Tales from the Trails at Pinic in the Park!

We are delighted to announce that the award winning Eddie Winship will be telling Tales from the Trails at the West Reading Great Get Together!  These stories are perfect for children of all ages.  Eddie is well know for supporting Reading's community and we were very pleased when he offered to come along.

I bet you never saw that coming!

Well what an amazing few days we have just witnessed.  I'm happy to admit I went into the general election thinking Labour would hold its own.  I wasn't expecting the huge losses predicted at the start of the campaign but equally I wasn't expecting another 30 new Labour MPs, one of whom is the new MP for Reading East Matt Rodda! Jeremy Corbyn had had an excellent campaign and when I read our manifesto my heart soared - it was excellent.  Filled with hope for a fairer future.  I was a steward at the rally he held in Reading and the turnout was amazing and so encouraging.

On election day I was running the Battle ward committee rooms, which something I've done for many years.  I was entering the gate data we had (the info we get when people at the gate of polling stations ask for your polling card number).  This shows us how many of our promise had voted.  It was clear something was very different from the beginning.  I was receiving a lot more data to input than is usual. By the end of the day I had huge piles of gate slips and an achy right hand!

By 10pm I was tired and looking forward to some sleep but the exit poll put any ideas of a peaceful evening to one side so I headed off to the count.  The voting samples I took looked excellent in Battle and pretty good even in some of the West Berkshire wards.  As the results came in from across the country it was apparent the exit polls were pretty accurate.  This meant we were in with a real chance of winning the two Reading seats.

At 3.30am the Reading West results were announced.  We didn't win but we did reduce Alok Sharma's majority to 2876. Around 4am a real buzz was being felt and rumours flew we had won Reading East.  The candidates were told the result and headed to the stage for the announcement.  It was amazing.  Matt Rodda had not only won the Reading East seat but did so comfortably with a 3759 lead.

It's now clear Reading West is a winnable seat and I will do all I can to ensure the the next time we have a general election (some saying it could be the autumn!) we return Reading West to Labour.

West Reading Great Get Together - Picnic In The Park!

"We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us" - Jo Cox MP

In my year as Mayor I met hundreds of people in Reading and got to know about their lives, hobbies, passions and challenges.  I loved Reading before I was mayor but the great people I met during that year made me love Reading more.

Reading has always had a strong community identity with thousands of different people getting along together all year long.  We decided to hold a Great Get Together event in West Reading to celebrate and strengthen our community.  So please join us:

Sunday 18 June

12pm-2pm

Kensington Road Park

Refreshments and BBQ for sale from 103rd Oxford Road Scouts

Join our Great Get Togther in Kensington Park, Reading. Pack a picnic and come along to meet your neighbours in Reading.

Any good at cricket, rounders or football? If you are bring a team game and get your new friends running around in the park.

We'll have story telling for children from Eddie Winship.

You'll be able to buy refreshments and BBQ from 103rd Reading Scouts who are supporting the event (£2 for a jumbo hot dog or 4oz burger. Vegetarian options available).

Reading has a wonderful community and has proved year on year we have more in common!

Print a poster to share here: Picnic In The Park Poster

RSVP to our Eventbrite event here: Picnic In The Park Event

Or join our Facebook event on my page here: Picnic In The Park Facebook Event 

Press release:  West Reading Great Get Together Press Release

We'd love to see you at our event however if you can't make it please share with as many people as you can.

There is parking at the park as well as two hours parking in nearby streets.  If coming by bus you can catch the 15, 16 and 17 and get off at the West Village - Tesco stop (inbound or outbound).

Subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances and bad weather - fingers crossed.

West Village: amended parking restrictions

After requests from residents, the caretaker and West Village Residents group, parking restrictions were drawn up for West Village and the consultation recently ended.  The response was mixed so a reduced set of restrictions will be going to Traffic Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday.  Here they are:

Residents were concerned that the original plan would reduce the number of parking spaces available, especially were garages are too small to be used.  This reduced scheme addresses the concerns raised but also makes the area safer and more accessible.

As a larger scheme was originally advertised this reduced scheme does not need to be advertised again. This saves time and will enable Reading Borough Council to start making the streets of West Village safer if the plans are approved.

You can read the report and officer comments here:  http://www.reading.gov.uk/article/9594/Traffic-Management-Sub-Committee-14-SEP-2016

Fibromyalgia Awareness - The Fight Continues

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to continue my fight for better awareness of fibromyalgia.  The motion in proposed for Unite 's policy conference made the final agenda.

I was proud to be able to bring this motion to Unite the Union's 2016 policy conference. It was carried unanimously. My work for people with fibromyalgia didn't end when I stopped being Mayor. I'm fighting for everyday people all the time. My speech was as follows:

Brothers and sisters. This is the second time I've spoken at a conference. The last time was 10 years ago and I was at Amicus finance sector conference opposing the offshoring of our jobs. A lot has changed in those 10 years. I've had two boys, been elected as a Labour councillor in Reading and in 2014 became the Deputy Mayor of Reading.

It was during my time as Deputy mayor that I visited my local fibromyalgia support group to celebrate their 1st anniversary.  I heard about the debilitating pain, tiredness, muscle stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome and other symptoms associated with the condition.  I was horrified to hear of the struggles faced by the people in the room. Drs who didn't believe the condition existed, employers who did not understand it, people who lost their jobs or felt they had to resign leaving them to rely on benefits and the government's increasingly harsh disability payments system.  The condition doesn't necessarily worsen. It doesn't stay the same. It comes and goes. You can have a few good weeks but then find you're unable to walk.  One day you can be OK the next unable to get out of bed. At work you could have a long run of good accuracy but a ‘fibro fog’ could mean you get things wrong or take longer than usual to get your job done. I remember hoping it was something I never had to experience.

Just a week later the pain began. It started in my neck. I dismissed it as a dodgy pillow. It moved to my knees. I put it down to 22 years dancing catching up on me. Then it moved to my shoulder,  elbows and hands. I couldn't do basic tasks without being in a lot of pain. I was tired but I had two children. It's normal isn't it? One Dr told me to come back when my knees were so sore I couldn't walk properly, another put it down to low vitamin D but thankfully the third took me seriously and referred me to rheumatology.  It was at my appointment in February 2015 that I saw one of the Drs who attended the support group the previous October and it was at that appointment I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.  The pain, tiredness,  disturbed sleep, low mood and anxiety all made sense but it was a shock.

I became mayor in 2015 I raised money for Fibromyalgia UK and the local support group I'd become a member of as well as the local special care baby unit.  My year as mayor ended in May but my fight for people with fibromyalgia didn't stop there.

I bring this motion to conference so we can help and support our friends, family and members with fibromyalgia.  If you look around the room you'll see colleagues with the condition. They may know they have it or they may be struggling daily with a group of symptoms they can't make sense of. It will help us protect our members from discrimination,  job loss, uncertainty and the stress caused by sickness policy and make sure they can work safely.

Conference I move.

Motion:

Conference resolves that Unite will create an information pack to raise awareness of fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that causes a wide range of symptoms including:

Pain
Fatigue
Muscle stiffness
Difficulty sleeping
Problems with mental process
Headaches and migraine
Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Estimates suggest as many as 1 in 20 people in the UK  could have this condition,  that's approximately 71,000 Unite members, with 7 times more women being affected than men.

Conference resolves to:

Create an information pack on fibromyalgia,  it's symptoms and how these may affect members in the workplace.
Make this available to all members.
Send this information to all workplace, equalities and health & safety reps.
Encourage reps to make employers aware of the condition so affected members are properly supported in the workplace.

South East/Women’s Committee