£55k helping hand for community projects in West Berkshire

Theale Parish Council has received £18,000 from the Veolia Environmental Trust towards a new skate park on the town’s recreation ground in Englefield Road.
The grant means that the parish council is more than half-way towards it’s target of £45,000 for the project, with the parish council contributing £4,000 from its reserves along with a £5,000 members bid from the district councillor Alan Macro.
Delighted parish council chairman David Wood said: “We still have some more money to find but it’s brilliant and very welcome news. I’m delighted as it’s hard work putting [applications] together but in this case it was worthwhile.”
Padworth will also benefit from a £37,000 grant to refurbish the village hall in Padworth Lane.
Village Hall trustee Dr David Evered said: “I am delighted that we have received this award. This takes us to our initial fundraising target of £125,000.
“We are planning to refurbish the hall which was built in the immediate post war years with the limited building materials available at that time. It is much in need of refurbishment. It is also very energy inefficient and a major element of the work will be to install a modern energy efficient heating system. This will enhance the hall for users and reduce our carbon footprint.”
Padworth and Theale were among 77 community groups awarded nearly £2.5m from the trust.
Executive director for the Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, said: “This is a great start to 2014, both for us and the projects we have awarded grants to. These schemes will create valuable facilities for these two communities and I look forward to seeing them start and take shape.”