MAY was a month when we’d been in lockdown for six weeks, so we were getting into a routine. Schools were still off, exams had been cancelled and every event that would normally take place had been mothballed.
But fine weather meant we made the most of our daily exercise and found some great things to do to bring communities together in a socially distanced way.
Covid-19 in care homes still dominated the headlines, when a leaked report revealed that 12 of them had residents with the virus. One, Austen House in Lower Earley, had sadly saw 21 residents pass away after testing positive.
Work to create PPE at Leighton Park School continued and we were able to feature a picture of RBH staff wearing the homemade visors. And a Woodley woman, Tina Hancock, raised £5,000 to set up the Scrub Hub South Oxon so that the NHS had enough medical grade scrubs to wear.
A big occasion in the calendar for Muslins, Ramadam, was marked in lockdown. Instead of coming together to end their daily fasting, members of the Aisha Masjid Islamic Centre had to take part at home. And Eid, which took place on May 23, was also a muted celebration.
There were fears that the pandemic would lead to people being forced into homelessness. Bracknell-based Pilgrim Hearts trust said that they were concerned that bankruptcies, housing eviction and domestic violence would cause the increase. As the year progressed, Wokingham Borough Council has made tackling this a priority and now says that there is only one person in the borough who is homeless – and that’s because they won’t accept help.
Some things started to reopen, carefully. They included parking facilities for the country parks including Woodford Park, Dinton Pastures and California.
Borough leader Cllr John Halsall expressed a desire to make the re3 recycling centres reopen so that residents who had been decluttering in lockdown could book a slot and drop their waste off.
Our coverage of the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic was celebrated by trade publication Press Gazette. It said that it was a top example of breaking news and live blogs and showcased excellence in reporting the coronavirus.
The 75th anniversary of VE Day was marked by socially distanced picnics and tea parties, a far cry from what Boris Johnson had hoped we’d be able to do in March. As part of the day, Wokingham Town Council’s honorary bugler Damion Eames performed a Last Post at 2.55pm, while town crier Nigel Hopkins performed in the international cry for peace at 6.55pm.
The community continued to find ways to keep people’s spirits up. Brother and sister Jed and Anya created a book exchange in Winnersh. The youngsters said that they chose popular authors such as Roald Dahl and then wrapped the books in paper so that people could have a blind date.
Wokingham Lions launched a Thursday night pub quiz, and saw more than 250 teams take part, raising a lot of money for charities. Quizmaster Ian Grange said that he was inspired to start it after missing the quiz night at the Two Poplars pub in Finchampstead Road. Entrants came from all over the world including Singapore and Scotland.
Spoonyville in Winnersh continued to attract attention, with its fame seeing others spring up including a site in Australia, while in Sonning a Ministry of Silly Walks zones was established. Signs were erected in the High Street telling pedestrians to take it less seriously – and they did in their droves.
An ice cream home delivery service was launched by Sir Whippy, bringing all the fun of stop-me-and-buy-one to a street near you. The Crowthorne-based firm was making up for lost business after his usual events were cancelled.
Photographer Tammy Kazhdan created some doorstep portraits of people.
In Crowthorne, firecrews moved into their new purpose-built station, but the community centre aspect of it can’t be pressed into use just yet due to the pandemic. While the site was being built, crews were based at Wellington College.
With local elections cancelled, the annual mayor making ceremonies were very different this year. Wokingham Town Council held a virtual ceremony to appoint Cllr Tony Lack and his wife Claire. He’s taken his chain of office seriously, attending what he can across the year.
Woodley took a starring role in a TV advert for NatWest. In it, staff filmed themselves showing how they were working from home during the pandemic. The Crockhamwell Road shopping precinct was shown with the caption ‘things are a bit quiet here right now’.
Another TV star was St Nicolas Earley minister Emma Major, whose artwork appeared on the Channel 4 programme Grayson’s Art Club. It went on to appear in a festive special in which works were exhibited for the public to enjoy. Emma would also appear in the paper later in the year to talk about her book Little Big Guy, written to help people struggling with this year’s events.
The Queen’s Head team had been busy during lockdown. Queen Bee Carol Williams had given the much-loved historic inn a makeover fit, well, for a queen, ready for when it could reopen.
One of our favourite stories of the year was that of Susan Player, who has fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition of having two pet pigs. She’s reared them since they were seven weeks old and could be held in one hand. Now the pampered animals live the life of riley with a paddling pool, toys and treats. Oh, and plenty of suncream as they don’t have any natural sun protection.
