Travel more for less
On Monday, 19 August the weekday bus service from Winnersh Triangle Park and Ride was re-introduced. The first 50,000 passengers will travel for less at just £1 for parking and a return bus journey.
The service will run four times an hour on weekdays (6.45am to 6pm) and Saturdays (8am to 6pm). The offer has been extended to Mereoak park and ride and in part to Thames Valley park and ride.
Timetables can be found on the Reading Buses website.
Winnersh Triangle park and ride
Customers will need to register their car numberplate at car park machines and pay on the bus as normal.
Tickets will cost £1 per person, including parking.
Mereoak park and ride
Customers will park as normal and there are no ticket machines to register their car numberplate, then pay on the bus as normal.
Tickets will cost £1 per person, including parking.
Thames Valley Business Park park and ride
Customers will park and pay for parking as normal.
Tickets will cost £1 per person, excluding parking.
Funding
Funding for the service has been allocated from grant money awarded to councils from the Department for Transport.
We have used some of our grant to subsidise the service, while Reading Borough Council have used some of their grant to offer discounted tickets.
 Changes to bus timetables from September
From September, there will be some changes to borough bus routes.
Reading Buses are increasing the frequency on two of their routes.
Leopard 3 will increase from every 20 to 15 minutes throughout the day. Shinfield will be every 15 minutes, Arborfield every 15 minutes in peak time and 30 minutes off peak and Wokingham hourly.
Claret 21 serving Lower Earley will be increased from every 20 to 15 minutes throughout the day.
Carousel Buses will be removing the 800 and X80 routes and all buses will operate as service 850 via Wargrave and Twyford between Henley-on-Thames and Reading, up to every 20 minutes weekdays, every 30 minutes on Saturday and hourly on Sunday.
 Out and about this summer
It has been a busy summer holiday with lots of events around the borough.
Earlier in the month we held our Summer Bike Bonanza alongside a Holidays, Activities and Food (HAF) event.
We gave out lots of information about cycling and walking and our spin the wheel game was popular with prizes including making a smoothie on Pedalicious, our smoothie bike.
Dr Bike carried out bike checks on 20 bikes, and 50 bikes were loaned out during the event with children having lots of fun cycling round the track and offered tips on cycling.
Elsewhere we took our spin the wheel game - with chances to win a go on Pedalicious and other active travel themed prizes - to Wokingham Library, Twyford Summer Fete and Grub Club Wokingham.
From September our new term of classes start, helping children (aged two and above) and adults learn to ride or build their confidence.
Please visit our website to find out more and to book.
 Beat the Street Prize Giving Ceremony
Last week all the winning Beat the Street Wokingham community and workplace, running and cycling groups and small teams came together for a prize giving ceremony in partnership with My Journey Wokingham.
The Mayor of Wokingham Borough, Cllr Adrian Mather, awarded all the winners their well-deserved prizes and trophies.
The awards were as follows:
Community & Workplace Teams - Total points leaderboard
1st place - Redwood Early Years won a £150 Decathlon voucher and trophy
2nd place - CLASP who won a £100 Decathlon vouchers and a certificate (CLASP were not there but will be presented with their prize shortly)
Community & Workplace Teams - Average points leaderboard
1st place - Southlake Unofficial won a £150 Decathlon voucher and trophy
2nd place - Redwood Early Years who won a £100 Waterstones voucher and certificate
Running & Cycling - Total points leaderboard
1st place - Finch Coasters Running Club won a £100 Decathlon voucher and trophy
Running & Cycling - Average points leaderboard
1st place - Finch Coasters Running Club who won a £100 Decathlon voucher and trophy
Other winners - Total points
Small teams - Active4Health were awarded a troply
Individual adult - Gary with his team named after his son, Max, and was awarded a trophy and certificate
Individual child - Harsh, and as he was away for the summer, his dad picked up his trophy and certificate
Primary school aged children can win one of two commemorative Olympic games medals by taking part in our Olympic games quiz.
Complete the quiz sheet and return it to us by Saturday, 31 August. Correct entries will be entered into the draw, with runner up prizes also up for grabs.
 New school year, new routine
It'll soon be time for the new school year to start so why not include active travel into your routine? Active travel has lots of benefits not only for the environment but for individuals including improved:
- Alertness
- Concentration (for up to four hours afterwards!)
- Academic performance
- Well-being and mood
- Self-esteem
We've put together some top tips for travelling to school and you can also get tailored active travel maps for each school on our website.
If you can walk, wheel, take the bus, cycle or scoot to school or college just once a week you'll see the health benefits and join us in creating a healthier and greener borough.
The benefits don’t stop after college! Check out the launch of our Active Swaps Youth Hub aimed at young people aged 18 to 24.
 Together in electric (vehicle) dreams...
Want to find out more about electric cars and e-Bikes or e-Cargo bikes, including the cost of buying or running one?
Come along to our event on Saturday, 21 September, which takes place between 9am and 1pm at Elms Field in Wokingham town centre.
This is your opportunity to:
- Talk to experts and ask questions
- Test drive EVs with no sales pitches (you need to be over 21 and held a driving licence for over 2 years)
- Learn about the EV infrastructure in our borough
- Find out about available grants to help you switch to EVs or install chargepoints
- Discover active travel options including e-Bikes and e-Cargo bikes
- Help us shape the public EV chargepoint network in our borough
The event has been organised by Let's Experience Electric, Wokingham Borough Council and Wokingham Town Council.
 Upcoming activities and events
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Running Places for Women is a free weekly outdoor running group for women aged 16+ of all abilities to build confidence and fitness. There's a 3km and a 5km route, both starting and finishing at Wokingham Leisure Centre.
- Free Balance Bike Club at FBC (Wednesdays from 11 September)
- Free Balance Bike Club at Woodford Park Leisure Centre (Thursdays) from 12 September)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£10) at FBC in Finchampstead (Wednesdays from 11 September)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£10) at Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (Thursdays from 12 September)
- Woky Wheels 4 All at FBC in Finchampstead (Thursday mornings from 12 September)
- Adult Cycle Training for Beginners £11) on Saturday mornings from 14 September for four weeks)
- Adult Cycle Training for Improvers (£11) on Saturday mornings from 14 September for four weeks)
For more information on our regular cycle training and activities, visit our website. or follow us on our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).
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