Community reports

Lynwood Retirement Village & Nursing care Ascot

St.George's Independent Girls' School Ascot

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Each year, more than 250,000 students from over 3000 schools across the UK take part in a series of Maths challenges organised by the UK Mathematics Trust, (UKMT). The aim of the challenges is to encourage mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency in using mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

Our Sixth Form students have recently taken part in the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls and we were delighted to hear that Grace in Year 13 had attained a score placing her in the Top 25% of all participants in the Challenge, which is an outstanding achievement. Grace said, "I was surprised and delighted by my results. This has given me a lot of confidence and I am now applying to study Mathematics and Statistics at University"

Miss King, Charters’ UKMT Coordinator said, "We would like to congratulate Grace on her outstanding performance on the recent UKMT Mathematical Olympiad for Girls. She did a fantastic job and achieving a spot in the top 25% of all participants in the U.K. is an outstanding achievement and one of which Grace should be very proud"

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The New Hospital Site at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, Last September

Building work on a new primary care health facility at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Upon completion of the new primary healthcare facility, Ascot Medical Centre and Green Meadows surgery will move into the new premises. This is expected to take place in early 2021, although no date has yet been fixed.

Ascot Medical Centre is currently based in the acute hospital site at Heatherwood which is being completely redeveloped by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT), and Green Meadows surgery is situated in Winkfield Road, Ascot. Both are not sustainable to meet future needs of integrated primary care.

Caroline Farrar, Executive Place Managing Director, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Frimley Collaborative, said: “While Covid-19 has stopped a lot of construction projects in their tracks, we have been able to continue work on the new primary care facility. We’re hopeful that the primary care facility will be completed by around November, ready for the practices to move in from early 2021.

“Co-locating the two practices will enable multiple professional teams to work together resulting in better outcomes for our patients.

“New facilities within the premise will ensure treatment and consultation rooms are suitable for all patients and meet criteria outlined in HBNs (Health Building Notes) DD (Disability Discrimination Act), which is a requirement for all new build primary care premises.”

“Having larger rooms within the facility will also provide space for multi professional input to patients, and carer’s care plans developed to support those with multiple long term conditions and frailty.”

The new facility forms part of the wider Ascot Plan which is to modernise primary and community care for local residents over the coming years and continue to improve on the health outcomes for local people.

Caroline added: “In addition to the exciting new primary health care facility at Heatherwood, we’re hoping to have a new state-of-the-art health centre built next to Ben Lynwood Village, halfway between Sunningdale and Sunninghill.

“The planning application for this particular development is currently with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and if given the go-ahead, the new build will bring together Magnolia House Surgery and Kings Corner Surgery as both practices are currently unable to expand to cope with the current capacity and demand issues, as the majority of their consultation and treatment rooms are located on the first floor with no lift facility for those in need.

“The health centre would enable access to a wider range of services in the community and a more collaborative way of delivering health care, with the potential to offer services for urgent care and on-the-day primary care, as well as additional healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists, mental health teams and voluntary sector.

“There is still time for local residents to pledge their support online for the new health centre to be built, so I would encourage you to do so if you haven’t already”.

To pledge your support online for the new health centre next to Ben Lynwood Village, email planning.maidenhead@rbwm.gov.uk quoting planning application number 20/00969/FULL, together with their name and address.

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Picture one: Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Councillor Sayonara Luxton (left) presents a cheque for £40,194 to Mrs Daebbie Raven, Chief Executive, Thames Hospice

Mayor presents a cheque for more than £40,000 to local charity Thames Hospice. The outgoing Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Councillor Sayonara Luxton, undertook her last official engagement on Monday.

At a special, socially distanced ceremony at the new state-of-the-art Thames Hospice, the Mayor presented a cheque for £40,194 to the charity she has supported throughout her 19-month term of office.

The money was raised by the Mayor through her hosting of and participation in, a variety of charitable events throughout her term. Councillor Luxton said: “I’m thrilled to have had the privilege of fundraising for Thames Hospice and I want to express my deep gratitude to all those who donated, supported, or contributed in any way to helping me raise funds for this wonderful charity.

“I started fundraising in 2019 with the very popular ‘Steam Dreams’ steam train trip on the Windsor Express. This was followed by other fundraising events such as afternoon tea, a Christmas meal and entertainment, and Christmas wreath making.

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A new cashless donation scheme to help end rough sleeping launches in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead on Monday 21st December.

Residents and visitors will be able to support local rough sleepers to make real life changes by donating to our rough sleeper pathway using Tap 4 Lasting Change contactless donation points in Ascot, Eton, Maidenhead and Windsor.

Donations raised by Tap 4 Lasting Change will fund individually tailored support programmes for rough sleepers to help them make real life changes as part of a three-stage process:

Stage 1 - identify what support each former rough sleeper will need from the programme
Stage 2 – put the individual programme of accommodation and support in place including the appropriate interaction from wider agencies
Stage 3 – assist the former rough sleeper into sustainable independent accommodation

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Ultrafast Broadband Boost for Ascot & Sunninghill | Gigaclear, the UK’s largest rural alt-net, has started work in Ascot to connect the town to its ultrafast full-fibre broadband network.

Gigaclear’s network is already present across much of rural Berkshire through the government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) scheme. Now, the broadband provider has the opportunity to expand its existing network on a commercial basis to underserved market towns in the county, where internet speeds are still extremely poor.

Ascot’s existing broadband speeds are around 27.45Mbps*, well below the national average of 80Mbps plus. Gigaclear’s full-fibre upgrade will bring speeds of up to 900Mbps to just over 4,300 homes and business premises in Ascot, and a further 4,400 properties in the village of Sunninghill. In total the project will require over 32,000 metres of fibre which will be laid via trenching as well as through existing duct and pole infrastructure.

Consultation on new Public Spaces Protection Orders to tackle anti-social behaviour | An eight-week consultation asking for feedback on introducing two new Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour in the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, has launched.

The PSPO's that RBWM is proposing to introduce, will help to tackle dog fouling and dog control as well as cycling on the highway.

PSPO's were introduced to deal with anti-social behaviour in an area where the quality of life is suffering to those in the community.

Councillor David Cannon, lead member for public protection and parking, said: “The Royal Borough is a great place to live and work, but anti-social behaviour can be a blight on even the best communities.

“Residents tell us how frustrating it can be to see such behaviour and as a council we have a responsibility to do what we can to deter these types of behaviour.

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The Lexicon is delighted to announce that it has awarded four donations to charitable causes within the Borough of Bracknell Forest, through The Lexicon Charity Fund.

Winkfield St. Marys Church of England Primary School receives £2,000 for an item of equipment specifically for the garden: To completely re-develop and improve the Reception and Key Stage 1 Quiet Garden. Establishing an area for younger children to be able to go and be able to be calm and relaxed, to teach children about the world in developing plants and promoting wildlife.

Pilgrim Hearts Trust receives £2,000 to help cover the provision of a freephone line to its client helpline for one year: The group addresses the needs of the homeless by providing a warm, safe bed and hot meals each night, so they do not have to sleep on the streets. The group also helps by offering them advice, training and encouragement to boost their self-esteem and help find employment and housing.

Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs receives £2,000 to fund a pocket defibrillator: A portable light weight defibrillator will permit the search teams to make the decision to carry the defibrillator on a search. The pocket defibrillator will be deployed on all searches (on average at least once a week) The defibrillator will also be deployed during weekly training sessions in the forests around Bracknell as this will add to the safety of the search teams.

Meadow Vale Primary PTA receives £1,500 towards its pond regeneration project: The Pond Regeneration Project is part of the school development plan for outdoor learning. The school has extensive groups which have huge potential for learning outside and there is an eagerness to return the pond to its former glory!