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Reading Enews – October 2007 Britain in Bloom Reading scored 162 points in this year’s Thames and Chilterns in Bloom ‘city’ category, 17 points more than rival Oxford, which came second. Forbury Gardens was named best park in the region and The Avenue School in Basingstoke Road was joint best school, along with a school from Chesham. The judges were also impressed by the initiatives of Reading UK CIC’s Business Improvement District (BID) and highlighted the treatment of environmental and conservation issues. Town centre update Intex Cleaning Services - the contractor appointed by Reading UK CIC, through its Business Improvement District Committee, will be back in Reading on 7 October to undertake the fourth cycle of steam cleaning and chewing gum removal in the town centre. As with previous cleans, they will operate overnight from 7.00 pm - 7.00 am, five days a week for up to seven weeks. Festive lighting scheme - the first stage of the installation of our festive lighting scheme will commence on 18 October with all supporting wires being put in position ahead of the installation of the motifs from Thursday 1 November. A trial switch-on will be conducted on Wednesday 14 November with the full switch-on taking place on Friday 23 November, supported by a weekend of activities including - for the first time ever - The Oracle and Broad Street Mall lights being switched on over the same weekend. Market Place - the first event in the newly refurbished Market Place area will be a speciality market selling a range of food, craft and Fairtrade goods as part of Reading's annual International Festival (see below). The market is being staged by The Freemarketeers and will take place between Thursday 25 and Saturday 27 October. ‘The Big Green Market’ will follow it from Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 December. Retail The Oracle Bijoux
has handed back its lease and Octopus, a gift operator, has now
taken possession of the unit on Town Mall Walk.
Octopus is currently
fitting out. Planning An application has been lodged to change the use of 7 Gun Street from A1 (retail) to A5 (hot food takeaways). Stevco Ltd (Maxims Casino) has applied to change the use of 65-69 Caversham Road from two retail units to a casino including alterations to the building. The application for the provision of external seating to the front of the existing restaurant at 2 - 3 Butter Market (Munchies) has been permitted (September’s enews refers). Applications have been lodged by Norwich Union Life Pensions Ltd for Abbey Gate at 57-75 Kings Road to: install new low level, backlit stainless steel building signage to a new cantilevered canopy; convert half the existing fourth floor storage space into office space and erect four new pitched roof dormers with alterations to the two existing ones. The application by Travelodge Hotels Ltd for the formation of five additional bedrooms within the existing ground floor of 60 Oxford Road has been permitted (September’s enews refers). Muse Developments has applied to change the use of 78 Oxford Road to a marketing suite for its adjacent development at Chatham Place. Hail To The Comedy Banana! The noble comedy banana will once again be worshipped when Reading Comedy Festival slips into town for two weeks this month. The festival kicks off on Friday 5 October with The BBC Radio 4 cult ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’ at The Hexagon and ends on Saturday 20 October when Mitch Benn - one of the UK’s finest musical comedians - appears at South Street Arts Centre. In between, there is a staggering array of comedic talent on offer, to suit all age groups and tastes. During the two weeks, Reading Comedy Festival will showcase some of the UK’s very best comedy talent. Headliners include: Jimmy Carr, Ross Noble, Ardal O’Hanlon, Stewart Lee, Jenny Éclair, plus lots more. Look out for workshops, amateur open mic’ events, film, quizzes and street events. Tickets are available so book now from the Comedy Festival Box Office 960 6060 or online at www.readingarts.com Making Business Sense of Energy Reading Borough Council invites
you to attend a half-day seminar on
energy solutions
for
business: what your
business needs to
know about saving energy - and
saving money. There will also be a session entitled 'Understanding your Energy Bill - are you paying too much?' The target audience is businesses that have annual energy bills of £5,000 minimum, and no maximum and it would be helpful to have your company energy bills to hand. The event will conclude with a networking lunch and time to visit exhibitions on technical solutions and advice. Please register in advance using the online form at: www.reading.gov.uk/businessenergy Reading Borough Council is committed to tackling climate change as well as supporting local businesses. Business Link and Reading UK CIC are supporting this event. ‘DRAGONS
DEN’ COMES TO WHITLEY We are looking for business people from Reading to take part in a Dragons Den style event in Reading on 23 October. Just like the real TV show we want to seat the business people in the big black chairs and see if they can be convinced to invest. However, rather than parting with thousands of pounds for shares in a company, we are asking local business to invest in the Whitley Arts Festival, a festival created to enhance the lives of local people. Some students from schools in the area have been selected to take part in a business course, learning presentation skills, budgeting, creating a pitch etc. At the end of the course we will be holding the Dragons Den event to put their newly learned skills to the test. We are looking
for pledges of anywhere
between £500
and £2,000
to support various
aspects of the
Whitley Arts Festival,
such
as programmes,
the community showcase,
arts and
craft workshops
for
the young. We hope that the ‘Dragons’ that come along will ask the students tough questions about their product and proposal, and award them a pledge if their efforts and your interest in their offer are good enough. The event will be held on Tuesday 23 October, at Verizon Business in Whitley. Would you be prepared to come and be a Dragon? If so we would like you to get in touch with Ed Harcourt on 07968 439 810, or email ed@hogarthproductions.co.uk Healthy Workplace Challenge Run as a pilot scheme last year, the Healthy Workplace Challenge was aimed at Reading businesses and their workforce. The programme included weekly nutritional and physical activity challenges as well as a range of information to help employees make healthier choices. As it was such a success, the original 12 week pilot has been extended to a 12 month scheme starting next January and we are now looking for Reading companies to take part: The Sport Reading 2008 Healthy Workplace Challenge is a unique initiative that offers employers support in improving internal systems to achieve a more active and healthy ethos within the workplace. We are now looking for companies to sign up to either the Silver or Gold awards of the Challenge, which is a FREE programme. Gold Challenge Teams of 10 from different organisations compete in physical activity and nutritional challenges, with additional support offered to employers in areas such as smoking cessation, mental health and policy level changes in healthy lifestyles provision. Each month will have a key theme linked to improving mental health, physical activity levels or nutritional habits. Each month will also have a physical activity and nutritional challenge! Workshops related to each theme will be held at the start of each month for all team members, where they’ll be given a pack of information for the month to introduce them to and support them through the challenges. Silver Receive an Information Pack and support from the Sport Reading Team enabling you to promote the monthly themes to all your employees. We have already secured our first company to enter the Gold award for the Challenge. Yell is extremely excited by the challenge and is looking forward to a healthier 2008 - you could be too! If you would like to sign up please contact Joanne O’Connor on 901 5732 or at: Joanne.o’connor@reading.gov.uk or sarah.troke@reading.gov.uk Black History Month Throughout October there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone in Reading to take part in this national celebration of Black Culture. This year's event will be very significant as 2007 marks the bicentenary of the Abolition of Slavery and many of the activities will mark this anniversary. For more details contact 939 0771 or visit www.reading.gov.uk. Reading International Festival – 12-31 October This annual Festival co-ordinated by the Reading International Development Forum aims to highlight, promote and celebrate international activities, links and solidarity in Reading. This year they will commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery. Many events will highlight slavery issues and bring together local groups to celebrate Reading's diverse culture with music, food exhibitions, workshops, theatre and dance. For a full programme of events contact 958 6692. Last chance for VIP tickets Jelly will once again be taking part in the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea from 17 to 21 October, where they will be showcasing the artwork of some of the finest local talent. This art fair is a great event with all pieces under £3,000 and the jelly team would be delighted to see you there. Suzanne Stallard has a limited number of VIP tickets that she is offering to e-news readers on a first come, first served basis. To contact Suzanne and request guest tickets please email her at smallapple@mac.com or contact the jelly on 954 8086 The Voice Studio A new partnership has been formed between jelly and The Voice Studio, offering people the chance to explore their creativity by unlocking the voice. The Voice Studio offers workshops, classes and private tuition to a range of people from beginners right through to professional singers and actors. The basic premise is that anyone who can hear and speak can also sing, and the classes are all about freeing up parts of the body to facilitate this. After a course of lessons, speaking and singing become freer, easier, more secure and a lot more fun. Self-expression becomes clear and direct, delivery natural, and even the most reluctant of singers can hardly stop themselves wanting to break into song. If you have vocal problems, inhibitions or want to explore your untapped vocal potential, find out more from thevoicestudio@btinternet.com, or call 07930 321059. Tim Smith This newsletter
is for general information only. Whilst it is
believed to be |
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