Council Christmas Information

READING Borough Council will again be closed for all non-essential Council services for the Christmas and New Year period.

Civic Offices

The Civic Offices, on Bridge Street, will be shut to the public from 5pm on Monday December 23rd and will re-open again to the public at 9am on Thursday January 2nd. The Call Centre will also be closed during the same period. If members of the public need to contact the Council outside of opening hours, they can call the normal out of hours number for any emergencies on 0118 937 3737.

Adult Social Care

The Adult Social Care department will be running a reduced service over the Christmas period. This will be to support individuals who require urgent assistance on the, 24th, 27th, 30th and 31st of December, with normal services in place again from Thursday January 2nd. There will be no service on the 25th and 26th December and the 1st January. The out of hours service will be running as normal, which covers outside normal office hours, weekends and bank holidays. People can call 01344 786543.

Brighter Futures for Children

Brighter Futures for Children (the Council-owned company created to provide Children’s Services for Reading) will be running a reduced service over the Christmas period. In order to support individuals who require urgent assistance, the service will be running on the 24th, 27th, 30th and 31st of December. Normal services will be in place again from January 2nd. The out of hours service will be running as normal, which covers outside normal office hours, weekends and bank holidays. People can call 0118 937 3641. More information at https://brighterfuturesforchildren.org/

Leisure Centres

Opening and closing times of Reading Sport and Leisure run services over the Christmas period are as follows. Please check with individual centres for details of available sessions or go to www.readingleisure.co.uk

South Reading Leisure Centre

Dec 24 to Dec 27: Closed Dec 28 and 29: 8am – 4pm Dec 30: Closed Dec 31: 8am – 2pm Jan 1: Closed

Meadway Sports Centre

Dec 24: 8am – 2pm Dec 25 and Dec 26: Closed Dec 27: 8am – 2pm Dec 28 and 29: Closed Dec 30: 8am – 2pm Dec 31 and Jan 1: Closed

Palmer Park

Dec 24 to Dec 26: Closed Dec 27: 8am – 3pm Dec 28 and 29: Closed Dec 30 and 31: 8am – 3pm Jan 1: Closed

Rivermead (operated by GLL)

Dec 23: 6.30am – 6pm Dec 24: 6.30am – 2pm Dec 25 and Dec 26: Closed Dec 27 to Dec 30: 6.30am – 6pm Dec 31: 6.30am – 2pm Jan 1: Closed Normal opening hours apply after these dates.

Libraries

Reading’s libraries will be open as normal until Christmas Eve. All libraries will be open as normal on Saturday December 21st. Reading Central and Caversham libraries will be open until 1pm on Christmas Eve. Tilehurst, Palmer Park, Southcote and Whitley libraries will close at 12 noon on Christmas Eve. Battle library will be closed on Christmas Eve. All libraries will then be closed until Thursday January 2nd, when usual opening times apply. No items will be due back during this time. A 24hr bookdrop is available at Reading Central Library only – no other bookdrops will be open. Reading Libraries’ ebook and emagazine service will remain available at http://www.reading.gov.uk/elibrary. See http://www.reading.gov.uk/librarybranches for more detail on usual individual branch opening hours.

Museum, Town Hall, Hexagon, South Street and the Berkshire Record Office

The Museum and Town Hall will be closed from 23 December to New Year’s Day. The Concert Hall at the Town Hall will be open on Sunday 22 December for its last concert of the year. The Museum’s last opening day (including the shop and Town Hall reception) will be Saturday December 21st and it will re-open on Thursday January 2nd. See www.readingmuseum.org.uk/opening-times for up to date opening hours. The Pantry Café’s (at the Town Hall) last opening day will open Monday December 23rd and will close early at 5pm. The café will then reopen on Thursday 2 January. The Hexagon Theatre will be open as usual for performances. See whatsonreading.com/venues/hexagon for more. It will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. South Street will also be open for performances. It will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day & New Year’s Day. More information at whatsonreading.com/venues/south-street The Berkshire Record Office is closed from Christmas Eve and will re-open on Thursday January 2nd at 9am.

The Register Office

The Register office will be open by appointment only on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th of December as well as on the 27th, 28th, 30th and 31st of December. It will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Appointments can be made anytime online on http://www.reading.gov.uk/life-events If you need to arrange a funeral quickly and it is for religious reason, the funeral director or a council approved Licensee will normally liaise with the Register Office and Henley Road Cemetery outside of normal working hours.

Henley Road Cemetery and Crematorium office and chapels

The cemetery grounds will be open every day from 9am to 5pm, however, the office and chapels will open for cremation and burial services as follows: 24th Dec: 8.30-3.00pm 25th & 26 Dec: Closed 27th Dec: 8.30-4.30pm 30th Dec: 8.30-5.00pm 31st Dec: 8.30-3.00pm 1st Jan: Closed

Bins, Recycling and Christmas Trees

The Recycling Centre on Island Road is open during the holiday period, except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Opening times are 8am to 6pm, except for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, when the centre closes at 4pm. As usual, bin collection days will change over the Christmas and New Year period. People can check their collection calendar or visit www.reading.gov.uk/bindates. On the first collection after Christmas people can leave out an extra bag of rubbish next to their grey bin, and any extra recycling can be left in a cardboard box next to their red bin or box. Residents are asked to please try to keep any extra recycling put out dry, it helps the Council recycle it more easily. Garden waste collections will finish as usual for the festive season on December 20th and begin again on January 6th. Over the Christmas period, we all generate an additional 30% more waste. 70% of this can be recycled. People are being urged to recycle as much as possible. This year, residents can recycle even more… Christmas cards, wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, clean foil and foil trays, tetra paks, plastic tubs and trays in addition to plastic bottles can go in your red bins. Please put your recycling in your bin or box loose, and not in plastic bags. Please take your glass bottles and jars to the many bottle banks around Reading to be recycled into glass products, and in some cases house insulation or astro turf. Residents can download free re3cyclopedia app to check for recyclable items or to find their nearest glass banks, and can view their collection days. Make room for your new presents including clothes and toys by donating old gifts to your local charity shop, extend their life, it could be just the thing that someone else is looking for. Please remember that all textiles and clothes that don’t make it to charity, should be put in the textile banks at your nearest textile recycling bank and NOT in your grey or red bins. A full list of items you can and can’t recycle – and where you can do it – can be found at www.reading.gov.uk/recycling

Christmas Tree Recycling

Christmas Tree recycling sites open on January 4th and stay open until January 20th. They will be in car parks at the following locations: Albert Road Recreation Ground Clayfield Copse Hills Meadow Rivermead Leisure Complex Kensington Road Recreation Ground Prospect Park Meadway Recreation Ground Tilehurst allotments, Armour Hill Palmer Park Sports Stadium Whitley Wood Recreation Ground South Reading Leisure Centre (Academy Sport) Northumberland Avenue There will be no collection point at Mapledurham Playing Fields this year due to resurfacing work in the car park but an alternative collection point is being offered at Albert Road Recreation Ground. The trees will be chipped by the Council and used in a range of landscaping schemes across the Borough. Residents are being advised not to be alarmed if they see piles of trees as it takes a few days to get round to each location.