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You can find here the contact details for the majority of main 'essential' services, along with the local police phone number. Latest Updates: 'Last Post' entry updated and expanded. This page probably should contain more - but hopefully it provides a start. It also provides advice for those with parking grievances …
Chemists/Pharmacies:As well as opening on weekdays, the Boots branch on Church Street provides a Sunday service (including a pharmacy): 9am to 6pm Mondays through Saturdays, and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. There's also: L Rowland & Co (Retail) Ltd Mon - Fri 8.30am - 1.00pm. Mon - Fri 2.00pm - 6.30pm, Sat closed. N.B - Caversham Pharmacy is open for dispensing prescriptions on Sundays between 6pm and 7pm.  Community Help:Caversham Good Neighbours is a voluntary group that works on behalf of the RG4 community. The Neighbours provide advice, visits and help to the sick, lonely and / or housebound. The group also provides transport on essential journeys for the elderly and handicapped. Since it is an entirely voluntary organisation, it depends on the goodwill of the people of Caversham - donations are always appreciated. The Neighbours can be contacted via its secretary, Mrs Christine Baker, at Church House, 59 Church Street, Caversham RG4 8AX, Monday-Friday 9:30 am-11:30 am There is also a pilot Buddies scheme for older people in Peppard Ward, supported by local MP Rob Wilson. Call 0118 967 5797 for more information. Reading Council's Social Services provide a wide range of social services under their remit as a local authority - for normal purposes, their contact number is Tel: 0118 955 3600, although they also offer an out-of-hours emergency community care number - Tel: 01344 786543 Credit:If things aren't going well financially then - above all else - deal with honest people as you work to sort things out. You could do far worse than going to the Reading Credit Union. It's regulated by the FSA, it's community based and it aims to offer affordable loans to members. What's more, it is now able to operate throughout Berkshire. Their website tells you more.Dentists:Caversham Heights Dental Practice Tel: (0118) 947 4848 Prospect Street Dental Practice Tel: (0118) 947 2517 Riverside Dental Practice Tel: 0118 947 1852 Doctors:Balmore Park Surgery Tel: (0118) 947 1455 Priory Avenue Surgery Tel: (0118) 947 6828 Mon-Fri (morning) 8.00am - 12.30pm. Mon - Fri (afternoon) 2.00pm - 6.30pm Caversham Library:Opening Times (revised in June 2008) Monday 09:00 - 17:00 Contact details for the Library - Caversham Library Telephone: 0118 901 5103 |
 Litter:We live in a very nice part of the world. It totally defeats us as to why people would want to drop litter and dump rubbish ... but they do. Doing 'your bit' to just pick up stuff near your own house helps a lot and is worth doing. For more major littering/tipping, the Fix My Street site can help and we recommend taking the trouble to report problems. It's an observable fact that the more litter there is left around, the more it attracts. So, nipping a problem in the bud is a smart move for everyone. Parking Fines:Possibly not a service as such, but if you think you've unfairly received a parking fine in Reading:
Police:NB: crime statistics for the area are covered in the 'Caversham Life' section of this web site. You should report ALL crimes, however minor or trivial they seem, and whatever you think the chances are of the police catching someone. Policing - the number of policemen/women allocated to an area - is determined by the number of crimes reported for an area. Don't report any crime and you won't get any policing. It's that simple. A new non-emergency phone number for the police is being extended across the Thames Valley police area during early 2012 - 101, the new national single on-emergency number will replace the 0845 505 505 number. Both will run concurrently until March 2012. It is a premium rate service (why?) and there is a charge of 15p for these 101 calls regardless of time of call or duration. The Caversham neighbourhood police team can also be emailed. There is also a local police number for Caversham now, 0118 947 4269, but we've not verified that this actually gets answered. Thames Valley Police aren't shy about their own PR and produce no less than five publications to tell you how wonderful they are. Any or all of them can be downloaded from the force's website. In amidst the puffery there is some useful stuff though. Not least, enter your postcode in the search box on the site and you will be shown your local officers' contact details. The police helicopter is often quite obtrusive - you can find out some details of what it's been doing here. Meanwhile, the Caversham Neighbourhood Police Team occasionally uses Twitter to keep in contact with local residents – with the team sometimes keeping its 'followers' up to date with the latest witness appeals, meetings, events and day-to-day activities. Click here if you're interested. Anyone with complaints about Thames Valley Police should contact the TVP Quality of Service Unit via email or in writing to the Quality of Service Unit, Thames Valley Police HQ, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2NX Post - Last Post times:Final post times in Caversham have been getting earlier. The post box on the corner of Hemdean Road and Church Street (outside the bakers) has a last collection time of 5.45pm from Monday-Friday. There is a single collection at 12 noon on Saturdays. There's no longer a Sunday collection. During the week (Monday – Friday) there's a later collection of 7.00pm from the collection box at the Reading Delivery Office. Potholes (and Rubbish):The roads of and around Reading (like elsewhere) are falling apart. It is common for Councils to blame the winter but note that any recently surfaced or well-maintained roads are fine. Roads that were hitherto poorly maintained deteriorate rapidly after bad weather, but only because they were neglected in the first place. We strongly suggest cursing Council managers every time you hit a pot hole, and using the 'Fix My Street' free service to report each and every incidence, every time until it's fixed. (You can use the same service to report dumped rubbish etc.) Recycling:Caversham Globe (Go Local on a Better Environment) has organised a local used battery collection scheme. Globe has put collection containers at V&I Hardware in Milestone Way, Emmer Green, Caversham Cobbler & Key Smith in Bridge Street and in Woodcote Way News in Caversham. Containers will be emptied regularly by Globe volunteers and batteries taken to a recycling centre. Vets:The only vet that we're aware of in Caversham, and the feedback we've heard is that they're very good. Oakley Veterinary Clinic Tel: (0118) 947 9298 |
