https://www.thameshospice.org/   To donate to the Light up a Life appeal, watch the online service and order a service at home pack, please visit www.thameshospice.org.uk/LUAL2020

LIGHT UP A LIFE APPEAL LAUNCHED TO SUPPORT BEREAVED FAMILIES FACING THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THEIR LOVED ONE

Thames Hospice has launched its ‘Light up a Life’ Christmas fundraising appeal to help provide urgent support for more families like Tanya and her two young children, who are facing their first Christmas without Martin, their beloved husband and father.

Light up a Life is a special opportunity to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, and to raise funds for the Hospice to help patients and their families get the support they desperately need this Christmas and beyond.

www.bracknell.foodbank.org.uk or  Facebook: www.facebook.com/BracknellFoodbank

This year, The Lexicon has teamed up with Bracknell Foodbank to help to give local families some festive cheer this Christmas.  Christmas can often bring increased expenditure & anxiety for many, particularly those on a low income and Bracknell Foodbank is aiming to feed additional families over the Christmas period.

Claire Mather, Bracknell Foodbank manager, says: “It isn’t just about giving out food.  If people are struggling to put food on the table, they will also be struggling to buy other festive essentials, which is where we as a community can step-in to help.”

To help, The Lexicon is donating 250 £10 gift cards to the charity to help provide families with some seasonal cheer.

If you’d like to be a Community Champion email  volunteer@rbwm.gov.uk

To help residents stay up to date with the latest factual information on COVID-19, The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead is launching a new community information champion scheme.

Community information champions will receive regular information from the council by email which they can then forward on to family, friends and other contacts. There will be no need to edit the information being sent out, it will be short and to the point for easy sharing in person or on the phone.

The Royal Borough is encouraging people from all communities to come forward and apply to be a community champion. Champions will be able to feedback any questions from their community, ask for clarification or bring to our attention myths that are being shared. We can then act on the feedback by refining the messaging to meet community needs and keep the borough safe. 

Papplewick School, Windsor Road, Ascot.   

Papplewick's harvest collection this year was donated to the Tressell Trust.  Due to the overwhelming generosity of the Papplewick community a record 343 kgs of goods ranging from foodstuffs, toiletries, household items, feminine items and baby supplies were donated. A week long appeal was organised by Mrs Simone Alder, Senior House Parent who together with a team of boys sorted the items which were taken to the Kerith Centre (Bracknell Food Bank) for the Stop the Hunger campaign.

Headmaster Tom Bunbury said " The Tressell Trust is a wonderful organisation which has worked with nutritionists to develop food parcels that contain sufficient nutrition for adults and children for at least 3 days of healthy balanced meals both for individuals and families, and we were delighted to be able support this very worthy cause."

Pictured Above: L-R, Gemma Puckett and Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent

England's most senior midwife celebrates achievements of maternity service at St Peter’s Hospital

Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, the first Chief Midwifery Officer for England, has visited St Peter’s Hospital, in Chertsey, which is part of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The country’s most senior midwife was able to see first-hand how the Trust is working to provide better care for mothers and babies and celebrate the outstanding contribution of staff.

Professor Dunkley-Bent is responsible for driving improvements in care for new and expectant mothers, building increased safety and support in maternity care and promoting safer births as part of Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Review, and the NHS Long Term Plan. She is also responsible for providing professional, strategic and clinical leadership to colleagues across the country.

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead is taking part in the Local Government Association’s second #CouncilsCan Day – an online celebration to highlight the critical work of local government during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Royal Borough has worked tirelessly to adapt to the changes and keep services running to support residents and businesses. 

 This includes: 

• 50 staff volunteers made 800 phone calls in April to help our most vulnerable residentscope with new lockdown measures
• Setting up a volunteering helpline and bringing together community groups to offer support for those self-isolating including collecting prescriptions, shopping and dog walking
• Introducing a click and collect and click and deliver service for residents to borrow books from our libraries
• Providing residents with unlimited digital access to magazines, newspapers and books with their library card
• Highlighting local businesses with the creation of My Royal Borough website and social media and the continued support of Make Maidenhead and Visit Windsor

• Distributed £26 million pounds in grants to local businesses
• Launching the community information champion scheme to ensure that our messaging reaches everyone in our community