Congratulations to our local Commonwealth Games champions

The Royal Borough would like to say a huge congratulations to all our local Commonwealth Games champions who took part in Birmingham 2022.

Among our local champions is Maidenhead's own Katie Crowhurst, who, at just 18 years old, took home gold for Team England in the Women’s Visually impaired Paratriathlon.

Katie said: “Crossing the finish line as a Commonwealth Champion was an absolute dream. I finally felt like my hard work had paid off and that I had done everyone proud”.

Katie was born in Maidenhead and lived in the town her entire childhood. As part of her training over the years, Katie has used local sports facilities at the Magnet and Braywick Leisure Centres. She has been a member of Maidenhead Athletics Club since she was 10 and regularly uses Maidenhead Athletics Track and Braywick Park for her training.

Other local heroes include Maidenhead swimmer, Tom Dean, who became England’s most decorated athlete at a single Commonwealth Games, walking away from Birmingham with one gold and six silver medals.

(Pictured: L-R Katie Crowhurst with Jessica Fullagar, guide) Photo credit: Sam Crowhurst

Congratulations to our local A Level students

Well done to our local A Level students getting your results this week!

We hope you're happy with your results after your hard work and study. If not, please speak to your college or school for advice. If you need independent mental health support, you can also contact Kooth.

Thames Water hosepipe ban starts next week

From next Wednesday (24 August), Thames Water will be putting a hosepipe ban in place.

This is due to the driest July on record and below-average rainfall in 10 of the last 12 months, leading to water levels in our rivers and reservoirs being much lower than usual.

The ban means you will not be able to use hosepipes to water gardens, wash cars and windows, or fill paddling pools.

You can save water by:

• Using a watering can instead of a hose to water your plants
• Watering in the morning or evening to reduce the water lost to evaporation
• Having shorter showers
• Reporting any water leaks if you spot them

Visit the Thames Water website to learn more.

Keeping you informed: Possible bin collection strike action

You may have seen the news about the possible strike in the borough from Wednesday 31 August by waste collection operatives in the GMB union.

We are aware of the union’s announcement and are liaising with Serco as our contractor and would like to see the dispute resolved without disruption to bin collections.

While we hope that industrial action can be avoided, we will keep you updated through our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

'Here to Help' with the rising cost of living

As part of our response to the rising cost of living, we have brought together support from us and our partners onto one dedicated ’Here to Help’ webpage and are encouraging those struggling financially to visit it.

Our ‘Here to Help’ campaign is run with the support of key partners including social landlords Abri and Housing Solutions, and Voluntary and Community Sector partners, Foodshare Maidenhead, Windsor Foodshare, Driven Forward, The Baby Bank, The Spoore, Merry and Rixman Foundation, and Citizens’ Advice. 

More information is available on our dedicated webpage.

Our World Café is coming to The Walthams

On Thursday 25 August, from 1pm to 3pm, our World Café is due to be at Woodlands Park Community Centre, Manifold Way, Maidenhead, SL6 3GW.

World Cafes are friendly and informal speed networking events to generate ideas to help you with the cost of living. Find out more about World Cafes.

Refreshments are provided and there’s no need to book. Attendees will also receive a £5 KSP Superstore voucher.

World Cafes are a key part of our Empowering Communities project, a collaboration between ourselves and NHS Frimley. This is a new approach to community engagement to ensure residents’ voices are heard and strengthened. It’s all about, ‘you said, we did,’ to help address inequalities.

As part of this, applications are now open in the second round of innovation funding projects. Using feedback from the World Cafes held so far, we’re particularly interested in ideas that address one or more of the following: cost of living, ageing population, and social isolation.

The closing date for funding applications is Friday 30 September.

More than 300 entries into this year’s Garden in Bloom competition

Prizes have been awarded in this year’s Garden in Bloom competition.

There were more than 300 entries into the contest, which is organised by the Royal Borough. All entrants received a certificate and the winner and runner-up in each ward also received a rosette. In addition, the winner received a £20 voucher to spend at Braywick Heath Nurseries.

Any garden visible from a footpath or road was eligible for entry and nominations were made by residents, passers-by and by councillors in their wards. There was just a single category, and the competition was judged by councillors on a ward-by-ward basis.

You can find out more in our press release. 

Coming soon - Royal Borough Heritage Discovery week

Next month, there will be an opportunity to discover and appreciate some of the unique heritage we have in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead via a series of events planned for the Royal Borough’s first Heritage Discovery Week.

Starting on Saturday 10 September, you’ll be able to discover more about the Windsor Guildhall and other local historic sites through a mixture of free and paid events

Highlights of the week include:  

• Free access to explore the Windsor Guildhall on Saturday 10 September   
• A VIP guided tour of the Windsor Guildhall hosted by experts from the Windsor and Royal Borough Museum (residents discount available)  
• Drinks, dinner and afternoon tea events at the Windsor Guildhall with expert speakers on a variety of topics.   
• Free local studies drop-in sessions at Windsor and Maidenhead libraries to see items held in the local collections and to learn how local resources can be used to complete your own research projects.  

This is an ideal opportunity to discover more about our local rich and varied history.

Further details about the events including how to book or reserve your free place will be shared in this newsletter.

Would you like to learn more about Prosecco?

There are limited tickets left to The Story of Prosecco wine tasting workshop at the Windsor Guildhall.

Taking place in the splendour of the Council Chamber next week (Thursday 25 August), from 7pm to 9pm, this event will look at the favourite fizz of millions. You may never look at Prosecco in the same way again.

You can see the event details and book via the BerksFizz website.

Discover the outdoors at Braywick Nature Centre

Next week, on Tuesday 23 and Thursday 25 August, Braywick Nature Centre are hosting family-friendly activities including pond dips and an explore autumn event.



The sessions are led by Ranger Tom, and tickets are £5 per child. Visit Braywick Nature Centre’s Eventbrite page to learn more and book.

Are you aged 11 to 25? Have your say in the Royal Borough Youth Council's survey

The Royal Borough’s Youth Council wants to hear from residents aged from 11 to 25 on how the Youth Council can best help our local community, as part of their 2022 survey.

Their survey covers mental health services in schools, our local libraries, and transport in the community. Your feedback will influence the Youth Council’s focus and efforts in the coming year. Take part by completing their survey before the end of September.

You can also apply to join our Youth Council or see their poster to learn more.

Plan ahead for pharmacy opening hours this August Bank Holiday

If you need to get medicine from your pharmacy before the August Bank Holiday weekend, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to do so.

If you unexpectedly need to visit a pharmacy on Monday 29 August, please visit the NHS website for information on pharmacies which have told the NHS they will be open.

Royal Borough community spotlight

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

• Decorate your bikes (Saturday 27 August, 11am to 2pm) –Maidenhead Nicholson Shopping Centre. Get crafty at the CycleHub and make decorations to take home for your bike. Make handlebar streamers, colourful wheel spoke attachments or bright ribbon embellishments. Let your imagination run wild! For kids of all ages. Adult supervision is required for children under ten. Materials provided. For more information, please follow @cyclehubuk

• Share your Covid stories - Are you a photographer, painter, writer, crochet genius or creative? Join the Maidenhead Community Project team to express your response to the Covid pandemic and create a time capsule of artwork exploring how local people fared during the pandemic. Your submission could be featured in an online and live gallery at Maidenhead Library this Autumn. All ages are encouraged to contribute, to find out more and submit your entry, visit the RBWM Together 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

• Join Marlow Community Choir – Marlow Community Choir invite you to join their friendly group of singers. Rehearsals start on Wednesday 14 September in Liston Hall, Marlow, and will take place on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm. The group also have an upcoming concert on 28 January 2023 where they will perform Handel’s Messiah. To learn more, visit their website

• Cox Green Horticultural and Craft Show (Saturday 10 September) – Cox Green Community Centre. Calling all children! You are invited to take part in this year’s horticultural and craft show. All children’s entries are free across categories including baking, sewing and photography. More information is available on the Cox Green 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:

• Single person discount review – ongoing consultation
• Developing proposals for new school places - provide comments on the feasibility studies for school expansion – ongoing consultation.

Local travel updates

Planned rail strikes are expected to continue to cause various levels of disruption tomorrow 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.

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

website.