Police appeal for witnesses after East Reading rape #rdguk

UPDATE: the police are no longer investigating this: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/police-no-longer-investigating-alleged-7995986

From the police:

"Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a report of a rape in Reading.

A 19-year old woman reported she was raped between 12am and 12.15am today (22/10) in the area of Whiteknights Road.

The victim was walking near the junction of Whiteknights Road and Upper Redlands Road close to a university campus entrance. A small group of men approached her and raped her in a small wooded area nearby. She then walked away from the area.

A scene watch is currently in place and officers are carrying out enquiries to try to establish the circumstances of the incident.

Det Insp Stuart Bosley, from Berkshire Force CID, said: “I am appealing for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area or who may have information which could assist the investigation to speak to police.

“If you saw anything please call the 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101, quoting URN 30 22/10.

“Patrols are taking place in the area and officers will be in the area tonight. Anyone with any concerns can approach and speak to an officer.”

If you don’t want to speak directly to the police, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

Join us on Thames Valley Alert (opens new window) to receive local crime and safety messages."

Getting our message across, social care crisis, protecting the NHS all in Reading Green News

You may have heard that UKIP have been invited to the general election leaders debate but the Green Party have not. Frustrating!

We cannot rely on national TV and newspapers to give us fair coverage, but we can rely on ourselves to fund, print and deliver newsletters to get our message out there. Can you chip in?

In East Reading where we have three councillors we put out quarterly newsletters and we are looking at expanding this work into neighbouring Redlands Ward and beyond. We are also hoping to get more General Election leaflets out across the wider Reading area.

Our newsletters cost about £30 per thousand. If you could donate £5, £10 or more towards our printing costs that would help us get our message of a fairer, healthier and more affordable society out to more people.

You can donate here: http://reading.greenparty.org.uk/get-involved/donate1.html

Below is a brief update on what Reading and Wokingham Green Party has up to recently:

What does social care mean to you?

Greens support strike to save the NHS

Older residents the focus of benefits take up campaign in Reading

Green Party calls for action on station cycle parking

If you've got any feedback, ideas or want to get more involved please get in touch.

Please feel free to forward this on to other interested people and as always, for more recent news from the Green Party, to join us, or to find out more about our policies, go to:

http://reading.greenparty.org.uk

Best wishes
Rob White, Josh Williams and Jamie Whitham
Green Party councillors

PS the Green Party is a democratic membership led organisation. The more members we have the more we can get done. Please consider joining:

http://join.greenparty.org.uk

Internal solid wall insulation fitted through the Green Deal

We took the plunge recently and through the Green Deal have got some internal solid wall insulation fitted (at the front of the house) and are going to get external solid wall insulation (at the back of the house). This should mean we have to use the heating less and save us some money. Pictures below.

Unfortunately, it has been a pain navigating the Green Deal system, and I gave up once. However, I was motivated to give it another go when I heard about the grant available for hard to treat properties – with solid walls rather than cavity walls for example. I'm not sure what the current state of play with this grant is, but I know it was made less attractive recently.

UPDATE: this grant is no longer available. But I'm sure there will be others in the future.

I would encourage people to look into the Green Deal, but what I fear will probably happen is that people will be put off because it is complicated and takes a fair bit of time. What we really need from central government is a change of mindset and funding to get all homes up to a decent standard of insulation on a street by street basis.

The first picture is me with some insulation board, which has also been fitted to the wall.

The second picture is a better shot of the board mounted to the wall.There are a few bits of spare board on the ground.

The final picture is the wall after it has been skimmed with plaster. The skirting board has been remounted.

Campaigning for swimming lessons at Arthur Hill #rdguk

Ever since swimming lessons at Arthur Hill stopped we have been lobbying the council to do what it can to get them going as soon as possible.

Many residents have contacted me saying that it just doesn't make sense and quite often is very difficult for them to access swimming lessons elsewhere in Reading.

The council is in the process of changing its pay policy, this should allow the council to attract the coaches, which should in turn mean that we can get the sessions going again. More information below:

"Unfortunately we have been unable to re-instate the Aqua Academy Swimming lessons at Arthur Hill pool due to the lack of Swimming Coaches. Since January this year we have been advertising the sessions to our internal coaching staff. We also have an ongoing external recruitment for coaches but again no coaches have come forward.
 
We are currently going through market supplement changes for our coaching rates. It is hoped that the Swimming Coach rate will increase to become in line with other providers. Following on from the market supplement changes we hope to recruit more swimming coaches.
 
We are very keen to reinstate the lessons at Arthur Hill and will keep you informed of any further progress."

October newsletter: Council housing, Maiden Erlegh School, and School meals, all in Reading Green News

Below is our latest monthly email newsletter. Sign up here: http://greenparty.org.uk/signup

*

Hello all,

Thanks to everyone who supported Green Parliamentary candidate for Reading East Rob White’s sleepout for homelessness charity Launchpad. He raised over £400.

A date for your diaries, Reading RESCUE (the community tidy-up event) is coming up on Saturday October 11^th from 10am to 12 noon. If you’re interested in getting involved and helping tidy-up the Thames side, let us know.

Here is a brief update on what Reading Green Party has up to recently: 

ReadyBike off to a fast start

Greens encourage eligible families to register for free school meals in Reading

Plans for 1,000 new council homes welcomed, but don’t go far enough

And the event(s) which is/are coming up: 

Information evenings on the new Maiden Erlegh School in Reading

If you've got any feedback, ideas or want to get more involved please get in touch.

Please feel free to forward this on to other interested people and as always, for more recent news from the Green Party, to join us, or to find out more about our policies, go to:

http://reading.greenparty.org.uk

Best wishes

Rob White, Josh Williams and Jamie Whitham

Green Party councillors

PS the Green Party is a democratic membership led organisation. The more members we have the more we can get done. Please consider joining: 

http://join.greenparty.org.uk