News

Reading’s Cintra Park now has a circular tarmac path around its perimeter and several new impact-absorbing surfaces. For those wanting to keep in shape, there is a new outdoor fitness trail station with equipment including a vault, a straddle jump, parallel bars and bars for chin ups. Steel distance markers at every 100m around the park can help runners to monitor their progress.

Access to the park has been improved through new landscaping to the main entrance and modifications to the Northumberland Avenue entrance. Three new seats will complete the remodelling.

The Cintra Park revamp cost £36,000 and was funded by Section 106 agreements, which are payments for community facilities negotiated by Reading Borough Council from developers as part of the planning process

Hosted by the Physical Disabilities and Sensory Needs (PDSN) Network, the event is taking place at the Civic Centre on Wednesday November 20th, 2pm – 4.30pm.

The event will cover the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), welfare reform changes and the appeals process for the Employment Support, Disability and Attendance Allowances.

Information and advice will be available from Reading Borough Council, the Department of Work and Pensions, Reading CAB, Deaf Positives, New Directions career advisors and Berkshire Phab, among others.

BSL interpreters will be present to sign for the whole event. No booking required. For more information call 0118 937 2383 or email [email protected].

TACKLING Poverty in Reading is the theme of the town’s Annual Conference this year which takes place at the Town Hall on Tuesday November 19.

Organisations, residents, community groups and charities from across the borough are all being invited to attend the event and play their part in helping to develop a strategy to tackle poverty in Reading.

Welfare reforms, reducing public sector expenditure and the slow economic recovery are all combining to create increasing hardship for many residents, including some of the most vulnerable. The Local Government Association estimates that welfare reforms will see working people whose wages are so low that they have to claim some benefit in order to keep a roof over their head, lose an average of £1,660 per year. In Reading nearly 11,000 working people will be affected. For 7,693 people out of work, the loss of income figure is higher at £1,671 a year.

Reading’s ‘Tackling Poverty’ event on November 19th runs between 5.30pm to 8.30pm. Chaired by Professor Gavin Brooks, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), University of Reading, the event will begin with an introduction by Reading Borough Council Leader Jo Lovelock. That will be followed by a keynote address from Alison Garnham, CEO, Child Poverty Action Group, key facts and figures from the organisations that work everyday with people in poverty, and testimonies of real-life experiences of poverty in Reading.

The proposed schedule is:

– 6.00pm: Welcome by Reading Borough Council Leader Jo Lovelock

– 6.10pm: Key note address – Alison Garnham, CEO, Child Poverty Action Group

– 6.30pm: What does poverty look like in Reading – Christian Community Action Reading / Citizens Advice Bureau Reading / Reading CIC / Welfare Rights

– 6.45pm: What does poverty feel like in Reading – First hand testimonies (video and short play by ‘Spotlight on Diversity’)

From 7pm the event will split into a series of workshops, all based around the theme of poverty, which are aimed at discussing, exploring and developing practical actions to deliver a plan to tackle poverty.

Groups or residents who would like to take part in a specific themes workshop are asked to book ahead and register at http://tacklingpoverty.eventbrite.co.uk/. Alternatively people can just turn up on the night and decide which workshops suits them best.

The workshops will then be followed by pledges of action and the outline of a way forward, before finishing at 8pm.

The Action for the River Kennet (ARK) group and the Environment Agency are asking people to tell them about any issues they feel degrade the water’s ecology. This could be pollutants, river morphology, drainage, artificial or natural barriers to the flow of the water.

ARK have identified a number of problems including the erosion of river banks, drains washing rubbish or pollutants into the river and invasive species that encroach on the natural habitat.

People have until the end of this month to give their views. They need to click on the website http://kennetcatchment.org.catchment/lower-kennet and select the part of the river they wish to comment on

150 exceptional young people from Reading will be celebrating a wide range of achievements at a special event organised by the Council on 22nd November at 7pm, St Laurence’s Church in the town centre.

Sir John Madejski, local councillors and Council officers will join young guests aged between 11-25 for this year’s celebration.

The event is being organised by the Council’s Youth Engagement Service and aims to raise the aspirations of young people and recognise their achievements.

The Youth Engagement Service provides opportunities for young people to develop personal and social skills in addition to offering support, help and advice on an extensive range of issues.

Some attendees will share their experiences of one-to-one support and how it has helped them to regain their confidence and raise their self esteem.