 Care leavers prom gives chance to celebrate
Our teams hosted a prom for care leavers in Wokingham Borough.
About 60 people attended the event, including young people, staff and partners at Dinton Activity Centre in Hurst.
Some of the young people performed on the night, which also included a red carpet arrival, photobooth, disco and yearbook style awards for the young people.
Our thanks to The Cowshed for providing outfits, Mass Barbers in Woodley for providing free haircuts and 365 Moments, which donated the photobooth.
Our Here4U team supports care leavers in the borough and organised this event, as many young people in care usually miss out on these types of celebration.
You can see a gallery of pictures from the event on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
 Calls for fairer funding continue
We’ve submitted our response to the Government’s consultation on the future of local government finance.
The current proposals could see almost £50 million of our council tax effectively redistributed to other areas during the next three years.
This would increase our savings challenge to more than £30 million, despite us already being one of the lowest funded councils in the country.
Our response calls for a funding ‘floor’, guaranteeing all councils with social care responsibilities at least a four percent annual increase to protect essential services.
It highlights that the Government’s single national formula is too blunt, putting too much weight on certain measures of deprivation while failing to reflect the real costs faced in areas such as our borough.
The plans ignore the extra pressures of caring for more elderly and disabled residents, supporting children with SEND and meeting the higher costs of living and staffing in this area.
We are continuing to work with other councils, businesses and community groups to build support for a fairer deal and will continue pressing the case to Government during the consultation.
 Town centres' stories brought to life
We’ve launched a series of profiles of local people and their businesses to shine a light on the borough’s high streets.
There’s the story behind some of Twyford, Wokingham and Woodley’s traders, volunteers and community champions.
You can find out more about 14 different stores from across the area, including what brought each to its area and what they love about it.
 Image credit - Stu Towner/Friends of Speedway
Speedway trip down memory lane
California Country Park is hosting a reunion event for its former speedway team.
The park was once home to the California Poppies, with a racetrack active from the 1930s to 1950s.
This was a form of motorcycle racing on oval tracks, where riders compete over short, fast-paced heats without brakes, using specially designed bikes.
Visitors can enjoy displays of classic speedway bikes spanning over 80 years, explore the former track and view memorabilia celebrating the sport’s local history.
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