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Level 2 Heat Health Alert next week for the South East

A Level 2 Heat Health Alert has been issued for the South East from midday on Tuesday 9 August until 9am on Friday 12 August.

The Level 2 yellow alert is triggered by the Met Office when there’s a 60%+ risk for threshold temperatures being reached in one or more regions on at least two consecutive days and the intervening night. For the South East, the threshold is 31 degrees daytime and 16 degrees at night.

Hot weather can be dangerous, especially for the very young, very old, or those with chronic conditions.

For advice on how to reduce the risk to yourself, or somebody you know, visit UKHSA’s online guide on beating the heat, contact your doctor or chemist, or call NHS 111.

Waste and recycling collections to start earlier due to hot weather

Due to the expected high temperatures next week, our bin crews will be starting their collections earlier.
 
Please ensure your bin is out from 6am Monday to Friday next week for the earlier collections.
 
Our crews do a very active outdoor role so starting one hour earlier means they finish before the worst of the heat. Thank you.
Supporting young carers in the Royal Borough 
 
Growing up poses pressures and challenges in itself, but there are some children who for a range of reasons also have care responsibilities within their family.

A young carer is someone who provides care, assistance or physical/emotional support to another family member – often a parent or sibling – and carries out significant or substantial caring tasks, assuming a level of responsibility which would usually be associated with an adult.

Often the young person doesn’t recognise themselves as a young carer as it’s just part of the family dynamic. The Royal Borough is committed to making sure that caring is a positive and manageable experience for all young carers. While they continue to provide their important care, young carers should be able to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

Our Young Carers Service, provided through the charity Family Action, helps to reduce this burden of care for children and young people, aged 5 to 18, who are referred for support. Through one-to-one sessions and group workshops, the service supported 85 young carers and their families during last year alone, helping to reduce caring roles and responsibilities where possible and improving young carers’ wellbeing and development.

The service offers young carers the opportunity to have respite from their caring role by attending regular fun activities, meeting other young carers and taking part in small group work around specific common issues that young carers face, alongside tailored one-to-one support on how to cope better.
Cathryne and Charlie’s story 

Among the people helped by the Young Carers Service is Charlie, aged 11, and his mother Cathryne, who live in Windsor. Cathryne unfortunately has long-term mobility challenges that fluctuate from day to day, so Charlie and his older brother Anthony, assist with tasks around the house when their mum isn’t able. As a young carer, Charlie has attended the service for about two years. Watch our video for more about their story.
Could you become a foster carer? 

Providing a safe and caring home for a child through fostering is a valuable and rewarding role. 

We need foster carers from all walks of life to look after children of differing ages, from babies to teenagers up to the age of 18. Fostering is a way of providing a short-term home for a child until a permanent solution is found. 

Many different kinds of people can provide a secure and caring environment for children and young people who for whatever reason cannot live with their families.

Age, income, gender, sexuality, marital status and culture do not affect a person’s ability to be a good carer. It is your personal qualities that matter. 

Discover more on the AfC Fostering website.
Ami’s story 

Ami, of Maidenhead, has been a foster carer for four years.  

Hi, I’m Ami. My and my family's fostering adventures actually began as we considered options to have another child. We started the journey and soon realised how exciting it could be if we could instead have not one child, in fact not even two - but instead an infinite number of diverse children and teenagers who need a caring home during a tricky time for them and their family.

We are now four years into this and we can honestly say it’s been the most incredible adventure; each and every child and young person who has joined our family and then moved on has stayed with us in one way or another. Their stories become our stories and their incredible personalities, struggles, strengths, challenges, smiles and joys shape our lives and the lives of our birth children in the most wonderful way. 

To get to know these young people and children and get to play such a privileged role in their lives at such a tricky time in their stories, is the best and most exciting and fulfilling adventure we could ever have hoped for. Fostering has been such a positive influence on our birth children’s experience and they are growing into better people for it, for knowing and caring for our foster loves. 

The training aspect is also a huge plus and has allowed me to explore professional development in areas I hadn’t considered before. The practical learning and theoretical study combined with working as part of a team and interacting cooperatively with such a wide range of professionals has been excellent for me and has positively impacted both my home life (in parenting my birth children) and my ‘other’ professional field as a teacher. 

I would encourage anyone to consider fostering – really consider it. Full disclosure, it’s hard work. There are days you want to run screaming to your support network and drink ALL the coffee. There are tears and difficult goodbyes and frustrations. But the professional support network is there to guide you through each stage. All of that pales in comparison to the joy of the work. Best Adventure. Ever. 
Reminder: Make sure you’ve claimed your energy rebate if you don’t pay Council Tax by Direct Debit

If you live in a Band A to D household and do not pay your Council Tax by Direct Debit, please remember to complete the online form on the Grant Approval website with your bank account and other details, to claim your £150 energy rebate from Government to help with increased energy costs. In recent weeks, we have sent letters to those we think are eligible, but have not yet claimed, to invite them to apply by Wednesday 31 August 2022.

If you need help making an application online, you can drop into your local library and ask for assistance, and we have also set up specific help sessions during August when we will have more staff available to assist you. Please ensure you bring your latest Council Tax bill with you and details of your bank account – your address, account number and sort code. 

Please remain vigilant to scams related to the energy rebate. Only use the above website to make claims and remember that the council will never cold call you to collect your bank account details in order to pay the energy rebate. More information on the energy rebate scheme, including the national eligibility criteria, can be found on our energy rebate webpage.

For further information about cost of living support if you’re struggling financially, please visit our Here to Help webpages.
Help your local trees beat the heat

We have experienced the driest July on record, and the dry conditions are expected to continue with no rain in the five-day forecast and temperatures set to increase next week.

Young trees on the verges of your street can suffer during a heatwave or drought.

We water saplings for a number of years to help them establish, but when the temperature is higher than usual and particularly for prolonged periods, some of our young trees might enjoy a little more water.

You can help them to thrive by watering them with rainwater, such as from a water butt, or grey water, which is relatively clean wastewater from washing up bowls, bathwater or paddling pools. Thank you.
Energy efficiency upgrades in schools will help meet borough’s carbon reduction target

Five schools in the borough will benefit from energy efficiency upgrades to lower their carbon emissions and help meet the borough’s carbon reduction target.

We have been successful in securing £1.5m in funding from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for the work at Boyne Hill Infant School and Courthouse Junior School in Maidenhead, as well as Oakfield First School in Windsor and Alexander First School and Braywood First School in Oakley Green, Windsor.

All these schools use oil-fired boilers which are both carbon intensive and more expensive to run.

The project supports our Environment and Climate Strategy, which sets out an ambitious carbon reduction target for operational emissions. Between 2018/19 and 2025/26, we have committed to reducing our own emissions as a council by 50%, as part of a longer-term plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest. This will be achieved through a mix of operational changes, building improvements and grid decarbonisation.
 
For more information, read our press release.
Show your local park some love

It’s Love Parks Week, so we're celebrating our fantastic local parks and open spaces as part of this national campaign by Keep Britain Tidy.

We’re highlighting a different local park each day on our social media channels, encouraging everyone to explore local green spaces and promoting responsible behaviours. 

These are great places to enjoy nature, have a picnic and walk the dog - but we're also asking people to remember to always respect our parks by:

  • Disposing of your waste responsibly and taking litter home if the bin is full
  • Not using barbeques or starting fires in any of our parks or open spaces
  • Bagging and binning your dog’s mess to help keep parks clean, safe and attractive for everyone.

Visit our website to discover our local parks and outdoor spaces or check out our Twitter and Facebook accounts to learn more about Love Parks Week.
Thank you for taking part in our A308 consultation

Thank you to everyone who took part in our consultation on options to improve key sections of the A308.

We received more than 330 responses on how 21 sections of this key transport link, from the Bisham roundabout junction in the west, to the M25 in the east, could be improved over the coming years.

This will help decide the best options to create safer, more user-friendly routes for all and your feedback is now being analysed. This will enable us to prioritise projects and progress these to the detailed design and costing stage.

A consultation on options to improve a further 21 sections of the road will take place in due course.
Visit Horton's new pop-up library

In partnership with Horton Parish Council and our Library Service, a new pop-up library will open at Champney Hall in Horton on Monday 8 August.

It will be open 10am to 1pm every Monday, and will include a small but varied
collection of books and a trained member of staff will also be available to assist with any council or other information enquiries.

You can order any book to be delivered to the pop-up library from one of our larger libraries in the borough, just ask a member of staff, or reserve online.

On Monday 8 August, Peppa Pig will also be visiting, so come along and say hello.
Royal Borough community spotlight

Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:

  • Upcoming Summer Reading Challenge events - This summer, your local libraries are hosting loads of great events as part of the Gadgeteers Summer Reading Challenge. There are robotics workshops, coding Wednesdays, and clock making among other events. To learn more, visit our library events webpage

  • Fifield Fun Day Sunday (Sunday 7 August, 1pm to 5pm) Deep Meadows, Fifield. Come and join Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association for a great day out including a full-size steam train, dog show, gun dog display, craft stalls and BBQ. Parking is free, and all proceeds will go to the Holyport Children’s Playground and Berkshire Air Ambulance

  • Soulful summer sing-songs on the Farm (Until Tuesday 16 August) – Norden Farm, Maidenhead. Inspired by the Pitch Perfect movies, you’ll experience how good it feels to use the voice you’ve got and create goose bumpy harmonies with others. We’ll also explore rhythms and body beats to really feel the groove. Totally inclusive singing sessions open to all who want to give a bit of ‘a cappella’ singing a go. Learn one song per session so either come to one or come to all of them. Learn more and book on the Norden Farm website

  • Spitfire Simulator Experience (Summer holidays) – Maidenhead Heritage Centre. Throughout the school holidays, you can make a Same Day Booking for the Spitfire Simulator Experience and get a third off the normal price. Just call 01628 780555 after 10am (Tuesday to Saturday) and book any available slot. Then turn up and take to the skies. It has been called "the best fun in town". More information is available on the Maidenhead Heritage Centre website

  • Crafty Workshops. Craft Coop Windsor is offering a range of crafty workshops over the summer in their Windsor Yards workshop space. The sessions include introduction to screen printing, fused glass for children, recycled glass painting, Celtic knitting, and crochet. There is also a summer camp programme for seven- to 12-year-olds and teens. Visit their Eventbrite page for more information

  • Annual Old Windsor Handicraft, Produce and Horticulture Show (Saturday 3 September) – A local show of art, craft, flower arranging, produce, cookery and baking, and photography. Entries are welcome by all age groups and in all categories. For more information, visit the Facebook Event page. Stall holders are also welcome, please contact rebeccaomara@hotmail.co.uk

  • River Thames Cruise (Tuesday 6 September, 10am to 3pm) – Departing from Riverside Gardens, Maidenhead. Enjoy a relaxing day as you enjoy the sights and beauty of the River Thames between Maidenhead and Temple in Henley. En-route a live commentary will tell you all about the river, the boats, the locks and the buildings you will pass - not to mention the people, the gossip and the scandals. Only 70 tickets are available, so please book on the Maidenhead Heritage Centre website

If you have an upcoming not-for-profit community event or activity you’d like to promote in this newsletter, simply send basic information about your event to communications@rbwm.gov.uk and it could be shared with over 20,000 local residents.

You just need to include a brief description, when and where it takes place, and a link to a website/social media page/contact where people can find out more.
Have your say

We regularly hold consultations to get your views on proposals within the Royal Borough.

Responding to our consultations and giving your feedback is the best way to ensure your views are heard.

Our current consultations are:
Local travel updates

Planned rail strikes are expected to lead to various levels of disruption on Saturday 13, Thursday 18, Friday 19, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 August.

Please visit the Great Western Railway website and the South Western Railway website for the latest local rail travel updates.

The M4 westbound will also be closed overnight between junctions 3 (Hayes) and 4b (M25 interchange) tomorrow (Saturday 6) and Sunday 7 August.

This will include the associated slip roads and M25 clockwise and anticlockwise link roads. Clearly signed diversions will be in place utilising the A312, A40 and M25.

There are also planned M4 slip road closures including:

  • M4 junction 8/9 (Maidenhead) westbound exit slip road - closed overnight today (Friday 5 August)
  • M4 junction 4 (M25 interchange) westbound entry slip road - closed overnight tomorrow (Saturday 6) and Sunday 7 August
  • M4 junction 3 (Hayes) westbound entry slip road - closed overnight tomorrow (Saturday 6) and Sunday 7 August

Visit the Highways England website for more details on the M4 smart motorway scheme. 

For details of council works on highways, visit our website. For full local
roadwork details, including work by utility firms, please visit the One Network
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