Review of the year &#8211; January

JANUARY began with great news for a local good cause.

First Days Children’s Charity received a £10k Tesco funding grant to help them support a growing number of families in need through the year.

And there was good news too for those in the community named in the King’s first new year’s honours list, including Reading West MP Alok Sharma who was knighted for chairing the COP 26 conference.

A CBE went to Professor of mathematics at the University of Reading Paul Glaister,

with OBEs awarded to Helen Belcher, Dr Ann Olivarius, Dr Richard Fortey, Dr Krish Kandiah, and Michael Williams

Robert Austen, Mary Davies, and Erica Tipton all received MBEs, while Detective Inspector Tina Wallace was awarded a Kings Police Medal.

Man arrested after crash near Wokingham leaves motorcyclist with life threatening injuries

Man charged with sexual assaults

And on the subject of the forces, Thames Valley Police cracked down on drink driving and made 276 arrests in the first week of the new year, while frontline firefighters in Berkshire were threatening to take strike action after rejecting a pay increase offer.

In Wokingham strictly star performer Ian Waite encouraged locals to put on their ballroom dancing shoes and tango with him to raise money for a piece of public art to be located outside Wokingham’s new Carnival Hub.

But in Ukraine, the tragedy of war was observed by Woodley resident Ronnie Goodberry who was delivering aid and vital supplies to the country, and described conditions there as ‘truly harrowing’.

The community of Lower Earley mourned the tragic loss of 93 year old Sidney Box, and tributes were also paid to 41 year old cyclist Chris Smith, who died following an A329 collision.

In Arborfield traffic calming measures were causing local residents to feel anything but calm, as they described their new give-way islands as dangerous.

Railway strikes began as the TSSA and Prospect took industrial action, with passengers facing disruption on the Elizabeth Line faced disruption, and between Reading, Paddington, and Heathrow.

But better travel news came for charity Hope and Vision, who were kept moving when a van originally only leased to them by Arnold Clarke, was gifted to them by the company.

Staff at Lloyds bank were shocked when robbers targetted the Woodley branch, while cash registers were threatened in Evendons Lane, not by masked raiders, but by the ongoing repairs to the sinkhole.

Kimel Cafe founder NIc Lander said that the community cafe there was struggling to cope with the continued road closure.

And in Hurst, residents were dealing with problems at the Broadwater Lane sewage pumping station which were causing effluent to back up near their homes.

Locals living near to the Shinfield Studios construction site were also concerned about vibration from piling activity, with some seeing cracks in their grade II listed properties, and one resident describing a whole ceiling collapse.

Towards the end of the month, Wokingham Borough Council urged the government to extend funding for buses, and warned that services, still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, were at risk.

And in Arborfield, frustration about the village’s new traffic measures continued, with three near-miss traffic accidents causing concern.

E-bikes and scooters were also a subject of discussion in the borough, as residents were warned about the risk of these catching fire during battery charging.

A charity shared its piece of good news: Rotary Club of Maiden Erlegh took 240 meals, the first batch of 2,500, to New Beginnings, the Whitely Community Development Association, and Share Woodley.

And Wokingham celebrated its best citizens, when Keith Warwick, Karen Cosh, Karen Smith, and Peter Izod received civic awards at the Town Hall for services to the community.

Other community heroes whose stories featured in January, were 104 year old Sindlesham resident Irene Muggeridge, who completed an arts and crafts course, and 10 year old Finley Rockall-Howells, who pledged to walk 20 miles a week to raise money for St Nicholas Pre-School, Hurst.