Council Services Christmas Opening Hours 2022
RESIDENTS are reminded of changes to Council services over the Christmas and New Year period.
Civic Offices
The Civic Offices, Bridge Street, will be closed to the public from 5pm on Thursday 22 December 2022 and will re-open again at 9am on Tuesday 3 January 2023 by appointment only. 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.
Brighter Futures for Children
Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), which provides children’s social care, early help, and education services in Reading, will be running a reduced service over the Christmas period. In order to support children, young people and their families who require urgent assistance, essential services will operate during normal hours on 23 December, 28-30 December.
For any urgent matters outside normal office hours, weekends or bank holidays, call 01344 351999. All BFfC services will resume from Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Visit www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org for more information.
Adult Social Care
Adult Social Care Teams will be operating an emergency duty service over Christmas in order to support vulnerable adults who require urgent assistance between 9 am - 5 pm on 28, and 29 December. On Friday 23 and 30 December, Out of Hours service will be in effect from 3pm.
Normal service will be in place from 3 January 2023. Residents with an urgent Social Care enquiry can call 0118 9373747.
For weekends, bank holidays and out-of-hours emergencies please contact the Out of Hours Emergency Service on 01344 351999.
Family Information Service/SEND Local Offer
Reading Family Information Service has set up a dedicated page in the Reading Services Guide at: Reading Directory | Support and Information pages for Christmas & New Year 2022/23 for parent carers to easily find out about local services and support available throughout the Christmas holidays. Family Information Service/ SEND Local Offer will be closed from Thursday 22 December, 5pm, and will reopen on Tuesday 3 January 2023, 9am.
Bins, Recycling, and Christmas Trees
The Recycling Centre on Island Road will be shut on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Plan ahead and book your visit on other days using the Click&Tip service: https://re3.fccenvironment.co.uk/click-tip-services/
Remember you can now cancel your slot up to 3 hours ahead of your visit, so your slot can be taken by someone else.
As usual, bin collection days will change over the Christmas and New Year period.
Normal collection day Rescheduled for
Monday (26 Dec) Wednesday 28 December
Tuesday (27 Dec) Thursday 29 December
Wednesday (28 Dec) Friday 30 December
Thursday (29 Dec) Saturday 31 December
Friday (30 Dec) Tuesday 3 January
Monday (2 Jan) Wednesday 4 January
Tuesday (3 Jan) Thursday 5 January
Wednesday (4 Jan) Friday 6 January
Thursday (5 Jan) Saturday 7 January
Friday (6 Jan) Monday 9 January
Monday (9 Jan) Tuesday 10 January
Tuesday (10 Jan) ` Wednesday 11 January
Wednesday (11 Jan) Thursday 12 January
Thursday (12 Jan) Friday 13 January
Friday (13 Jan) Saturday 14 January
Monday (16 Jan) Back to normal
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
Garden waste collections will be subject to their usual two-week Christmas pause from Monday 26 December to Tuesday 10 January (revised collection date for collections due Monday 9 January). They will remain a day behind that week, returning to normal on Monday 16 January 2023.
Bulky waste collections
Bulky waste collections will be paused from Monday 26 December 2022 until Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Slots for the free bulky waste collections resuming on Tuesday 3 January will be available to book from 5pm on Tuesday 20 December, as free collections can be booked 14 days in advance.
Leisure Centres
|
Day |
Date |
Rivermead |
Palmer Park |
Meadway |
South Reading |
|
Monday |
19-Dec |
Normal |
8.00 – 17.00 |
Normal |
Normal |
|
Tuesday |
20-Dec |
Normal |
8.00 – 17.00 |
Normal |
Normal |
|
Wednesday |
21-Dec |
8.00 – 17.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Thursday |
22-Dec |
8.00 – 17.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Friday |
23-Dec |
8.00 – 17.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Saturday |
24-Dec |
8.00 – 14.00 |
8.00 – 14.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Sunday |
25-Dec |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Monday |
26-Dec |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Tuesday |
27-Dec |
8.00 – 16.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Wednesday |
28-Dec |
8.00 – 16.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Thursday |
29-Dec |
8.00 – 16.00 |
8.00 – 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Friday |
30-Dec |
8.00 – 16.00 |
8.00 - 17.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Saturday |
31-Dec |
8.00 - 14.00 |
8.00 - 14.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Sunday |
01-Jan |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Monday |
02-Jan |
8.00 - 14.00 |
8.00 - 14.00 |
CLOSED |
CLOSED |
|
Tuesday |
03-Jan |
Normal |
Normal |
Normal |
Normal |
Prospect Park Ranger Station
The Ranger Station will close at 5pm on Friday 23 December 2022 and reopen on Wednesday 4 January 2023 as per usual opening times.
Reading Libraries
Reading’s libraries will operate normal opening hours Friday 23 December 2022 – Central, and Caversham are open all day, and Battle and Southcote are open in the morning.
All libraries will be closed from Saturday 24 December 2022 until Monday 2 January 2023, reopening as normal from Tuesday 3 January 2023. All Library book drops will also close for this period except Reading Central’s. No items will be due back, and no fines are charged.
Online library services including eBooks, eAudio and eMagazines are always available at: www.reading.gov.uk/elibrary
Reading Museum and Town Hall
Reading Museum will open as normal on Friday 23 December 2022. Reading Museum will be closed from Saturday 24 December 2022 and re-open with normal hours from Tuesday 3 January 2023.
The Registration Service
The Registration Service will be open at the Civic Offices by appointment only on 23, 28, 29 and 30 December 2022. Appointments will be restricted to urgent matters only during this period.
Customers are kindly requested to call back in the New Year for birth registrations, citizenships or marriage/civil partnership enquiries.
Appointments can be booked online at http://www.reading.gov.uk/life-events, or by calling 0118 937 3533 during council office hours.
If you need to arrange a funeral quickly for urgent religious reasons, 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 9 am to 5 pm, however, the office and chapels will be open for cremation and burial services as follows:
Friday 23 December – 9 – 3pm
Saturday 24 December – 10 – 2pm
Sunday 25 December - Closed
Mon & Tuesday 26 & 27 December: Closed
Wednesday 28 December: 10:00 - 5.00pm
Thursday 29 December: 9.00 - 5.00pm
Friday 30 December: 9.00 - 3.00pm
Saturday 31 December: 10:00 – 2:00pm
Sunday 1 January 2023: Closed
Monday 2 January 2023: Closed
The Berkshire Record Office
The Berkshire Record Office will be closed from Friday 23 December 2022 and will reopen from Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Homelessness and Housing Advice
The Housing Homelessness Team will be operating an emergency duty service over Christmas in order to support residents who become homeless in an emergency situation between 9 am - 5 pm on 23, 28, 29 and 30 December 2022 you can call 0118 9372165 where a message should be left and officers will be regularly checking the messages and calling back those who require urgent assistance.
For weekends, bank holidays and out-of-hours emergencies between 5pm and 9am please contact the Out of Hours Emergency Service on 01344 351999. Please note our Out of hours service starts at 3pm on 23 and 30 December.
Housing Repairs
The Housing Repairs & Maintenance service will be operating an emergency out-of-hours service for Reading Borough council housing properties from 4pm on 23rd December 2022 until 8am Tuesday 3 January 2023 on 01223 849700. We are experiencing higher than usual demand for heating and plumbing maintenance. We have put on extra engineers and are prioritising the most vulnerable of our residents.
ENDS