APRIL started with the sound of drums ringing out around Hurst as a 12-year-old Crowthorne based student picked up her sticks in a bid to help Ukrainian refugees.
On Friday, April 1, Lola Teague played in a sponsored drumathon at the Dolphin School.
Starting at 8am, she played five solid hours, through to 1pm – and luckily for her, it was a half-day so she recovered without worrying about double algebra.
Her efforts helped raise more than £5,000 which was used to equip a hostel supporting more than 40 people of mostly women and children.
Emmbrook Junior School welcomed rugby royalty on Tuesday, April 5.
Jason Robinson, former England rugby captain and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, visited the school as part of his JR Sports Stars programme.
The special visit was organised in collaboration with Balfour Beatty, who donated £1,000 worth of sports equipment to the school.
Mr Robinson delivered an assembly to the students showing highlights of his career along with his World Cup winners medal, OBE and MBE.
Some of the students then attended a special PE lesson with Mr Robinson joining in for a number of rugby-based activities.
Further support for Ukraine was on its way from the borough as a Woodley community stalwart organised a 4,000 mile round trip to deliver aid to refugees.
Ronnie Goodberry set off for Jaroslaw, on the Ukrainian border in the south-east of Poland, on Tuesday, April 19 and returned on Thursday, April 26.
Upon his return, he described the journey as heartbreaking.
“We’ve heard some horrific and sad stories from some of those affected,” he said.
“I for one have been very humbled by the fact these refugees welcomed us with open arms, smiles and with their politeness, you wouldn’t believe it.
He was joined on the journey by Duane Harris.
The pair delivered crucial supplies to three locations including blankets, medical supplies, toiletries, nappies, baby clothes and dried food.
A number of wheelchairs, buggies and sets of crutches were also sent thanks to donations from the Woodley community.
This was the fourth trip organised by Mr Goodberry, with 50,000 items totalling 24 tonnes – and it wouldn’t be his last.
Speaking of Mr Goodberry, he was among the winners at the Woodley Civic Awards which celebrate local heroes for their exceptional contribution to Woodley’s community.
The ceremony was a double celebration as the winners from 2020 were also acknowledged for their efforts.
Woodley Town Council was unable to host the awards for the past two years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Matt Allwright, host of The One Show and Rogue Traders, entertained the crowd and revealed his fee for hosting was to share a bag of chips in Woodford Park with the mayor.
He said: “Woodley is where I come from, I’m proud to say that I spent the first 12 years of my life hanging around Woodford Park.
“Now I get to come back and celebrate the remarkable Woodleyites who are making the world a better place.”
The 2020 winners were up first with awards given to Mandy and Allan Dodd, Alistair Todd and Philip Barry.
Sam Milligan was then presented the mayor’s award, by former mayor Cllr Kay Gilder, for his outstanding contribution to the children and youth in Woodley for the past 26 years.
The 2022 winners were then presented with their engraved glass plaques by Woodley Town mayor, Cllr Janet Sartorel.
Sue Woodcock, Peter Quemard, Peter Armand, Ann Smith, Juliet Sherratt, Carolyn Wildman were all recognised for their respective efforts before Mr Goodberry was given the mayor’s award by Cllr Sartorel.
Wokingham town centre is home to many fantastic independent businesses which make it so easy to champion.
One of its delights is the Rose Street record store, Beyond the Download.
In April, the store hosted one of its most anticipated events as customers looked to secure special vinyl releases made exclusively for Record Store Day (RSD).
Now in its 15th year, RSD is an annual event where more than 260 independent record shops across the UK come together to celebrate their unique culture.
Hundreds of punters visited on the day with queues of eager punters lining the pavement at 6am, two hours before the store opened.
Among the releases were exclusives from artists such as David Bowie, Grateful Dead, Taylor Swift, Primal Scream, Sam Fender, Keane and Childish Gambino.
A spokesperson for the store said: “To all of our wonderful customers who supported us on RSD this year, thank you.”
Parishioners of St Thomas More RC Church, Twyford, and Our Lady of Peace RC Church at Wargrave also had a day to remember as they welcomed their bishop, Philip Egan.
Bishop Egan celebrated mass at both churches and then met with young people from the churches and other parishioners including those from the St Vincent de Paul Society, the children’s liturgy group, the parish council and the faith-sharing group.
Earlier, Bishop Egan had visited St John’s Convent at Kiln Green.
Parish priest Father Jude Mbonu said: “It was a lovely opportunity for us all to get together with our bishop and to talk together.
“We’re grateful to him for coming and enjoyed his visit.”
Members of Wokingham churches made one of the shortest walks to remember one of the oldest walks in history.
Members of St Paul’s Church held their Palm Sunday procession from St Paul’s Junior school in Oxford Road, before finishing at the Reading Road church.
Around 70 parishioners took part in the event which commemorates the Biblical story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, while another 40 elderly or disabled people waited at the church.
The Revd Richard Lamey, rector at St Paul’s, said it was “wonderful” to once again hold the Palm Sunday procession which had been cancelled twice during lockdown.
“We didn’t have a donkey or even a pony disguised as a donkey this time but that didn’t matter,” he smiled.
“We hold the walk to remember the Gospel account of Jesus going into Jerusalem although our route is probably a bit shorter. So many parishioners told me how much they missed this traditional part of the Easter celebrations and they were delighted to be taking part once more.”
And members of All Saints Church in Wiltshire Road also held a procession, going from All Saints primary school towards The Cornerstone.
For their procession, they did have a donkey.
There was a fond farewell for the team behind the popular Dragonfly Café at Dinton Pastures.
Barbara Miles, of Woodley, was deluged with cards and best wishes from customers when she left the café after 14 years of serving coffees, teas and ice creams.
“Probably the thing I’m most proud of was building a team of really nice and incredibly loyal people able to talk to customers well. Many were with me for up to 12 years. We looked after the customers and each other,” she said.
One common theme throughout all our April editions was political leaders and councillors canvassing votes ahead of the local elections.
This included three in-depth interviews with the party leaders as they looked to secure residents’ votes ahead of what would be an historic election for the borough.
