YOUR READING PROGRESS TO DATE

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YOUR READING PROGRESS TO DATE
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BACKGROUND

• Practical response to the findings of the
  Environment Scrutiny Panel which reported its
  findings to Cabinet on a review of Streetcare on
  1/12/2004.
• Keeping the streets clean was only felt to be the
  start of promoting pride in our town.
• Not a one off exercise Your Reading planned to
  be a sustained approach to make us feel proud
  about our town and the benefits of living and
  working here.
• Improvements to be achieved by not only improving
  Council Services, but by harnessing the active
  goodwill and involvement of Readings residents
  and visitors in working with us to achieve and
  maintain the improvements.

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LAUNCH

• Launched on 21 January 2004 Your Reading
• initially revolved around 3 key elements
• Your Reading Keep it Clean
• Your Reading Lets Go Green, and
• Your Reading Passport.
• Plus 3 other elements which have had, to date, a
  lower
• profile
• Your Reading Its all happening.
• Your Reading Health Matters.
• Your Reading Rethink Rubbish.

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MARKETING AND PUBLICITY

• Following the well publicised launch there
• has been a steady growth in the marketing
• and publicity of this initiative, which has
• been aimed at developing the awareness of
• all of theYour Reading themes by the
• general public this has been achieved
• under the umbrella of the broad Your
• Reading brand.

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YOUR READING PASSPORT PROGRESS TO DATE

• New card to combine the benefits of the old
  Passport to Leisure card and the libraries card.
• Launched on 4 May 2004.
• over 30 local business partners offering special
  discounts to passport holders.
• Over 2,500 members in first month and over 15,000
  cards now in circulation (well in excess of our
  target of 10,000 by March 2005).
• linking the passport to Your Reading Health
  Matters through the Feel Good Factor.

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YOUR READING LETS GO GREEN

• This has incorporated the annual RESCUE event,
  Real Nappy Week, Reading in Bloom and World
  Environment Day.
• It provides the impetus to promote local
  clean-ups by community groups and greater
  interest from schools in a variety of projects.
• Partnership work with the Probation and Prison
  Services has proved very successful on innovative
  work with our Parks Department on the Edenham
  Project and Lousehill Copse.

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YOUR READING KEEP IT CLEAN

• This element of the campaign has provided the
  central building block
• to develop from and has benefited from additional
  general fund
• monies and from the Building Safer Communities
  Fund.
•  
• Some of the progress to date, has included
•  
• More staff and equipment.
• Improved, better targeted and publicised cleaning
  schedules and response times.
• Gateway routes, shopping areas and around schools
  and busy bus stops given priority.
• Enforcement established an officer group to
  give this area of work more support,
  concentrating on Abandoned Vehicles (CUBIT
  exercise and the continuation of the surrender
  scheme), fly-posting, fly-tipping and graffiti.

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• Neighbourhood walkabouts.
• Needle collection training, data capture and
  hotline reporting.
• Self-Help community clean up and graffiti
  removal kits.
• Branding of litter bins, vehicles, work wear and
  the production of new literature and promotional
  material.
• Reduction in complaints
• Increased community and business involvement
• Pride of Reading Your Reading awards.
• Winners of the Thames and Chiltern Britain in
  Bloom best
• anti-litter initiative award
• Runners up in the People and Places ENCAMS Award
  for Partnership Working 2004

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• YOUR READING - RETHINK RUBBISH 
• Used primarily as the vehicle to promote our
  re-cycling push over the last year.
• YOUR READING ITS ALL HAPPENING 
• Used to pull together/promote our various
  festivals, annual events and cultural activities.
• YOUR READING HEALTH MATTERS
• Readings Health Board at its meeting on
  1/12/2004 agreed to launch Health Matters early
  in the new year.
• A programme of health promotion projects for the
  Health Matters element is being developed.
• Planned to include a Health Matters category in
  the Pride of Reading awards next year.

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2004 ANNUAL RESIDENTS SURVEY(Key Your Reading
Results)

•        32 of those surveyed considered
  abandoned vehicles to be a problem, as opposed to
  58 in 2003
•  
•        48 of those surveyed considered rubbish
  and litter to be a problem in 2004. Compared to
  61 in 2003.
•  
•        87 of people surveyed were satisfied
  with household waste collection, compared to 79
  in 2003.
• 69 are satisfied with recycling facilities,
  compared with 50 in 2003

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BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 199 RESULTS
       2003/4 51 unsatisfactory for litter
and detritus.          2004/5 only 25
unsatisfactory for litter and detritus   The
local target set for 2004/05 was 28 against a
national benchmark set by ENCAMS of 30 The
national benchmark for 2005/06 is 25, and our
target for the year is 22.