Christmas greetings from the Mayor of Winchester Cllr Sudhakar Achwal
As we approach Christmas and the New Year, I would like to send my warmest good wishes to everyone across the Winchester District.
This season offers us a moment to pause, reflect, and give thanks — for our communities, our volunteers, and all those who work so tirelessly to support others throughout the year. It is also a time to reach out with kindness, compassion, and generosity, especially to those who may find this season difficult.
Winchester District is blessed with a strong sense of community spirit, and I am continually inspired by the care people show for one another. May Christmas bring you peace, warmth, and time with those who matter most, and may the New Year bring health, hope, and happiness.
Updates from my three local 2025/6 Mayoral Charities:
It’s been an exciting year for the family support charity Home-Start Winchester (HSW), and it has been a historic year too, as HSW celebrated 20 years of working with young families in and around Winchester, supporting over 1,300 families in that time.
The charity has moved into a new HQ and has recruited more volunteers, bringing the number up to 64, ready to meet their families in 2026. The charity’s team also managed to sell 6,000 Christmas cards, organise a dog walk, coffee morning, quiz night, bake sale, beetle drive and car boot sale, all to raise much-needed income.
Trinity Winchester has had a busy year, supporting over 680 homeless and vulnerable people. In 2025, more people than ever turned to the charity for help, many facing the pressures of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The drop-in centre served over 25,000 nutritious meals, offered 4,000 advice sessions, and ran 239 counselling and therapy activities—proving that a warm meal and a listening ear can make all the difference.
Exciting plans are already underway for 2026, including four new units of specialist accommodation for female victims of domestic abuse, adding to the three opened in spring 2025.
Trinity has also been at the heart of Winchester’s community life via the mayoral charity events. There’s been something for everyone. Don’t miss the Mayor’s Big Quiz in February!
This year, Winchester Action on the Climate Crisis (WinACC) has helped 10 groups get solar power onto their community buildings and have eight more currently receiving support with this. They've also supported three large scale solar farm planning applications which would provide enough energy to power 17,220 local homes and provide power to the IBM data centre in Hursley.
WeCAN (Winchester Climate Action Groups) are thriving with support from WinACC Climate Officers. There are currently 18 groups across the district, with an incredible 175 volunteers in them working on climate action projects. WinACC has helped support several of these groups in setting up repair cafes across the district and there are now eight repair cafes running on a regular basis.
In 2026, WinACC looks forward to helping more homeowners reduce their energy bills and make their homes more efficient through our 'My Home Made Better' retrofit service. WinACC is planning to keep working for a swift energy transition away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources, which will provide energy security as well as ultimately driving down bills, and continues to champion a fit-for-purpose public transport system to reduce pollution and traffic blight. Members will also come together for another tree planting session at the National Trust Hinton Ampner site.
On behalf of my wife Vivian and myself, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.