COVERING WOKINGHAM, FINCHAMPSTEAD, EARLEY, WINNERSH, SHINFIELD, WOODLEY, TWYFORD & SURROUNDING AREAS
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THE VOICE OF THE BOROUGH
Thursday, July 1, 2021 No. 319
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‘Town councils are asleep’ EXCLUSIVE By PHIL CREIGHTON news@wokingham.today
Cheers! Beer festival a success
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THE LEADERS of two town councils have defended their work over the pandemic.
At a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s ruling executive last Thursday evening (see page 14), leader Cllr John Halsall had accused Earley and Wokingham town councils – both run by Liberal Democrat administrations – of being asleep for 18 months, with “no evidence that either body has done anything material in that time”. But this has been angrily denied by Cllr Clive Jones from Earley Town and Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey from Wokingham Town, who felt that the comments were unprofessional and unwarranted. Cllr Halsall was disappointed with the opposition’s behaviour during last Thursday’s executive meeting, which saw some angry exchanges, including his comments about the town councils being asleep. He told Wokingham.Today that he was unhappy with the opposition as they “keep telling lies and they’re dangerous lies” about the borough. Instead, Cllr Halsall felt they should be praising the surge programmes. “It’s been a huge exercise, every member staff who gave their time, unpaid and paid, helped mount this exercise. “We got the go ahead for the vaccinations on the Friday evening and it was up and running on Monday morning. That’s a fantastic, leading the way. Many councils would not have been able to do that. “Were questions at the Executive on that? No, absolutely not, they were absolutely balderdash, cobblers. They were negative points from an opposition who keep on decrying what we’re doing.”
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COUNCILS HONOUR ARMED FORCES P4 GREAT TIME: Thousands of punters returned to the Stanlake Meadow festival over the weekend, in what has been dubbed the “best Twyford Beer Festival ever”. Organisers estimate the £10,000 fundraising total of 2019 has been surpassed. Full story P9. Pictures: Steve Smyth
Charity thanks mystery donor EXCLUSIVE
By JESS WARREN jwarren@wokingham.today A HURST charity has a mystery donor that knows exactly what stock is needed and when.
First Days Children’s Charity noticed anonymous deliveries began arriving six months ago, after moving to its new donation centre on Molly Millars Lane. Founder and CEO, Emma Cantrell said she wants to thank the mystery
donor for their support. “Whoever it is just wants to give quietly,” she said. “That’s what’s so moving about it. People like this keep an organisation going — those behind the scenes. “It’s similar to those who have a monthly donation set up.” Ms Cantrell said she has asked all staff and volunteers if they are the mystery buyer, as items have been arriving when they’re in need. “Things just keep arriving at opportune moments,” she said. “We
were packing our summer fun bags the other day and a delivery of frisbees, skipping ropes and outdoor games arrived. “It must be someone who keeps an eye on our social media and website — they seem to always know what we need.” Ms Cantrell’s team are preparing 250 summer fun bags, to be delivered to families for the six-week holidays. “We wanted a way to get sun cream into people’s homes,” she said. � Continued on page 3
SCHOOL UNVEILS P8 MEMORIAL ART COVID RATE PASSES 100 PER 100,000 P11
MRS MAY OPENS NEW CHARITY P13
