I hope everyone enjoyed the bank holiday weekend and managed to get into the town centre to see the fabulous giants and seedling sprites.

It has been great to see children and adults alike enjoying the activities throughout the town while they learn about the benefits of being active out in nature. The Bracknell Forest Festival is running until 4 September, so you’ve still time to join in the fun.

We are also celebrating The Lexicon’s fifth birthday at the weekend with a spectacular free Birthday Proms from 3.30pm on Saturday with lots of wonderful acts to entertain all ages.

In the next week, we will see the start of the new school year with children either returning to their schools or starting new ones. This is an exciting time for all of them as they embark on the next stage of their school life. We are lucky to have wonderful schools in our borough and, as the recent exam results have shown, they truly bring out the best in the students.

The return to school coincides with Cycle September, so we are asking parents to think about the most environmentally friendly way to do the school run.

Cycle September is a month-long competition from Love to Ride, motivating residents to saddle up and get cycling to be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes as well as improving their health and wellbeing.

The challenge this year is to log a bike ride every week of the month from 1 September. Successful riders will then be entered into a prize draw and could win £4,000 towards a dream holiday, a Raleigh E-Bike worth £2,499 and much more.

Cycling has incredible benefits for your health, even a 10-minute bike ride can boost your immune system and cardiovascular health. It also promotes the release of endorphins and can reduce feelings of low mood and stress. The local environment can benefit too; with fewer cars on the road and more bikes, less CO2 is enters the atmosphere and car idling will reduce due to less traffic.

It doesn’t matter if you ride every day or if you haven’t been on a bike in years, Love to Ride has helped over 625,000 people worldwide get into cycling. Love to Ride has lots of resources to help people cycle with confidence from top tips to quick courses.

So, whether it is on the school run or just out having some fun on your bike, I look forward to seeing lots of you out cycling.