Ward needs ‘fresh start’ says Green
NEWBURY Greens have named local campaigner and volunteer Ed Cawley as their candidate for the Newbury Town Council by-election in Clay Hill ward.
Mr Cawley lives in Clay Hill with his partner Sarah and is involved in the local community as a Cub Scout leader, a charity fundraiser and a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels.
He also has an allotment in Clay Hill. He has taken part in two Tough Mudder events – gruelling obstacle races through mud – to raise money for Mind and Action Against Hunger, and in November he did 3,000 push-ups to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Mr Cawley has been volunteering as a Cub Scout leader at 3rd Newbury Scouts since moving to the area.
He is also a member of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Since the first lockdown last year, Mr Cawley and his partner have been delivering hot lunches to local people on behalf of the Fair Close Centre’s Meals on Wheels programme.
He said: “The people of Clay Hill deserve a fresh start with a local councillor who lives in the area, understands local concerns and will work hard on behalf of local people.
“I’ve dedicated a lot of time to the local community and would welcome the opportunity to continue working for Clay Hill as a town councillor.
“Our Green Party councillors have shown they make a real difference in Newbury and West Berkshire.”
CITIZENS Advice West Berkshire (CAWB) has said it is seeing a rise in people who have never claimed benefits before because of the coronavirus pandemic.
CAWB chief executive Sue Mackie told Thatcham councillors at a meeting last week that the Government furlough scheme had helped, but a possible rise in debt was on the horizon.
CAWB has not held face-to-face services since the first lockdown in March last year, instead using phone, email and letter to help people.
Mrs Mackie said that she was proud that the service had been able to get up and running the day after lockdown was imposed.
CAWB has trialled a video service to help clients, which Mrs Mackie said had been positive.
She added: “We were able to extend our service over four days.
“Bearing in mind we are only funded for two-and-a-half days for general public and a day of case worker work, but everyone wanted to do as much as they possibly could for clients because of what was going on.”
Mrs Mackie said that Government measures, such as a hold on eviction processes and the £20 uplift to Universal Credit, had helped.
But she added: “We are now beginning to see clients who historically have never had to claim benefits in their life and it’s very tough to find out how much you have to live on when have been used to a dual income.”
Mrs Mackie said that the furlough scheme had been “a brilliant thing”, but the full impact was not being felt yet.
She added that debt would spiral if the Government lifted restrictions for people in rent arrears or mortgage arrears.
For more on CAWB’s work in Thatcham, see page 25.
THIS is the ‘Nightingale’ testing centre at Kennet School – one of many across the district that have become a hub of community activity as thousands of children prepare to return to school.
The Thatcham pupils being tested here – more than 600 in the first day – will join others across the country in a full return to school on Monday (March 8) for the first time since January.
Kennet, along with others in West Berkshire, started its Covid-19 testing programme this week in a bid to get pupils back as quickly as possible.
All secondary school pupils must be tested once, using the lateral flow tests, before they return to school. Results are usually given within 30 minutes of taking the test.
They will all be required to take two further tests in school in the first two weeks back, before being given testing kits to use at home each week.
The school gym has become the ‘Kennet Nightingale Test Centre’ where a total of 5,451 tests will need to be carried out.
For more details on Kennet’s preparations, see page 25.