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Windsor community invited to shape vision for town

The Windsor community will be invited to shape a compelling vision for how they'd like their royal town to evolve over the next 20 plus years, under an exciting new engagement project by the Royal Borough.

We will work with the Prince's Foundation charity to engage and empower residents, community groups, businesses, and other partners to collaborate and reach a shared view of where Windsor should be heading as a distinctive and sustainable place to live, work, spend leisure time and do business.

The resulting "Vision for Windsor Charter" will complement existing and recently-agreed plans, including the Windsor Neighbourhood Plan, Corporate Plan, Borough Local Plan, and Environment and Climate Strategy, to help guide future decisions of the council and potentially a range of partners.

The engagement activity will include a series of workshops during the summer and autumn. Details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Councillor Andrew Johnson, the council leader, said: "Windsor has a timeless quality in some respects, but all places are always changing. In the wake of the economic challenges brought by Covid, and with Windsor at the heart of this year's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the time feels right to engage and empower the community around the future of Windsor and how they'd like to see it evolve as a high quality, sustainable and distinctive place."

Read our press release to learn more.
Calling all green-fingered residents to enter our Garden in Bloom 2022 competition

Green-fingered residents in the borough are encouraged to enter this year's Garden in Bloom competition which was launched at this week's Full Council meeting by the Mayor, Councillor John Story.

Any garden visible from a footpath or road is eligible for entry. Nominations can also be made by residents, passers-by or by councillors in their wards until Thursday 30 June.

There is just a single category, and the competition will be judged by councillors on a ward-by-ward basis. All entrants will receive a certificate and the winner and runner-up in each ward will also receive a rosette. In addition, the winner will receive a £20 voucher to spend at Braywick Heath Nurseries.

Nominations can be made by filling in the form available on our website or by emailing gib@rbwm.gov.uk, A photo is welcome, but not necessary, and one nomination per address is all that is needed.

Learn more in our press release.
Low-income households invited to apply for energy efficiency upgrades

We have secured a fund of £1.3m to help support low-income families in the borough to improve the energy efficiency of their homes while reducing their carbon footprint, with applications now open.

The funding, which has been secured from the Government's Sustainable Warmth scheme, will be used to improve the energy performance of homes in the borough, including off-gas grid homes.

Eligible homeowners or private tenants can apply to receive the free energy-saving upgrades designed to lower carbon emissions and manage energy bills. This will help families phase out high carbon, fossil fuel heating and reduce fuel poverty.

To apply, visit the Energy Saving Trust website or call 0808 196 8255.

Applications will be assessed, with the installations coming to an end on Friday 31 March 2023, or when the funding has been exhausted.

To learn more, and for eligibility criteria, read our press release.
Funding available to help kick-start community initiatives supporting health and wellbeing

Grants are now available to help individuals and community groups kick-start their innovative initiatives supporting the health and wellbeing of residents in the Royal Borough.

The Royal Borough, in partnership with Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), invites you to apply for one-off grants of up to £5,000 to get your ideas for community-led initiatives off the ground.  

The funding is coming from a budget held jointly by the council and the CCG. Applications must focus on one or more of the four key health and wellbeing priorities in the Royal Borough.

Individuals and groups can apply on the RBWM Together website until midnight on Monday 6 June.

Read our press release to find out more.
Campaign shines a spotlight on work supporting environmental sustainability

Our “Healthy Environment, Healthy You” communications campaign, shining a spotlight on work supporting environmental sustainability, finishes this week.

As part of the campaign, we showed our support for On Your Feet Britain, which took place yesterday. The annual event encourages more than 2 million desk-based workers to get active during the workday.
 
We've shared our work in upgrading lighting to be more eco-friendly in 12 schools across the borough thanks to the Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

We've also promoted our local biodiversity enhancements at local parks such as pollinator-friendly wildflower areas, areas of long conservation grass, and pollinator-friendly shrubs.
 
Mayor unveils royal stag sculpture at Maidenhead development

Earlier this week, the Mayor, Councillor John Story, unveiled a new piece of artwork at Shanly Homes' Waterside Quarter development in Maidenhead town centre.

The sculpture depicts ‘Ceterwayd', a stag that was renowned within royal hunting parties, who historically began their chase on the grounds of Shanly Homes' new development. The stag marks the latest in a series of artwork pieces in the ‘Maidenhead Memories Sculpture Series', dotted along the banks of the York Stream. The stag was created by father and son duo Brian and George Fell.
Get involved in local town forum meetings

If you want to get involved and suggest topics for future town forum meetings which discuss issues affecting Maidenhead and Windsor towns, please email your ideas to the council.

You can suggest topics for future meetings of the Maidenhead Town Forum and Windsor Town Forum as well as attend the virtual meeting and contribute to the discussions. Agendas are published a week in advance so you can see what councillors will be discussing and get involved if there is something you are interested in.

Your suggestions for discussion will be considered by members of the two meetings and then added to a future agenda if appropriate.

The next meeting of Maidenhead Town Forum is on Thursday 12 May and the Windsor Town Forum takes place on Tuesday 17 May.

To find out more about how to get involved, including how to attend and speak at a meeting, email mark.beeley@rbwm.gov.uk (for Maidenhead Town Forum) or oran.norris-browne@rbwm.gov.uk (for Windsor Town Forum).

Anyone can watch the meetings live on the council's YouTube channel.
Royal Borough community spotlight

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

  • Would you like to help your local community? People to Places is a local community transport charity for Royal Borough residents who need volunteer minibus drivers. They are holding a drop-in recruitment event on Wednesday 4 May 11am-1pm at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead. For more information, please email info@people2place.org.uk

  • Community Participation Coffee Morning (11am to 1pm Saturday 7 May) – Eton Wick Village Hall. Learn about the history of Eton Wick and discover local groups for all ages to take part in. Light refreshments will also be on offer in the tearoom. More information is available in the event flyer

  • Maidenhead Choral Society concert (7.30pm Saturday 7 May) – St Luke's Church, Maidenhead. Maidenhead Choral Society will perform Haydn's Nelson Mass and Mozart Requiem with professional soloists. Tickets are available at £10 at the door or on their website

  • Music at Bray Recital (3pm Sunday 8 May) – St Michael's Church Bray. Leora Cohen (violin) and Matthew Schellhorn (piano) will be performing Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 1, Brahms Violin Sonata No. 2, and the world premiere of Lament for the Victims of Conflict by Edwin Roxburgh. Admission is free with a retiring collection. Tea and cake to be served in the Church Hall afterwards. To learn more, visit the Facebook event page

  • Windsor and Eton Bowling Club Open Day (10am to 4pm Sunday 8 May) - Windsor and Eton Bowling Club is celebrating their Centenary this year and will be holding an open day. It is an opportunity for all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to come and try bowls at their beautiful club, nestling in the shadow of Windsor Castle in Goswell Meadow. Remember to wear flat shoes. Free parking on-site is available. More information is on the club website


  • Enter Craft Coop's Platinum Jubilee competition - To celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee, Craft Coop Windsor is holding a competition for all ages to create a piece of art that represents the Jubilee. The competition is free to enter either as a group or individual, using any art technique you like (even recycled materials). Winners across four age categories will receive a £70 prize. The deadline for submissions is Friday 13 May, learn more on the the Windsor Platinum Jubilee website

  • 13th Maidenhead Scouts and 4th Maidenhead Brownies and Guides ‘Gang Show' (2pm and 6pm Saturday 21 May) – High Street Methodist Church, Maidenhead. Prepare to be transported to “Bookshop on Reader Street” featuring hilarious sketches performed by 4th Maidenhead Brownies and Guides and 13th Maidenhead Scouts. Tickets to the show are £10 each. There will also be a raffle to raise money in aid of Ukraine. Please visit the Maidenhead Methodist Church website to book your tickets

  • Cookham Jubilee Street Party (12 to 4pm Sunday 5 June) – Cookham High Street. Grab your friends, neighbours, and picnics, and come along to a street party to celebrate the Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. Entry is free and no booking is required

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 19,000 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:

More information can be found on the consultations pages of our website. 
Local travel updates

Network Rail are undertaking significant engineering works to improve signalling between Reading, Windsor and London Waterloo. The works are mainly carried out at weekends, but some sections of line are closed for longer and into the working week. Some trains will take longer and on some routes rail replacement buses will be in operation.

If you are planning to travel on the South Western Railway network from Reading, Windsor and Eton Riverside, Datchet, Sunnymeads, and Wraysbury, you should check to see if your journey is affected by visiting the South Western Railway website. Please watch South Western Railway's video for more information.

The M4 is also due to be closed between Junctions 6 and 8/9 from 10pm on Friday 6 May until 6am on Monday 9 May.

The M4 is also due to be closed eastbound only between Junctions 6 (Slough) and 5 (Langley) from 8pm on Saturday 14 May until 6am on Monday 16 May.

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 website.
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