Starting on June 11th, Reading West launched an engaging series focused on empowering our community to make informed decisions for the upcoming election. Each day featured a prominent candidate aspiring to represent Reading West & Mid Berkshire, offering in-depth insights into their platforms, visions, and plans for our locality.

Throughout the series, residents had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with each candidate on a personal and professional level. They gained understanding of the candidates’ core policies and heard their perspectives on critical community issues such as education, healthcare, local development, and environmental sustainability.

For a complete overview of all candidates and their statements, please refer to the list below:

Launchpad has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Big Sleep Out, which was scheduled for Saturday, July 6th. This challenging call was made due to fewer people signing up than expected.

The Big Sleep Out event aims to achieve two primary goals: to provide a memorable night for all participants and to raise crucial funds to support vulnerable people in Reading.

With the event only three weeks away, the current number of sign-ups posed a risk that the event would cost Launchpad more money than it would raise, potentially diverting funds away from their essential services. This was a risk the organization could not justify. Everyone who signed up for the event has been contacted with this unfortunate news.

Fiona Keyte, fundraising manager at Launchpad, said: “It was such a difficult and sad decision to make, and we would like to say sorry to everyone who had signed up to support us.

“We wanted the Big Sleep Out to be a memorable evening filled with lots of supporters, a strong community spirit and everyone enjoying the entertainment.

“We know that cancelling will be a disappointment to everyone that had signed up.

“We are committed to helping anyone who would like to organise their own Big Sleep Out – at their home, school or workplace and will be promoting ‘Your Big Sleep Out in the coming weeks.

“Securing donations is vital, to ensure that we can continue to deliver our much-needed work and we will adapt our activities to make this as easy as possible for our supporters to get involved.”

You can find out more about Your Big Sleep Out here launchpadreading.org.uk/your-big-sleep-out/

In anticipation of the General Election, candidates from the newly established Reading West and Mid-Berkshire constituency engaged in a lively debate. This election marks the inaugural contest for the newly defined constituency, adding to the significance of the event.

Held at the BBC offices in Reading, the debate featured four of the candidates running for election, who discussed key issues and their respective visions for the future. The event took place on Wednesday and provided an opportunity for voters to hear directly from the candidates about their policies and plans.

For those who missed the live broadcast, the debate is now available for replay on BBC iPlayer. To watch the full debate, simply click the image below.