Windsorians share ideas at RBWM's fourth World Cafe event

The Royal Borough’s fourth World Café event on Tuesday saw scores of people come to share ideas and network together at the New Windsor Community Association.

There are aims to have a World Café in each ward, with the latest for Clewer and Dedworth West.

Nicky Smith, transformation manager – population & communities at NHS Frimley, is one of the event organisers.

“I don’t know any other region that goes out and does this in such fine detail. We are gaining momentum,” she said.

Tuesday’s café was focused partly on young people – hearing their ideas, hopes and concerns.

The Royal Borough’s Youth Council helped guide the set-up for the café.

Visitors were encouraged to write their thoughts and wishes for their area on display on the walls.

Among others, there were suggestions for a direct bus from Ascot to Windsor, more good quality restaurants, a better dentist service, an off-lead dog park and more sports facilities.

Some complaints recorded were that parking is expensive, breastfeeding mothers do not feel comfortable in town and access
issues with pushchairs.

Others wrote that there are too many high-end, expensive shops and not enough variety, especially for young people.

On the positive side, visitors wrote that they ‘feel safe’ in Windsor, the schools, housing and libraries are good and they liked the fact that the police have a visible presence.

Co-ordinating this was Steve Sansom from Healthwatch Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead.

He said: “We’re heavily involved because this is such a great networking event.

“So many networks have been lost due to COVID. People don’t know where to go for their health.”

The World Café space was divided into stalls with organisations such as Abri housing association, the borough’s community wardens and public health team. Others included:

• People to Places, a charity providing community transport for those with accessibility needs
• Youth Engagement Slough (YES) which provides free activities for young people – and is currently branching out into Windsor
• The WellSpring, ‘a quiet shared space where it is OK to not be OK’ in Dedworth Green Baptist Church
• East Berkshire Community Learning and Skills Service, which provides adult leaning courses
• Optalis Carers Support, which seeks to identify and support people who are doing unpaid care work
• Family Action RBWM Young Carers Service – for people in caring roles between 5-18.

There were also spaces for residents to chat with service providers such as the NHS social prescribing service, which seeks non-clinical solutions for problems, supporting people to stay living independently at home.

In addition, people were encouraged to share ideas and apply for seed funding for community-led health and well-being projects.

For example, one young person would like a netball post installed so she can practice shooting and further develop her skills in the sport.

Ward councillors Jon Davey (Independent, Clewer & Dedworth West) and Helen Price (tBfI, Clewer & Dedworth East) also dropped into the World Café.

Cllr Davey is one of those who has been awarded funding for his community initiative Blokes Without Timber, a ‘blokey’ space for supporting men’s weight loss.

He also came to talk to residents about how they would wish money to be spent from CIL (community infrastructure levy) coming from site AL21 – where there are plans for 450 new homes.

Cllr Price praised how the World Cafés have evolved since starting, increasing the level of interactivity.

Stallholders fed back that the World Café’s positives were the variety of stands and feedback and that the event helped shift the perception of the local authority.

For improvements, they would like to see a more central location attracting more footfall – and suggested the best way to engage young people is in educational settings.