Recent Posts

Having experienced missed bins myself, I can certainly agree to the description of 'total chaos' as applied by RBWM, but I have to admit to having at least some sympathy towards SERCO in all this. We tend to forget that the company operated this contract quite satisfactorily from last autumn. And even the reduced fortnightly collections due to covid worked reasonably well. It was only after the return to 'normal' was overshadowed with a 'target operation model' (whatever the heck that is!) that the current level of dissatisfaction revealed itself. If, after months of an OK service locally, it is now necessary for SERCO to rely on help from "everywhere across the country", what on earth is being asked of them in the contract?

Well said birdman, beautifully put.

It's a great start to our challenge of raising funds for this year's installation of Christmas Lights to make sure our Village sparkles yet again this festive season ..........all donations are very much appreciated !....thankyou Cookham !...

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cookham-christmas-lights?fbclid=IwAR3QWlDG9XrU8X8qhzMXI6zjND6t-ALQSK3TrnmK1iyD6arZ4aFVgGTJOFg

Spice Merchant Group are getting behind the @MarcusRashford campaign & offering a free lunch to any child in need this half term.

From Monday 26th to Friday 30th October, they will be offering a free warm lunchbox to any child who needs it. No child should go hungry.

Lunchboxes will contain a vegetable biryani, tarka daal & a naan bread. Suitable for vegetarians, vegans & coeliacs.
Please request a lunchbox in advance by emailing cookham@spicemerchantgroup.com. It will be available to takeaway from Spice Merchant Cookham between 12- 3pm

Who's up for a FREE hair cut or beard trim??
           
Cookham Barbers is looking for live models for our trainee barber Sophie, to develop her skills. Sophie is being trained by Aime at the shop and is now ready to progress from manikins to real heads.
If you'd like to take advantage of this time limited offer for a free hair cut or beard trim with Sophie, please contact Aime to arrange your appointment by either..
Email: cookhambarbers@outlook.com

Sophie will be supervised during all treatments being preformed. This offer applies to over 18's only. Your safety is our priority at Cookham Barbers so all COVID-19 safety measures are in place and will be followed in our shop. You must have a confirmed appointment booked before your visit. Masks must be worn in store until your barber advises you to remove it for treatments.

Lizzy,
I could find this post quite chilling. The psychopathology involved might hint at psychopathy:

Defined as:

'Sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is traditionally a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.

Hmmmmm

No wonder the little issue of the non-collection of our bins has not been resolved. If Serco considers a redundancy exercise to be fun for those losing their livelihoods. what chance for the feelings of the residents left
with uncollected rubbish!

Foodshare's Holiday Hunger Project. https://www.foodshare.today/schools-appeal

In the past, we have always had time to prepare for the school holidays and make up extra bags to give out to families with children. With Foodshares recent move we have been behind on gathering in donations to help stock these bags that support families during the school holidays.

8pm last night a local team of volunteers came to the rescue and now we have a dedicated team to help with this project.  At 9am this morning we were loading supermarket trolleys with goodies to take back to Foodshare and makeup bags ready to hand out to families for 10:30am.

SUCCESS - 30 EXTRA bags were given out today in the first session. These bags were filled with fridge snacks, extra tinned food and treats.

A huge well done to the new 'Holiday Hunger Team' Catherine Saker, Gina & Ian Steadman, Debbie Watson & Erica Hunter who were available at such short notice to help us this morning.

We are still expanding this team and if you would like to volunteer please contact me, Debbie, on 07782 345 935
Also, we would welcome donations towards this project and have a dedicated team to either collect the items or purchase them on your behalf. Please do not hesitate in contacting me on the number above if you have any questions.
If you would like to donate food for this specific project the items below are some of the 'extras' we will put into the Holiday Hunger bags.

**We do also provide fresh food, fresh vegetables and non-perishable food so these bags are additional support for children in the school holidays.
We would be grateful for the following items:
Tinned Macaroni
Tinned Ravioli
Tin/Jar Hot Dogs
Crisps
Cereal Bars
Small pots of Jelly
Small pots of Rice pudding
Packets of biscuits
Multipacks Penguins/kitkats/clubs
Small cheeses
Cheese strings
Dairy Lee Packs Ham/cheese
Yoghurt Tubes (easier for us to store)
Chocolates
Dried fruit
Small boxes of Raisins
Small cartons of juice
Packets of fairy cakes (longer life)
Swiss rolls
Small fruit-filled pies
Cartons of custard
Crackers

[Slough]

Slough has become the first Berkshire area to move into Tier 2 lockdown restrictions.

The town was escalated into the high alert level after coronavirus cases spiralled at an alarming rate. There were 231 cases in the seven days to October 19 bringing the infection rate in Slough to 164.5 per 100,000 people, compared to 138 cases in the week to October 12 - an infection rate of 92.3.


Slough Borough Council leader James Swindlehurst revealed increasing cases were not linked to a major outbreak at a particular venue or shop but were being passed from person to person in the community making it difficult to trace back to a place or time.

He added: “This means we and our health partners can’t take action alone to stop the spread; it needs you, each and every resident to play their part, do your bit, take the actions you can to protect yourselves, your families and your community.”

The rest of Berkshire remains in Tier 1 but all council bosses have warned people in their town, to help stop the spread of cases by following the rules. They also warned if cases continue to rise, the areas would be moved to Tier 2.

How close are Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell and Wokingham to Tier 2?

Towns and cities under Tier 2 lockdown typically have more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days but this doesn't guarantee a move to Tier 2.

Towns with an infection rate of more than 100 per 100,000 people will be in talks with Government officials about moving tiers but that rate is only one factor.

You can find out the differences between Tier 1 and Tier 2 restrictions here.

The latest Public Health England figures show how close each area of Berkshire is to moving into Tier 2. Data for the most recent four days (October 20-23) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Slough

Tier: 2

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 164.5 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 246

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 97.6 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 146

Windsor and Maidenhead

Tier: 1

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 132.1 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 200

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 125.5 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 190

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead leader Councillor Andrew Johnson said: "Last week given our borderline status and likely projected increase in cases I asked government to consider whether it was appropriate or not for us to move into high-risk Tier 2. Since then the rise in our number of cases has slightly abated, but the potential for underlying infection remains extremely high.

"As a result, and based upon the data before us, in discussions with government we have requested to remain in Tier 1 for now pending further review, to which the government has agreed. However, our numbers are such that we remain on the cusp of Tier 2 and all the additional restrictions on our lives this would bring.

"We must not be complacent. We must continue to follow the guidance. We must stop the spread. Doing this may help us avoid Tier 2."

Reading

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 104.5 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 169

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 76.6 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 124

Reading Borough Council leader Jason Brock said moving to Tier 2 was a last resort, but action needed to be taken to slow the spread of the virus in the town.

He said: "What we have in Reading is a substantial increase in the number of cases. These numbers are growing at a faster and faster rate.

"It’s clear there needs to be some work to take those numbers down.

"I want to be really clear, I don’t want us to be into Tier 2, no one wants to go into Tier 2, that’s a last resort.

"We do need to start working proactively in Reading and the broader Reading urban area to bring those numbers down and get the rate of growth back under control."

Wokingham

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 90.0 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 154

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 64.3 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 110

Meradine Peachey, director of Public Health Berkshire, said if Wokingham borough's seven day infection rate continues "at the rate of the south east", then it will reach 100 cases per 100,000 people before the end of October.

Speaking at a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council she said reaching 100 out of 100,00 people is "one of the indicators" that could lead to going into Tier 2.

Bracknell Forest

Bracknell Forest Council has warned it could move to Tier 2 if the spread of coronavirus doesn't slow
Tier: 1

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 79.2 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 97

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 57.1 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 70

A Bracknell Forest Council spokeswoman said: “While Bracknell Forest is currently categorised as Tier 1 ‘medium risk’ the current rate of infection suggests that it will follow others in being categorised as Tier 2 ‘high risk’ within weeks if the spread isn’t slowed down.”

West Berkshire

West Berkshire has the lowest infection rate in Berkshire

Tier: 1

Infection rate in seven days to October 19: 63.7 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 19: 101

Infection rate in seven days to October 12: 46.1 per 100,000

Number of cases in seven days to October 12: 73

West Berkshire has had one of the lowest infection rates in the county throughout the pandemic.

The leader of West Berkshire Council Councillor Lynne Doherty, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I think we’re going to be living with Covid for many months to come and I’ve got no desire to rush my residents up to Tier 2 where they wouldn’t be able to mix with family members or visit their loved ones in care homes.

“As and when we have to, we will of course, but there is nothing within the current numbers that indicates we should do that.

“I don’t see why people should have to live in greater restrictions for longer than need be.

[Announcement]

Announcement Our new website is now live. You can shop in your PJs and not raise any eyebrows from now on. Click n collect or have books delivered to your door. If we don’t have what you are looking for then contact us - we can normally get available titles delivered to us the next day.

www.thelittlebookshop.info

LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Because of extraordinarily high demand, we are no longer taking orders for Small Organic Crowns and 4kg Organic Whole Turkeys. Free Range are still available (& just as delicious!) but we suggest ordering as soon as you possibly can to avoid disappointment.

https://www.copasturkeys.co.uk/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98112577&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--o7uNaf4OHdjM-p7KbZOzrMxtCrGF3YnsTE-giZ7MbuARyXmkakU7V_fJm7oWMX7RarCCFyK6QFyU_znI_GlUbnfY4AQ&utm_content=98112577&utm_source=hs_email

There seems to be a lot of damage type crime in Cookham at the moment, what with car mirrors being torn off and the Medical Centre being vandalised.