Twyford

Sat 3  A Date With Nature
Join the Wokingham and Bracknell branch of the RSPB for a stroll around Dinton Pastures. Meet in main car park at 9am. £1 per adult.

Sat 10  Junior Rangers Wildlife Watch Group: ‘Apple Day’
Monthly club for children who are interested in the environment. Suitable for children over 8 and younger children if accompanied. 10am-12noon. £2 per person. Booking essential.

Sun 11  Friends of Lavell’s Lake Bird Walk
Morning stroll around Lavell’s Lake. Meet Sandford Lane car park at 9am. £1 donation.

Sun 11  California Speedway and Hi-de-Hi History Day
See some of the original bikes that raced on the speedway track at California between the 1930s and 1950s. Ranger-led history walks also taking place at 11am and 2pm (£3 per person). Meet in main car park from 11am–4pm, California Country Park.

Fri 23 and Sat 24  Stars in your Skies at Dinton Pastures
Join members of the Reading Astronomical Society and their telescopes.  Meet in main car park, 7.30 pm till late (weather permitting). Free. Contact Gerry Bond on (0118) 986 4032.

Sat 24  Star Gazing Talk
Basic astronomy talk with The Reading Astronomical Society. 7pm in the Loddon Room. Free. Contact Gerry Bond on (0118) 986 4032.

Sat 24 to Sun 25  Basket Making Course
Learn how to make beautiful traditional baskets with Christine Brewster. 10am–4pm in the Loddon Room. £60 (includes all materials and refreshments). Contact Christine (0118) 966 2250.

Sun 25  Lavell’s Lake Work Party
Practical conservation task with a friendly group at this beautiful reserve. Meet Sandford Lane car park at 10am. Free.

Sun 25  Fungus Foray at California Country Park
Explore the woods with Gordon Crutchfield from the Thames Valley Fungus Group.
£3 per person. Booking essential. 2pm.

Mon 26 – Fri 30  Make a Halloween Chinese Paper Lantern
California Dreaming Café will be selling craft kits during half term, between 11am-3pm. 
Children must be supervised. £2 per child. Contact (0118) 973 5519.

Thu 29  Trolls and Fairies Story Trail at California Country Park
Story trail across the magical orange swamp and through enchanted woods to hear tales of trolls, fairies and goblins. Suitable for 4–9 year olds, all must be supervised.  £3 per child or £2 if in fancy dress! Meet Car park near café, California Country Park at 2pm.  Booking essential.

Sat 31  Halloween Fright Night at California Dreaming Café
Take part in spooky games from 4pm–7pm. A small fee applies to activities. Children must be supervised. Contact California Dreaming Café (0118) 973 5519.

For more information please contact: Countryside Service 0118 934 2016,  countryside@wokingham.gov.uk

Dinton Pastures Country Park, Hurst will be awash with volunteers this Friday – just two weeks after 365 volunteers carried out a year’s worth of conservation work in one day.

Generous staff from leading financial firm Deloitte’s Reading office will be giving Hurst countryside rangers a hand with a variety of manual tasks at the borough’s largest country park on Friday, including: reed management, building walkways, clearing park debris and sprucing it up ready for the autumn.

The clean-up is part of Deloitte’s pledge to support community projects – throughout September 1,500 of the company’s employees will be taking a day out of the office to take part in 75 different projects, one of which is the Dinton Pastures conservation day.

The volunteers will build on the impressive work that 350 Microsoft employees carried out at the beginning of the month.

Lynn Yardley, Hurst countryside ranger, said: “To have so many volunteers help us carry out vital conservation work at Dinton Pastures is absolutely amazing and I’d like to thank everyone from Deloitte in advance for helping us on Friday – without the hard work of volunteers we wouldn’t be able to provide such an enjoyable, well used and diverse park.”

Deloitte managing partner with executive responsibility for community investment, Heather Hancock, said: “We encourage and support all our people to get involved with our community programme by raising funds, contributing ideas and using their talents – benefiting both the community organisations they support and their own skills and development.

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Hurst

Children at Polehampton Church of England Infant School in Twyford are at the forefront of using information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance their work, and that’s official!

Following an extensive external assessment, the Twyford infant school has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark by the British Education Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), the government-funded body responsible for promoting the use of ICT in Britain’s schools and colleges.

The award recognises the school’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. Parents will have proof that their children are attending a school at the forefront of modern technology.

Twyford Headteacher Helen Ball said: “We are delighted to be awarded the ICT Mark. It recognises our positive approach to ICT and the benefits it is bringing to our children. We believe that ICT can be used in every aspect of learning and that it is essential our children are equipped for the modern world.”

Cllr Rob Stanton, WBC’s executive member for Twyford children’s services, said: “I would like to send my congratulation to Polehampton Infant School as this award is a major achievement and something of which they should be very proud. This demonstrates the excellent ICT management and teaching that is taking place in the borough’s schools.”

David Congdon, senior adviser for ICT at Wokingham Borough Council, said “Wokingham Borough Council is determined that all local children will have the best opportunity to excel in the jobs market of the future. Polehampton Infant School should be congratulated on this wonderful achievement.”

Neil McLean, executive director for educational practice at Becta said: "Polehampton Infant School thoroughly deserves the accolade of an ICT mark. They clearly demonstrate how important it is to take a holistic approach to using ICT in schools. Their investment in new technology has contributed to substantial improvements in learning.”

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Twyford

Families from Twyford, Berkshire are being invited to a garden centre in the county next month (October, 2009) to celebrate the Harvest Festival.

Staff at Wyevale Hare Hatch Garden Centre, which is located on Floral Mile in Hare Hatch near Twyford, are celebrating this year’s harvest with a series of free events from Saturday, October 3 until Friday, October 9 during normal garden centre opening hours.

Garden centre Manager, Martin Lines said: “We wanted to celebrate this year’s Harvest Festival and decided to run a variety of free events.

“Shirley Jones, who is Plant Expert at the garden centre, will be offering customers free apple tasting and will be available to talk about this quintessentially English fruit. She’ll be sharing her knowledge with visitors on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 during normal opening hours.

“We are also setting up a skittle alley in the marquee. People young and old will be able to have a go for free and challenge each other to games.”

To tie in with the festivities, the Twyford garden centre is also offering customers a special Harvest Menu in its restaurant. Diners can choose from a selection of homemade dishes, including soups made with vegetables sourced from the area.

Martin added: “We hope that lots of people drop in to the garden centre to help us celebrate harvest and enjoy taking part in the events.”

For more information about the Harvest Festival, please call Wyevale Hare Hatch Garden Centre, which is located on Floral Mile in Hare Hatch near Twyford, on 01189 403 933

Children in Twyford, Berkshire are being invited next month (October, 2009) to enter two harvest competitions at a garden centre in the county.

Staff at Wyevale Hare Hatch Garden Centre, which is located on Floral Mile in Hare Hatch near Twyford, are inviting children to enter a ‘make a scarecrow’ competition and take part in a vegetable hunt throughout their Harvest Festival, which runs from Saturday, October 3 until Friday, October 9.

Twyford Garden centre Manager, Martin Lines said: “We’ve challenged youngsters to enter two competitions during our Harvest Festival celebrations.

“We are asking children to make a scarecrow and the winning entry will be permanently displayed at the garden centre. The scarecrows can be made out of any material and can be any size, so we’re encouraging youngsters to be as creative as they like.

“There will also be a veg hunt during the week. We will be hiding pictures of vegetables in the store and asking children to write down everything they see. Children can hand their entry forms into the garden centre’s reception.”

The last entries for the scarecrow competition will need to be received by Saturday, October 3. Judging will take place on Friday, October 9 at 3pm. As well as having their entry displayed at the garden centre, the winner will receive a planted herb garden.

In the Twyford veg hunt competition, every child who has correctly identified all the vegetables in the garden centre will receive a bag of bulbs.

Martin added: “We hope that these competitions stimulate children’s imaginations. We’re really looking forward to receiving the entries.”

For more information, please call Wyevale Hare Hatch Garden Centre, which is located on Floral Mile in Hare Hatch near Twyford, on 01189 403 933

Wyevale Hare Hatch Garden Centre ~ Twyford

Twyford Children’s Centre opened its doors in June and it’s proving an instant hit with local families. And on Tuesday September 15 MP Theresa May and Cllr Rob Stanton, executive member for children’s services, will visiting the brand new centre to see the first-rate facilities.

The Twyford centre, which is located within the grounds of Colleton Primary School, also has a new name - The Starlings Children’s Centre - and is open to parents to be and families with children aged under five years old.

The centre is open all year and runs a variety of sessions designed to cater for the needs of Twyford families. It offers play and learn sessions as well as messy and creative play sessions for the whole family to enjoy. A new parents’ group session is now open to expectant mums and dads on Tuesdays and health visitors drop by to offer advice and support.

Another regular session is a Twyford baby drop-in designed for families who have children aged under 20 months and these run every Tuesday and the Friday Fit and Fun Session is proving very popular with all. All drop-in sessions are free to attend and there is no need to book, although sessions run on a first come, first served basis, and families are advised to arrive promptly.

The Starlings Children’s Centre aims to support families in times of need and works with local midwives, a health visiting team and the family information service. Midwives offer an ante natal clinic once a month and the health visiting team visits weekly to offer help and advice on any concerns about parents/ carers have about their children. The family information service also visits each week.

Other services that are in the planning stage for the future include breast feeding support, professional home carers’ session and a dads’ and male carers’ session.

The Twyford Starlings has a family link worker based at the centre who can help any family in need of a little more support. The link worker can see a family either in the centre or visit them in their own home. Families can access a wide range of support and information through the centre staff. You can find out what is happening in your local area and, where necessary, to gain access to more specialised support and services.

Cllr Rob Stanton, executive member for Twyford children’s services, said: “The services provided by Wokingham Borough children’s centres and the support they provide to families all help to ensure that young children get the best possible start in life which is a key priority for the borough council. I am delighted that the borough’s newest centre at Twyford – The Starlings – is proving very successful and popular with local families and I very much hope the success will continue. We are planning more services at the centre, so if families have any views on what they might like to see at the Starlings Children’s Centre, we’d love to hear from you.”

Since the centre opened its doors in June, many local families have been making use of the centre. Anna Norris of Twyford said: “The children love the toys and activities. I enjoy the chance to meet friends, old and new. My toddlers can walk here and best of all, it’s free!”

“It’s an invaluable local resource that gives us as busy parents, an alternative to staying at home. The children’s centre has become an important part of our week. It’s a great place for me as a dad to take the children out knowing they’re going to have a great time, with friendly, trained staff. It’s a big help for a new dad,” said Paul Freudenberg.

“The children’s centre is brilliant, providing a safe, well organised stimulating environment for young children and their carers to meet and play,” said Twyford’s Victoria Costaza.

For a full list of activities please call (0118) 934 4638.

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Twyford

Office workers will be leaving their desks behind in favour of wellies and mud on Friday as 365 of them descend on the borough’s biggest country park at Hurst to take part in one of the biggest ever conservation days held in the Wokingham Borough.

More than 350 volunteers from Microsoft will be joined by four regular Hurst volunteers and 11 volunteers from the Friends of Lavell’s Lake on Friday to carry out a whole year’s worth of conservation work in just one working day!

The tasks they will be carrying out include:
• Hurst Scrub bashing
• Reed-bed and meadow management
• Footpath creation

The work they carry out at Lavell’s Lake Nature Reserve, Sandford Lake and Middle Marsh will help wildlife flourish by creating better hunting habitats for rare species like barn owls and bitterns. Plus the creation of better footpaths will help the 500,000 people who visit the park each year to get around more easily and see more of the park.

Lucy Harris, Hurstcountryside ranger who has organised the conservation and team building event, said: “It’s fantastic that so many volunteers from Microsoft are joining us on Friday as it really will help us get a huge amount of conservation work completed.

We’re lucky to have regular volunteers, including the Friends of Lavell’s Lake, that help out but we’re always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join us and have a number of conservation tasks available for any company wanting to come down and try them – they make perfect team-building events.”

Successful conservation days have previously been held with employees from Thames Water, Cisco, the Environment Agency and Army officers based at Arborfield Garrison.

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Hurst

Local Loos in Woodley, Wargrave and Twyford will be launched this week to provide shoppers and visitors with the chance to spend a penny without reaching for their wallets.

Four more businesses have signed up to the scheme to provide cleaner, brighter and more convenient toilets to the general public, without any cost to residents or visitors, and will be officially operating from today (September 1).

Residents, shoppers and visitors to Wargrave village centre can use any of the following toilets for free at any of the times listed:

• The Bull Hotel, High Street, Monday to Friday noon to 3pm and 6pm to midnight and noon to midnight at weekends.

• The St George and Dragon, High Street, Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm and 11am to 10.30pm on Sunday

In Woodley Local Loos will be available at the following locations and at the times listed:

• Costa Coffee, Crockhamwell Road, 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 9.30am to 5pm on Sunday

• The Oakwood Centre, Headley Road from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturday

In Twyford, Sebastian’s Café in London Road has also signed up to the scheme, which has been running successfully in Wokingham Town Centre for the past month. And another Local Loo partner is due to be rolled out in the Twyford area in the next few weeks.

The toilets are cleaner safer, brighter, in better locations and open for longer hours than the old council-run public conveniences – which have been subject to bouts of vandalism in recent years – and they are completely free to use!

Toilets for disabled people, as well as separate male and female cubicles, are available at all the above locations, as well as the Local Loos in Wokingham Town Centre. All the toilets are free to use for the public and there is no expectation that people using them will purchase a product/ service from any of the Local Loo partners.

The council-run public toilets in Wokingham, Wargrave, Woodley and Twyford will all be closed from today (September 1) and so anyone needing to use a toilet while out and about will need to use a Local Loo.

Signs indicating where the Local Loos are located have been posted on the old public conveniences and all Local Loo partners will display a sticker to inform shoppers, residents and visitors to the fact that they are part of the scheme. Full details are also available at www.wokingham.gov.uk/local-loos.

Cllr Simon Weeks, executive member for environment, said: “We have nearly all our Local Loos up and running so I’d urge residents, shoppers and visitors to take advantage of this scheme and use the toilet in any of the cafes, pubs or offices where they see the sticker.

“Not only will the Local Loo scheme improve toilets across the borough in terms of providing cleaner, safer and brighter facilities, it will also mean that residents, shoppers and visitors have access to a toilet for greater lengths of time as many of these businesses are open for much longer than the old council-run public conveniences.

“Also, these much better facilities are completely free for residents and visitors to use as the council has already compensated all the businesses, and there’s no expectation that anyone using the Local Loos will have to purchase something in return.”

Wokingham Borough Council ~ Twyford