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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Apply early to celebrate His Majesty The King’s Coronation with a street party
We’re inviting you to join His Majesty The King’s Coronation celebrations this May by applying to hold street parties in your community.
The Coronation will take place on Saturday 6 May. Events marking the Coronation will be held over the course of the weekend, including the additional Bank Holiday on Monday 8 May. Further details were announced nationally last weekend, with communities encouraged to start planning street parties.
To ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable time, we’re asking anyone wishing to hold a street party on the public highway to ensure they apply for a temporary road closure by the deadline of 4pm on Friday 17 February.
Organisers just need to follow a few steps to help organise their day. Further guidance and information about holding street parties, “street meets” and other Coronation events, as well as the application form for temporary road closures, can be found on our street party webpage.
For further details, please read our Coronation street parties press release.
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New Chief Executive appointed
Stephen Evans has been appointed as our new Chief Executive, and Head of Paid Service, after Full Council approved the recommendation from our Appointment Committee, with his start at the council provisionally set for April.
Born and brought up in the Royal Borough, Mr Evans, who is currently Chief Executive of Norwich City Council, was selected following a high-profile national search and an extensive recruitment process, as well as several panels involving key stakeholders and partners.
Prior to joining Norwich City Council, he was Strategic Director, Communities at the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and Assistant Chief Executive at Barnet Council.
Mr Evans will take over from Tony Reeves, who has been Interim Chief Executive following the departure of Duncan Sharkey in September 2022.
Learn more in our press release.
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First year review of our Corporate Plan
We are sharing key areas of progress and achievement in the council’s delivery during the first year of the Corporate Plan, our five-year strategy setting out our vision, organisational priorities, and goals.
Adopted by Full Council in November 2021 following extensive community consultation, the Corporate Plan 2021-26 has an overarching vision of creating a sustainable borough of opportunity and innovation, supported by three core objectives and several specific goals.
The plan helps to coordinate all planning, decision-making and delivery across the council around the priority areas where change needs to be driven the most, focussing on thriving communities, inspiring places, and a council trusted to deliver its promises.
Last night, Cabinet reviewed the year-one progress report and agreed changes to five goals to refresh and strengthen the Corporate Plan in light of the current economic picture and new insights from the recent Resident Survey, 2021 Census and other sources.
The changes include recognising our focus on working with partners to help reduce the impact of cost of living rises, especially on vulnerable residents, a greater focus on prevention in social services to help manage demand and improve outcomes, and an increased emphasis on reducing inequalities.
Learn more in our Corporate Plan review press release.
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Upgrades to improve visitor experience and pedestrian safety in Castle Hill
A key investment designed to improve the overall experience and safety of residents and visitors in Windsor town centre is set to begin this spring.
The public realm improvements in Castle Hill and St Alban’s Street will see Castle Hill partially pedestrianised with a wider pavement on the southern (shops) side of the road, as well as a significant reduction in vehicle movements where this is limited to castle access only during its visiting hours.
This will improve the visitor experience to this area of town, helping to drive economic growth and spending, as well as provide additional safety benefits.
Works will be carefully phased to minimise disruption, pausing for both the Coronation and the summer holidays, with updates for businesses once the start date is confirmed.
Learn more in our Castle Hill works press release.
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Upcoming National Education Union strikes
The National Education Union has announced industrial action with strike days planned in the south east region on Wednesday 1 February, Thursday 2, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 March.
Individual schools are responsible for assessing if and how they will be affected and managing their response, which includes taking decisions to stay open, restrict attendance, or close, and communicating this with parents.
To assist, we have shared with all local schools the Department for Education guidance, which says schools should try to remain open where possible.
We encourage parents to check arrangements with their children’s school if the school itself hasn’t already been in touch with parents directly to confirm arrangements or placed a notice on their website.
We will shortly be asking all schools to confirm their plans, and if a school notifies us of a planned closure, we will add this to our dedicated webpage.
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Your first step to a healthier you
Our public health campaign for January, which is all about making small changes to your lifestyle to boost your health and wellbeing, has continued on our social media platforms this week.
In the last week, we've shared tips including:
The campaign will also be looking at embracing green spaces, so make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with our campaign.
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Reminder: Calling all local businesses – sign up for the Better Futures Business Event
To build even stronger support for our young people with a care background and improve outcomes for your business, AfC Virtual College, alongside The Care Covenant and John Lewis, will be delivering the Better Futures Business Event at Moor Hall, Cookham on Wednesday 22 February.
The aim is to support local businesses to understand the benefits linked to supporting our young people in care.
Places are now limited, so if you run a local business and would like to attend or find out more, please contact michael.guard@achievingforchildren.org.uk to claim the last remaining spaces.
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Share your healthcare stories and experiences to improve local services
If you’ve recently visited your GP, local hospital, or used any local health and social care services, Healthwatch Windsor, Ascot, and Maidenhead want to hear from you.
Whether you’ve had a good or bad experience, they make sure NHS leaders and other decision-makers hear and act on your feedback so that care and support can be improved for everyone.
Visit the Healthwatch Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead website to learn more.
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Nominate your community heroes for the BBC Make a Difference awards
If you know of an unsung hero in your community, you can enter them into BBC Radio Berkshire’s second annual ‘Make A Difference’ awards.
Whether it’s caring for someone in need, being a brilliant neighbour, or inspiring children in the classroom, if you know someone who is making a difference in your life or where you live, then you can nominate them for an award.
There are eight award categories covering volunteering, fundraising and being a great neighbour. We know there are lots of dedicated people doing great work within our communities, so we expect there will be many nominations from the Royal Borough.
Take part on the BBC website before 11pm on Sunday 5 March.
The winners will be announced at the Make a Difference awards ceremony in September.
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Royal Borough Community Spotlight
Here are just some of the upcoming community events in the Royal Borough:
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Homes for Wildlife event (Saturday 4 February, 10am to noon) – Braywick Nature Centre. Wild Maidenhead and Bisham Nest Box Group are teaming up for this special event. There will be a range of boxes to see and buy for garden birds, owls, kestrels, swifts, hedgehogs, bees, and bats. There will also be advice about helping bees in your garden. There will be experts on hand to answer your questions about siting, observing and maintaining boxes and also about our local wildlife in general. Please sign up using the details found in the Wild Maidenhead newsletter
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Half-term fun at the forest adventure (Wednesday 15 February, 10am to noon, and Thursday 16 February from 2pm to 4pm) – Braywick Nature Centre. Make a brilliant den, play in the woods and enjoy a real campfire - with marshmallows for everyone! Family-friendly and cheap half-term event to get the kids outside in nature. Book and learn more on the Eventbrite page
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Tree pruning at Ockwells park (Saturday 25 February, 10am to 1pm) Learn the basics of winter pruning and get stuck in helping us maintain our community orchard! Bring your gloves and secateurs. Warm clothes and sturdy shoes are recommended. Run in collaboration with Wild Maidenhead. Free event – no experience necessary. Book and learn more on the Eventbrite page
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Family fun on school strike days (Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm) – Maidenhead Heritage Centre is offering family fun on days when children may have to stay at home due to strike action in local schools. From dressing up for smaller children to building Brunel's bridge from Duplo to flying the Spitfire simulator, there is something for all ages - not to mention admiring the 101-year-old GWK car or counting how many teeth Julius the Roman skeleton still has. Admission is free. The Centre is also offering itself as a safe warm place in cold weather. People will be given a warm welcome and will be free to explore the varied displays or browse through albums of photos of old Maidenhead
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Take part in the 2023 Maidenhead Big Read (Wednesday 1 to Friday 10 March) – There's lots on at this year’s Big Read including virtual and in-person sessions with authors plus an outer space-themed weekend at Maidenhead Library complete with a planetarium, storytellers and a VR experience pop-up shop. Learn more on the Maidenhead Big Read website
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Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra 50th anniversary gala concert (Saturday 11 March, 7pm) – Baylis Theatre, Braywick Leisure Centre. Join Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra for their 50th anniversary gala concert as they welcome back Martin James Bartlett to play with them again with performances of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Holst’s The Planets. Tickets are £18 (£5 for student/child). To learn more and book, visit the WMSO website
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Parallel Windsor 2023 (Sunday 2 July) - Windsor Great Park. The date has been announced for Parallel Windsor’s inaugural mass-participation sports event and Festival of Inclusivity which champions disability inclusion through an attitude of ‘no limits living.’ The flagship event aims to challenge everyone to get moving by taking part in a range of multiple running, walking, and pushing distances, including 100m, 1K, 5K and 10K. There will also be Parallel’s innovative SuperSensory 1K. Check out the Parallel Windsor website to learn more
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Sign up to free weekly cricket sessions (Tuesdays 4.30pm to 6pm) – Furze Platt Leisure Centre. Chance to Shine Street is bringing cricket to thousands of young people who traditionally face barriers to getting active. It uses the sport to increase aspiration, promote social cohesion and create opportunities in diverse communities and areas of deprivation. With six players per team and 20 balls per innings, it’s cricket’s answer to five-a-side football. Sign up online and learn more by emailing adam.davidson@berkshirecricketfoundation.org
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:
More information can be found on the consultations pages of our website.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) are also running two consultations:
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Local Travel Updates
The Aslef union has announced industrial action which will affect local rail services next week from Wednesday 1 to Friday 3 February. For further information about local services, please visit the Great Western Railway and South Western Railway websites.
Further engineering works will also close the line between Windsor and Staines from Saturday 11 to Sunday 19 February. A replacement bus service will operate during this time. Please visit the South Western Railway website for more information about local services.
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