Please share with friends, family and neighbours in the borough so they can keep up to date. Sign up here if you've received a forwarded copy.
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Get involved and volunteer with The Big Help Out
Community volunteering is King Charles III’s legacy wish for his Coronation happening in May.
And there are many ways you can get involved with
your community through the Big Help Out which celebrates the Coronation
and His Majesty’s reign.
On the official national The Big Help Out portal
organisations with opportunities in the Royal Borough have already
registered to recruit you as a volunteer. They include Thames Hospice,
Age UK, St John Ambulance, and the Ramblers Association.
Another way of finding out what volunteering opportunities are out there is on our own free volunteering matching service.
Organisations in the Royal Borough can post their
vacancies which can be on a short, or long-term basis. If you are
interested in becoming a volunteer but not sure about what you want to
do, you can also go through a short application process before deciding
where your skills could be useful.
Thank you to our amazing volunteers
Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills,
give back to your community and make a real difference to the people
around you.
You might want to join our dedicated group
of around 150 wonderful volunteers supporting our library services and
20 assisting at the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum, based at the
Windsor Guildhall.
We also have an amazing group of volunteer
ambassadors recognisable from their red coats, who have helped out at
high-profile events like the 2012 London Olympics, royal weddings, and
state occasions in Windsor. They are joined by 25 Ceremonial Wardens who
assist with keeping the public safe and informed at special royal
occasions.
Our Community Information Champions (see more
below) are also volunteers who myth-bust and disseminate crucial
information among their own communities.
We also partner with volunteer organisations in the Royal Borough like Good Gym
whose members are encouraged to walk, run or cycle to a location to do
good works such as helping a community organisation with painting or
gardening, or conducting social visits to an isolated individual.
There are also ad hoc volunteering opportunities
for families at our nature reserves, who also work with Good Gym. Check
the Facebook page of Braywick Nature Centre to find out more.
If you are holding a street party, it might the
perfect opportunity to knock on a neighbour’s door and invite them to
spend time with their immediate community to celebrate the Coronation.
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Could you be a Community Information Champion?
Making sure information and financial help gets to
the people who need it the most, may be a way you can volunteer in
honour of His Majesty King Charles III’s Coronation.
Each Community Information Champion can choose
their level of involvement and plays a vital role ensuring our residents
has access to good quality information. And we need more!
By sharing our information about additional
support funds available to residents, education, skills and job
opportunities, events, road closures, and public health messages, you
could be passing on vital information helping someone else in their
everyday life.
Networks can be any size
There are currently 180 Community Information
Champions. Some are community groups which share our messages with their
own networks, parents sharing the information with their friends, or a
neighbour sharing it with the rest of their street.
Jesal Dhokia,
transformation and community service lead, said: "This is why Community
Information Champions are so great as we share the information with
them, and they can share it if they think it will be of relevance to
their circle.
"We get into every nook and cranny of the community and get to those who could need the information the most.
"Residents can be as involved or not as their time and energy allow. It is flexible.”
In recent years Community Information Champions
have relayed information about government support funds, additional help
over school holidays, benefits, and what older residents are entitled
to.
We would especially like to encourage more young
people to get involved as well as recruit more Community Information
Champions in the Ascot and Old Windsor areas.
If you are interested in becoming a Community Information Champion please email Jennifer.hardy@RBWM.gov.uk.
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Do you have any Coronation souvenirs?
Do you have any Coronation souvenirs or memories you can share as part of an exhibition at the Maidenhead Heritage Centre?
The
Park Street centre is holding an exhibition from Wednesday 12 April
until Saturday 13 May which will include memorabilia from the Coronation
of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
You could have hidden gems from George VI's Coronation in 1937 or even previous ceremonies to add to the display.
The
centre would also like to hear from any resident with memories of Queen
Elizabeth II's Coronation. Anyone who can help is asked to contact the
Heritage Centre by emailing info@maidenheadheritage.org.uk or by phone 01628 780555 as soon as possible.
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Let us know about your community activities for the Coronation
More
than 20 street parties celebrating His Majesty The King’s Coronation
are set to take place in the Royal Borough over the Bank Holiday weekend
in May – and we are keen to hear about other ways you are celebrating.
If
you are organising a volunteering activity for the Big Help Out, or
another Coronation community event or activity, and would like help
promoting this to the wider community, please get in touch and this can
be featured in this e-newsletter that goes to 21,000 local people each
Friday. Email details to communications@rbwm.gov.uk.
You can also add your Coronation celebration to the national Coronation Map. For materials to help you celebrate, including Coronation bunting templates, visit the Coronation website. To see the street parties and road closures in the borough, please visit the One Network website.
For information on other ways to celebrate the Coronation, visit our coronation webpage.
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Bin collections are not affected this Easter
We are now collecting household waste and recycling on Bank Holiday dates (excluding Christmas and New Year).
If
your bin is due to be collected on a day which is a designated Bank
Holiday this Easter, please put it at the kerbside by 7am on the day as
usual.
Please remember
to recycle your Easter egg packaging- the cardboard boxes, the plastic
it sits in and the foil wrapping can all be recycled in your blue
bin.
Visit our waste webpage for more information about what can go in each bin.
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Easter Bank Holiday pharmacy hours
With the Easter Bank Holiday next weekend, remember many pharmacies will be closed or have reduced opening hours.
So please give yourself enough time to request and collect your prescriptions, before Good Friday on 7 April.
If, however, you find yourself needing a Berkshire
pharmacy during the long Easter weekend, find out which are open and
when by visiting the NHS England South East website.
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National schemes to help specific households with energy bills
There are two new energy bill support schemes nationally to help specific eligible households which have not received automatic payments.
Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding
Those of you who do not have a domestic electricity meter and do not contract directly with an electricity supplier, are eligible for £400.
It could mean you live in a park home, mobile home, houseboat, on a farm or a care home where you pay towards your care.
To
qualify, your property must also be your sole or main residence, and
not a second home or holiday home. You cannot receive this payment if
you received the monthly £66/£67 directly off your electricity bill,
unless you moved into the new property before the end of that scheme.
Alternative Fuels Payment
Separately,
the £200 Alternative Fuels Payment (AFP) is for those of you not
connected to the mains gas grid and using alternative fuels as the main
form of heating, such as tank or bottled gas, LPG, oil, wood and solid
fuel.
This
can be paid on top of the £400 off your electricity bill and most homes
eligible for this payment will get it automatically as a credit on
their electricity bills.
If
you think you should have got a payment but have not, contact your
electricity supplier. If you do not have a contract with an electricity
supplier then you need to make an application.
How to apply by the deadline of Wednesday 31 May
Apply for these schemes online, or call 0808 175 3287, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. Applications cannot be made directly to councils so please do not contact us.
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Time's running out to put your name forward as a candidate for Royal Borough and parish elections
There are just days left to submit nomination forms to become a candidate in the Local Elections on Thursday 4 May.
Prospective candidates have until 4pm on Tuesday 4 April to submit their nomination forms.
In order to
stand, you must meet the relevant qualifying criteria, get supporters to
propose your nomination, sign and submit a nomination form together
with consent to nomination.
The
borough operates by a system of whole council elections every four
years, meaning all 41 seats across all 19 wards are available. In
addition, all 14 parish councils have all-out elections this year.
The notice of elections has been published and information about the upcoming polls will be updated on our 2023 Elections webpage.
Information about how to become a councillor and links to the nomination form are available on our website.
Register to vote and learn about new voter ID requirements
It is not too late to register to vote – the last date is Monday 17 April at 11.59pm. Registering to vote is easiest online via the Government website.
Due to a national legal change, for the first time you will
need to show photo ID in order to vote at a polling station. A wide
range of photo ID will be accepted, including passports, driving
licences and cards with a PASS Mark. Please be aware that you cannot use
your Advantage Card as a form of photo ID.
If you don’t already have an accepted form of photo ID, you can apply by 5pm on Tuesday 25 April for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate on the Electoral Commission website.
The deadline for receiving new postal vote and postal proxy applications is 5pm on Tuesday 18 April. The deadline for receiving new applications to vote by proxy (not postal proxy or emergency proxies) is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April.
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Reminder: Upcoming improvements to Maidenhead Library
Maidenhead Library will be undergoing planned improvement works to its heating and ventilation starting from Monday 3 April.
The Maidenhead Library team apologise for any inconvenience caused by these works, which are expected to last for eight weeks.
Measures
are in place to ensure the library remains open throughout this period
and our library team are doing their best to minimise any disruption.
Thank you for your understanding.
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Royal Borough Community Spotlight
Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:
-
ECO Action Hub official opening (Saturday
1 April, 10am to 4pm) – Nicholsons Centre, Maidenhead. The official
opening of the ECO Action Hub at unit 5/7 in the Nicholsons Centre
(formerly Dorothy Perkins). Peter Gibbs, best known as a former BBC TV
weather presenter, will conduct the opening ceremony at 11am. Also
featuring on the day will be the Repair Café where people can bring
items to be fixed and displays about subjects such as eco-living and
green travel. The
opening day will also feature talks about how to save money on fuel
bills and how to promote biodiversity in your own back garden. There are
also activities planned for children of all ages
-
Cantorum Spring Concert
(Saturday 1 April, 7.30pm) – Holy Trinity Church, Cookham. Alongside a
cello soloist, the Cantorum Choir will perform two Bach Motets, several
pieces by Howells and A Farewell to Arms by Richard Rodney
Bennett. Tickets are available from the Cantorum choir website.
-
Performance of St Mark Passion (Sunday 2 April, at 3pm) – St
Michael’s church, Bray. Charles Wood's St Mark Passion will be
performed, featuring the choir of St Michael's and friends, Oliver Gooch
is the director and Drew Sellis is on the organ. Admission is £10 at
the door. Further details on church's website
-
Walk the Stations of the Cross (Friday
7 April, 11.30am) – St John the Baptist Church, Cookham Dean. Nine
local artists have been asked to paint an Easter ‘Stations of the Cross’
picture for this traditional walk which goes through the village
finishing at Holy Trinity Church, Cookham. Everyone, with their children
and dogs, are welcome to join or leave whenever they like, and the walk
will finish about 1.30pm. There may well be coffee and a bun at the end
of the walk
-
Free Easter Family Fun Day
(Saturday 8 April, 11am to 3pm) – Grenfell Park, Maidenhead. Aimed at
families with children aged up to 12 years old, there will be an Easter
egg hunt, face painting, bunny mask painting and many other activities
and refreshments. Organised by Maidenhead Bridge Rotary.
-
Windsor Art Exhibition
(Saturday 8 April, 11am to 5pm) – Windsor Parish Church, High Street.
Featuring original art, prints and cards direct from seven talented
local artists. Free walk-in admission. Organised by the Windsor Artists Collective
-
Indoor short mat bowls club (every Thursday, 7.15pm) –
Braywick Leisure Centre, Maidenhead. New members who have never
tried bowls before but would like to give it a go, are welcome. Short
Mat Bowls is a game that can be played by anyone of any age or any
ability, as a starter you can try the game using the club's bowls.
Experienced players looking to join a new or additional club, are also
welcome. For more information contact Tony on 07985583295 or just go
along and watch.
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 more than 21,000 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.
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Have your say
We regularly hold consultations and surveys to get your views on proposals within the Royal Borough.
Participating, sharing ideas, and giving your feedback is the best way to ensure your views are heard.
Our current consultations are:
Other local consultations
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is also
asking for views on options for a redeveloped or relocated Royal
Berkshire Hospital. Take part in their online survey or visit the Building Berkshire Together website to learn more.
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Local 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.
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