Remember to bring photo ID to your polling station

If you’re voting at a polling station in the General Election on Thursday 4 July, remember you must show an accepted form of photo ID to polling station staff before they can give you your ballot paper. It’s the law. If voting by proxy, your proxy nominee will need to show their photo ID. Polling stations will be open 7am to 10pm. 

What ID is accepted?

A wide range of photo ID are accepted, including a UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Commonwealth passport; a UK or EEA driver’s licence; and some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card.

Visit the Electoral Commission voter ID webpage for the full list. You will be able to use expired ID if you're still recognisable from the photo. The Resident Advantage Card is not an accepted form of ID for voting.

Voting by post?

Time in running short to return your pack via Royal Mail, if you haven’t done so already. You can still hand it in at your polling station until 10pm on election day (Thursday 4 July). But you must complete an additional form when handing it in for your vote to count. Councils can no longer accept postal votes which are left in council letterboxes or at libraries.

There are also new limits on the number of postal votes a person can hand in on behalf of others. You can only hand in your own postal vote, and those of up to five other people.

Who are the candidates?

Check our website for the confirmed candidates in the Windsor constituency and Maidenhead constituency, as well as for the polling station locations. The count will take place overnight, with results declared in the early hours of Friday 5 July. Follow us on Facebook and X for the results, or visit our website.

Successful prosecution over illegal vapes

A shop and a company director have to pay court fines, costs and charges totalling £2,870 for having illegal vapes in possession for sale, following a Trading Standards investigation and prosecution by the Royal Borough.

Some 52 illegal vaping products were seized by Trading Standards on 26 July 2023 at K&B Convenience Store, 2 Blandy House, King Street, SL6 1DZ. The businesses is owned and run by KK&P Limited, the director of which is Mr Bhaumikbai Patel, aged 37, of Berkeley Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex.

Both Mr Patel and KK&P Limited pleaded guilty to the two charges brought against them at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday 14 June 2024. Mr Patel, entered guilty pleas on behalf of himself and the limited company.

The charges related to product requirements and product labelling. The vaping products were illegal because they did not comply with product requirements in that they contained a bigger volume of nicotine-containing liquid than is permitted - the maximum permitted volume for disposable electronic cigarettes is two millilitres, these were 10 millilitres. 

They were also not correctly labelled in that the health warning was smaller than required and therefore not sufficiently prominent.

Read more in our press release.

Library online services upgrade starts on Monday

From Monday 1 July to Monday 8 July our library IT system will be undergoing a major upgrade.

All libraries will be open as normal, but some services will be impacted while we operate in offline mode. Council Customer Services in libraries, along with council payments, will not be affected. The loan period for all items due to be returned during this period has been extended by one week.

Please check your account before Monday 1 July or after Monday 8 July to confirm return dates.

For more information about this please visit our website.

Know the risks: Make sure you and your family stay safe around open water

If you have children or grandchildren, please speak with them about the risks of open water and encourage them to use local leisure centres if they wish to go for a swim.  

The following video summarises the Royal Life Saving Society’s Water Safety Code: Get to know your Water Safety Code.

What lies beneath? 

You never know what dangers lie beneath the surface of any river or open body of water. 

These are just some of the dangerous items which have been found in the Thames, all of which can cause serious injury and illustrate the risks to anyone tempted to jump or swim in open bodies of water on a hot day. 

This was all pulled from the River Thames by Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service in a magnet fishing operation. 

Coming into accidental contact with one of the items could leave you seriously injured and unable to move or nursing a nasty wound. In addition, such wounds can get infected by the bacteria in the water. 

How deep is the water? 

Riverbeds and the bottom of open bodies of water are very uneven. If jumping off bridges, or tombstoning, you cannot see the bottom or know what depth is needed to be safe. 

For example, a person stepping off a three-metre dive board in a swimming pool plunges to a depth of more than three metres. The higher the jump the more depth that's needed. 

In other areas, the water could be so deep it has an undercurrent which could drag you under and downstream. 

Know the facts about cold water shock

Open water remains cold, even on hot days. A person who is experiencing cold water shock will suddenly gasp for air and breathe rapidly. This in turn causes further anxiety or panic and the inhalation of water. 

Hyperventilating can lead to inhaling more water which can quickly turn into litres overwhelming the lungs and depriving the heart and brain of life-giving oxygen. 

On many occasions, there isn’t even a chance for someone in trouble to shout out for help. 

If you see someone in trouble, try and find a floatation device they can hold onto, or encourage them to tip their head back and float to live. Further details can be found on the RNLI website: Float To Live.

Could you foster a local child?

We need more people from all walks of life to become foster carers with us and make a difference for local children and young people in the community.

Providing a secure, stable and supportive home for children in care is a valuable and rewarding paid role. In return, we offer our foster carers excellent support, training and benefits via our in-house independent fostering agency, Achieving for Children Fostering (AfC).

Why we foster. By a local foster family

When did you start fostering?

“We have been fostering for seven years now, during which time we have looked after 17 children during our fostering journey. This has included respite, short-term and long-term placements. We have fostered many children from the age range of 0-18 years.”

Why did you choose to foster?

“We chose to become foster carers due to having a spare room in the house when one of our adult children moved out. We had been thinking about fostering since 2012. It was something we always wanted to do. We wanted to offer children the chance to alter their lives for the better.”

What are the most rewarding aspects of the role?

“We have seen the children develop many skills and grow in their own special ways. Every child should be given the best opportunity to enhance themselves in all aspects of life. This could be education, career choices, personal development and understanding relationships. Every child should have the chance to make their own choices and express their wishes.”

What’s great about fostering with the Royal Borough via AfC?

“AfC offers fantastic training opportunities for all their foster carers to progress their learning according to the child/children in placement. As foster carers, we get to understand the child like no other professional. Sometimes it’s just about being present and supportive during their difficult times, which can be exhausting. This is when the AfC fostering team can help. We have a fantastic AfC team to support the needs of the children and foster carers.”

Get in touch

We welcome enquiries from anyone aged 21 or over, regardless of income, employment status, gender, sexuality, religion, whether or not you have pets, own your home or rent. It’s your personal qualities that matter.

Our website has lots of information about the process and opportunities, we are also available via phone and email, make contact with us for an informal chat. Email us at fosteringenquiries@achievingforchildren.org.uk or call 020 8547 5355.

Find out more about Dementia Care Advisors

This is the final week of our Carers campaign, and we are continuing to highlight support available to local people who care for family, friends and neighbours.

Further details on what it means to be an unpaid carer can be found in this video: Do you look after someone? Are you an Unpaid Carer?

The Dementia Care Advisors, provided by our social care partner Optalis, are a key point of contact to help those with dementia and their carers to live well with dementia. They can help you gain access to relevant professional services and information and provide confidential support.

They run free Dementia Support Groups in Maidenhead on a monthly basis. Further details can be found on the Optalis Dementia Care Advisors webpage.

Useful links for carers

• Find out more about support available at our Carers Hub
• For cost of living support visit our Here to Help webpage
• For Optalis Support for Carers
• For the Optalis Front Door Team
• For Optalis Dementia Care Advisors 

Drive down your parking costs

If you’ve joined our resident parking discount scheme, you can get an hour’s free parking each day in eight car parks in the borough:

• Hines Meadow, Grove Road and West Street, Maidenhead
• Alma Road, Alexandra Gardens and Victoria Street, Windsor
• Horton Road, Datchet
• Meadow Lane, Eton.

If you’re a resident of the borough, you can still apply, completely free of charge, for the permits to join the thousands of savvy residents already saving on parking – don’t miss out!

Abri to hold Community Information Day at Sawyers Close ahead of regeneration starting

Following the council’s resolution to grant planning permission, housing provider Abri is pleased to be moving forward with its plans for the regeneration of Sawyers Close in Windsor.  

The proposals, which are overwhelmingly supported by Abri’s customers, will see the existing buildings at Sawyers Close demolished and 413 high-quality affordable homes built, both on the existing site and on open space adjacent, transferred to Abri by the Royal Borough.  

With works now underway to prepare the site for construction, Abri is inviting residents and the local community to a Community Information Day ahead of the first phase of main construction works set to begin this autumn.

This event will take place on Saturday 6 July between 11am and 3pm at the New Windsor Community Association, Hanover Way, SL4 4NW. Everyone is welcome and there is no set time to drop-in.  

Members of the Abri team and the project’s contactor, Hill Partnerships Limited, will be on hand to answer questions and offer further information on the main construction works, property designs and plans for re-housing.  

Reminder: Make your great idea a reality with Innovation Funding

There’s still time to apply in the fifth round of Innovation Funding, for community-led projects and health and wellbeing initiatives across the Royal Borough.

Innovation Funding offers one-off funding per successful application of up to £5,000 to get your projects up and running. Applications close at midnight on Tuesday 23 July. Although applications are welcome for any project which can show how it will improve local health and wellbeing, this round is particularly looking for ideas that will support:

• Unpaid carers
• Families children and young people
• People with learning disabilities
• Addressing isolation and loneliness by improving community connections

Previous successful projects include those protecting biodiversity, football sessions for children, and yoga for Asian women. Check out the full list of the 47 successful applicants so far on the Innovation Funding section, on the RBWM Together website, where you can also discover more about the application process. 

New Young Health Champions programme for our borough

We now have a new Young Health Champions programme. They’re a group of four young people, aged 13 to 17 living in the borough, who want to help fellow local young people develop healthier lifestyles and make sure their voices are heard on wellbeing issues.

The scheme is being led by youth training charity Together As One, and commissioned by NHS Frimley. The council is updated and informed by the youngsters’ work via the Children and Young People's Board. 

As part of the programme, the young people earn a recognised Level 2 qualification from the Royal Society for Public Health. Last month, they had a session on understanding mental health before spending an afternoon during half term secret shopping local health services to give feedback to local healthcare bosses. They’re currently using what they learnt from these sessions to design communication ideas to resonate with other young people.

To find out more about our Young Health Champions, please email Rosa Hopkins or visit the Together As One website. 

A summer of music in the Royal Borough

There’s lots of fun to be had here in the Royal Borough this summer, and that includes an exciting musical line up for everyone to enjoy. Here are just some of the highlights. More at Visit Windsor.

Live at the Bandstand

Live band performances are on offer at the bandstand in Alexandra Gardens each weekend from 2pm to 4pm, until Sunday 15 September, courtesy of the Windsor, Eton & Ascot Town Centre Partnership. Everyone’s invited, and why not bring a picnic and enjoy some great music at these free events? The organisers will be posting more details about the bands that’ll be performing as the weeks go by, on the Live at the Bandstand website.

Rock the Rec Music Festival 

And this year the Rock the Rec Music Festival, now in its third year, promises to be bigger and better than ever. There’s a fabulous line-up planned with the Rolling Stoned (a Rolling Stones tribute band) headlining, and local celebrity Kevin Cruise appearing. Keep an eye of their website for acts as they announce them.   

The popular festival takes place in Pirate Park in Windsor, on Saturday 6 July between 12pm and 10pm, and its run by the not-for-profit community organisation, Clewer & Dedworth Together. All profits are put back into community projects such as digital inclusion café, home security projects for isolated and vulnerable people and other great causes. Tickets are selling fast so book today.

Maidenhead Festival

Whether you're into rock, pop, or the latest chart-toppers, there's something for every music enthusiast at the free Maidenhead Festival. Taking place in the heart of Kidwells Park over the weekend of 20 July, the festival will be a fun and exciting event for all residents and features:

• A stellar line-up of live music.
• Relax and unwind in a sandy oasis, where you can dip your toes in the sand, soak up the sun and enjoy the ultimate beach experience without leaving town.
•  Stroll through the bustling stalls filled with local crafts, unique treasures, and mouth-watering street food. From artisanal goodies to delicious international cuisine, there's no shortage of delectable treats to satisfy your taste buds.
• Are you a thrill-seeker? The festival fun fair has you covered!
• And there’s a breath-taking fireworks display on Saturday that will light up the night sky.

Windsor Festival

And last, but by no means least, each year musicians, writers, and artists from across the world, along with local performers, gather to entertain and delight audiences and to inspire the next generation of artistic talent at the Windsor Festival.

The festival runs from Friday 13 September - Tuesday 1 October and more information about this year’s programme will be released online later this summer. 

Coming together for Parallel Windsor

On Sunday 7 July people from all over the Royal Borough and beyond will come together in Windsor Great Park to celebrate Parallel Windsor, a fully accessible festival of inclusivity with challenge events for all ages, health conditions and abilities.

We are a proud partner of the festival, which features events over five distances, ranging from 100m to 10k, that start and finish on the historic Long Walk. Those taking part can walk, push or run their way round and there are no cut-off times to finish, with the event's motto being "start together, finish whenever."

Everybody who starts gets a medal, t-shirt and goody bag. Parallel’s innovative SuperSensory 1K event supports neurodiversity and gives participants with profound and multiple learning disabilities the chance to exercise their senses over a series of challenges such as engaging with sound, taste, touch and smell.

There’s also an option to purchase a Virtual Entry ticket and all virtual entries also receive a medal and t-shirt.

In addition to the challenge events, Parallel Windsor also offers visitors a huge range of other fun activities and entertainment, including music, arts and play, storytelling, and cookery.

To find out more, and to book your ticket, visit the Parallel Windsor website. 

Calling all artists! Apply for the En Plein Air Windsor and Eton painting competition

The En Plein Air (Open Air) Windsor and Eton painting competition will take place on Saturday 20 July, inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Artists are invited to come and create their own masterpieces within a six-hour timeframe at various locations around the world’s most famous castle.

Having completed their work, artists are invited to exhibit their piece as part of an open-air pop-up exhibition in Windsor Royal Station, where the public will have the opportunity to see and buy the work. Judging by a panel of industry experts will take place at 5pm, followed by the prize-giving at 6pm. The first prize is £2,000.

All artists wanting to take part can register online via the website. The cost is £60 and registration closes at midnight on Wednesday 10 July.

Junior doctors strike this weekend

A national strike by junior doctors is due to finish at 7am on Tuesday 2 July. Frimley Health and Care warns that local NHS services will be busier with longer waits, as a result, and those with most urgent need prioritised.

However, general practice, community pharmacies, and dentistry remain open.

For anything that isn’t an emergency, use an alternative local NHS service and/or NHS 111 either online or by phone. Using services wisely can help you get the best care without unnecessary delays. And if you can, check in on vulnerable family members, neighbours, and friends.

Royal Borough Community Spotlight

Here are just some of the upcoming community events and volunteering opportunities in the Royal Borough.

• Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June & Thursday 4 to Saturday 6 July, show starts at 7.30pm) - outdoors in Stag Meadow by Windsor Theatre Guild. It’s an uproarious tale of mischief and double-dealing where the women get the last laugh. Join us for a magical evening in a beautiful location: bring chairs or blankets to sit on, and wine, food, family and friends. For more information visit or call 0333 666 3366.

• CAP Money Workshop (Saturday 29 June, 10am to 3pm) - Kerith Hub, Windsor (corner of Ruddlesway and Dedworth Road). A practical and interactive guide to making the most of your finances - with expert advice on budgeting, managing costs and much more. All are welcome to attend this free event. Register here. For more information call Ken Evans 07932 697425 or email.

• Windsor and Eton Bowling Club Open Day (Saturday 29 June, 10am to 4pm) - Goswell Meadow, Barry Avenue. This is an opportunity for all ages, abilities and backgrounds to come and try bowls at our beautiful club that nestles in the shadow of Windsor Castle. You will be made very welcome and will be provided with all you need to have a go. Just wear flat shoes! Refreshments and free parking is available on site.

• Pub & Pastries Seniors Summer Party (Monday 1 July, 12.30pm) - The Fox & Castle, Old Windsor. Join us for fun, food, and fizz! We warmly invite local seniors and their families and local community groups to meet, mingle and be merry in a relaxed, beautiful pub and pub garden. 

• Summer Afternoon Teas at St Michael’s Church Bray SL6 2AB (Every Sunday from 7 July to 1 September, exception 28 July Music at Bray event Jazz on the Vicarage Lawn). In the hall behind the church 2.30pm – 5pm in aid of various charities. Further details available on our website.

• Creative writing inspired by nature – (Tuesday 9 July, all day). Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Come and learn out in the field with our local author how to compose a wonderful short piece of literature inspired by your surroundings. Find out more and book a ticket (£25) on our website or email or call us on 01628 829 574.

• Volunteers needed: Alzheimers Dementia Support annual summer raffle - The ADS Charity Shop in Maidenhead High Street is seeking volunteers to sell tickets for their annual summer raffle. The grand prize draw will take place on 29 August. Get in touch with the ’ADS’ fundraising team and request a Summer Raffle Distribution Pack by calling 07887 993313 or email fundraising@adscharity.com.

If you have an upcoming not-for-profit community event or appeal for volunteers you’d like to promote in this newsletter, simply send basic information about your event to communications@rbwm.gov.uk and it could be shared with more than 21,000 local residents.

You just need to include a brief description, when and where it takes place, and a link to a website/social media page/contact where people can find out more.

To see further volunteering opportunities in the borough, or for another way for community organisations to promote volunteering opportunities, please visit RBWM Together.

Our consultations - have your say

We regularly hold consultations and surveys to get your views on proposals within the Royal Borough.

Participating, sharing ideas, and giving your feedback is the best way to ensure your views are heard.

Our current consultations are:

• Variation to PSPO for Cycling - Closes midnight 28 June.

Local Travel Updates

For details of further council works on highways, visit our website. For full local roadwork details, including work by utility firms, please visit the One Network website.   

Keep in touch

Keep up to date with news and information from the council by signing up to Nextdoor and following us on X and Facebook.

Other accounts you may be interested in:

• Royal Borough official tourism web page.  
• Libraries on Facebook and X.
• Royal Borough Registrars on Facebook and Instagram.
• Communities Team on Facebook and X.
• Windsor & Royal Borough Museum web page.
• MyRoyalBorough on X, Facebook and Instagram.
• Make Maidenhead on Facebook and Instagram.