Council Services Christmas Opening Hours 2023

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 Friday 22 December 2023, and will re-open again at 9am on Tuesday 2 January 2024. The Call Centre will also be closed during the same period. In an emergency only, members of the public can contact the Council on the out-of-hours number, 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. To support children, young people and their families who require urgent assistance, essential services will operate as follows:

• Urgent Support Only:  Wednesday 27, Thursday 28, and Friday 29 December (open from 9am to 5pm). Call 0118 937 3641 (Option 1)
• Closed: 25, 26 December, and Monday 1 January
• Out-of-Hours Service:  For urgent support outside office hours (before 9 am and after 5 pm), or at weekends or bank holidays (25, 26 and 1 January) call 01344 351999

All BFfC services will resume on Tuesday 2 January 2024. Visit www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org for more information.

Adult Social Care

Adult Social Care Teams will be operating an emergency duty service over the Christmas period to support vulnerable adults and carers who require urgent assistance.

• Urgent Support Only:  Wednesday 27, Thursday 28, and Friday 29 December (open from 9am to 5pm). Call 0118 9373747
• Closed: 25, 26 December, and Mon 1 January
• Out of Hours Service:  For urgent support outside office hours (before 9 am and after 5 pm), or weekends or bank holidays (25, 26 and 1 January). Call Daytime - 01344 355050, or Out of Hours - 01344 351999

Normal service will be in place from 2 January 2024.

Family Information Service/SEND Local Offer

Reading Family Information Service has information on the Reading Services Guide at: https://www.readingfis.org  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 Friday 22 December, 5pm, and will reopen on Tuesday 2 January 2024.

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 25 December                        Wednesday 27 December

Tuesday 26 December                        Thursday 28 December

Wednesday 27 December                  Friday 29 December

Thursday 28 December                      Saturday 30 December

Friday 29 December                           Tuesday 2 January

Monday 1 January                              Wednesday 3 January

Tuesday 2 January                             Thursday 4 January

Wednesday 3 January                        Friday 5 January

Thursday 4 January                            Saturday 6 January

Friday 5 January                                 Monday 8 January

Monday 8 January                              Tuesday 9 January

Tuesday 9 January     `                       Wednesday 10 January

Wednesday 10 January                      Thursday 11 January

Thursday 11 January                          Friday 12 January

Friday 12 January                               Saturday 13 January

Monday 15 January                            Back to normal

Garden waste collections

Garden waste collections will be subject to their usual two-week Christmas pause from Monday 25 December to Tuesday 9 January 2024 (revised collection date for collections due Monday 8 January). They will remain a day behind that week, returning to normal on Monday 15 January.

Bulky waste collections

Bulky waste collections will be paused from Monday 25 December until Tuesday 2 January 2024.

Slots for the free bulky waste collections resuming on Tuesday 2 January 2024 will be available to book from 5pm on Tuesday 19 December, and free collections can be booked 14 days in advance.

Reading Libraries

Reading’s libraries will operate normal opening hours on Friday 22 December 2023. Central and Caversham libraries are open all day, and Battle and Southcote libraries are open in the morning.

All libraries will be closed from Saturday 23 December 2023 until Monday 1 January 2024 inclusive, reopening as normal from Tuesday 2 January. All Library book drops, except Reading Central's, will also close for this period. No items will be due back, and no fines will be charged.

Online library services including eBooks, eAudio and eMagazines are always available at: https://library.reading.gov.uk and: https://www.reading.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/elibrary/

Reading Museum

The Museum will be open as normal until 5pm on Saturday 23 December. It will then close from 24 December, until 10am on Tuesday 2 January 2024: www.readingmuseum.org.uk

The Registration Service 

The Registration Service will be open at the Civic Offices by appointment only on 27, 28 and 29 December 2023. Appointments will be restricted to urgent matters only during this period.

Customers are kindly requested to call back in the New Year for marriage/civil partnership enquiries. Birth appointments and Citizenship ceremonies can be booked online at: http://www.reading.gov.uk/life-events.

If you need to arrange a funeral quickly for urgent religious reasons or arrange an urgent marriage or civil partnership, please call 0118 937 3533 during normal office hours. Outside of these hours, please call 0118 937 3737 between 9am and 12 noon on 23, 24, 26, 30 and 31 December.

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:

22 December: 9.00am - 4.30pm

23 December: 10.00am - 4.00pm

24 December: Closed

25 December: Closed

26 December: Closed

27 December: 10.00am - 5.00pm

28 December: 9.00am - 5.00pm

29 December: 9.00am - 4.30pm

30 December: 10.00am - 4.00pm

31 December: Closed

1 January 2024: Closed

The Royal Berkshire Archives

The Archives will be closed from 25 to 29 December 2023 and will not be able to process enquiries during this time (it does not open on Mondays, weekends, or bank holidays). It will reopen at 9am on 2 January 2024.

If you plan to visit during the week of 2 to 5 January 2024, please aim to book by 22 December 2023 at the latest at: www.royalberkshirearchives.org.uk/contact-us.

Leisure centres

Day	Rivermead	Palmer Park	Meadway	South Reading
Monday 18 December	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
Tuesday 19 December	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
Wednesday 20 December	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal
Thursday 21 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Friday 22 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Saturday 23 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Sunday 24 December	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00
Monday 25 December	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED
Tuesday 26 December	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED
Wednesday 27 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Thursday 28 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Friday 29 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Saturday 30 December	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00	08:00 - 18:00
Sunday 31 December	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00	08:00 - 14:00
Monday 1 January	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED	CLOSED
Tuesday 2 January	Normal	Normal	Normal	Normal

 

Parking Services (PCNs & Permits)

Parking Services will operate normal working hours on Friday 22 December. Phone lines will then close until Tuesday 2 January. To contact the team urgently between these dates visit: https://www.reading.gov.uk/vehicles-roads-and-transport/parking/contact-parking-services/.

Active Reading

Reading Educational Play and support will close from 22 December 2023 through to 2 January 2024.

The Prospect Park Ranger Station public activities opening hours over Christmas (for public to access facilities), offering mini golf in the park, low ropes for under 7-year-olds and sports courts: Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 December, 10am to 5pm, Saturday 30 December, 10am to 4pm.

Homelessness and Housing Advice 

The Housing Homelessness Team will be operating an emergency duty service over Christmas to support residents who become homeless. In an emergency between 9 am - 5 pm on 23, 28, 29 and 30 December 2023 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 get in touch with the out-of-hours Emergency Service on 01344 351999. Please note the out-of-hours service starts at 3pm on 23 and 30 December.

Housing Repairs

The Housing Repairs and Maintenance service will be operating an emergency out-of-hours service for Council housing properties from 4pm on 22 December 2023, until 8am Tuesday 2 January 2024 on 01189 373737. The service continues to experience a higher-than-usual demand for heating and plumbing maintenance, extra engineers have been arranged and are prioritising the most vulnerable of our residents.

ENDS