Thame.net

Category: Thame news

  • Welcome Laura – the new editor of Thame.net!

    THAME-BASED marketing consultant Laura Fellows is to be the new owner of Thame.net. Laura will combine and apply her enthusiasm for the community and her marketing experience to move thame.net on into the future with a complete face-lift.

    Laura Fellows with her furry companion, Milo !

    The existing content, which people still reference, won’t be going anywhere. The content which has been lovingly created and curated over the last 17 years will exist as a site archive.

    The new Thame.net will be part online magazine, part blog. The website will be updated with new branding and article sections including home and garden, well-being, environment, business and more. There will also be pages to help promote volunteer opportunities and other ways people can connect and support the community. The new content will be created locally and aims to raise awareness of skills and knowledge from local people, organisations and businesses.

    Laura commented: “If we have a better understanding of the people and skills that exist in our local economy then we’re far more likely to support them. As well as awareness, connection marketing is more important than ever. If people feel a connection with a business or whatever else is going on in the community, then they’re more likely to get involved or buy from that business. The best way to achieve these connections is by sharing and showcasing thoughts, skills, knowledge and people’s stories. That’s what I’m doing with Thame.net. This approach helps businesses, but it also helps individuals by providing insight into their community – win/win!”

    The updated website is currently being built and Laura is working with companies to create content for launch and beyond. If you’re interested in speaking with her, she’d welcome an email or call from you. laura@hamsterlips.com

    Sonja Francis, former editor of Thame.net, concluded: “I wish Laura every success with her new, exciting venture. I feel sure that Thame.net is in the very best of hands and the wonderful community of Thame will support – and be supported – by an invigorated Thame.net, well into the future with Laura at the tiller.”

    Click here to enter the new area of the site.

  • Farewell from Thame.net after 17 years

    REGRETFULLY, the decision has been made to the effect that Thame.Net will not be updated after tomorrow, Friday, November 13, 2020.

    After 17 years, I have decided to fully retire from work, and live life away from a keyboard and the increasingly difficult challenge of metaphorically ‘spinning plates in the air’. Since becoming a town councillor (which I shall remain doing for the time being), and more recently dealing with extra family responsibilities and the on-going illness of a family member, I have not had the capacity to give Thame.net the attention it and our loyal subscribers have deserved.

    I have tried to find someone else to take over the website but have been unable to find anyone suitable to date. (If, in the future, anyone who lives and loves Thame, and has an interest in taking on the honour of recording events and local news as it happens in our community, they are very welcome to get in touch via email: roxienews@gmail.com )

    On the positive side, Thamenews net, our Facebook page, will continue to be a conduit for posting and sharing news relevant to Thame, and promoting our town, as will our twitter page, @ThameNews so do follow those pages.

    The historical archive of all Thame news posted on the website since 2003, will remain available to anyone researching previous news stories, via the news archive link on the home page, or by contacting me via email: roxienews@mail.com

    I would like to express my gratitude to all the subscribers, organisations, advertisers and supporters who have contributed in any way to Thame.net, for their loyalty and friendship over the past 17 years – and including those (you know who you are!) who have quickly picked up my typos and my spelling and punctuation mistakes (yes you too!) over the years – my community sub-editors!

    Thank you and best wishes to you all.
    Editor: Sonja Francis

  • Thieves smash Thame shop door and steal perfumes

    THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following the burglary of a business in Thame.

    At around 5.50am on Saturday (7/11) the front door of a shop on the High Street was smashed. Offenders entered the shop and stole a number of perfume and aftershave items.

    The offenders then ran off down the alleyway next to the Co-op store that leads to a car park.

    The offenders are described as three men wearing black hooded tops and black face masks. They were carrying black bin bags.

    Investigating officer PC Rebekah Kent, based at Thame police, station, said: “I am appealing for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the early hours of Saturday morning to contact us.

    “We believe that a black 4×4 vehicle may be involved in this offence so if you believe that you have any information that could assist with this investigation then please get in touch.

    “You can contact us using the online form on our website or by calling 101, quoting reference number 43200364054. Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously via their website or on 0800 555 111.”

     

  • Community-led Renewable Energy projects

    CHINNOR and Thame Friends of the Earth will be hosting a presentation by the Oxford Low Carbon Hub and Ethex at a Zoom Meeting on Thursday, November 19,  at 7.30pm.

    The Low Carbon Hub will talk about how they are pioneering the development of community-owned renewable energy across Oxfordshire, and how they have raised more than £5 million from over 1,000 people investing via their community share offers, to support the development of a portfolio of 44 renewable energy projects, including solar panels on schools and village halls, Sandford Hydro and other energy efficiency projects. This may be of particular interest to school govenors.

    If you are passionate about fighting Climate Change and have money you wish to invest, The Oxford Low Carbon Hub can provide help and advice.

    They can also provide help and support to assist you in improving energy efficiency in your home, through Cosy Homes Oxfordshire. Cosy Homes is a home eco-retrofit project aiming to make homes across Oxfordshire more energy efficient – reducing their energy use and at the same time improving the comfort and health of residents. For more information, visit their website.

    We welcome you all to join the meeting and hear about these exciting projects, and how we can gain ideas and support for our own community’s renewable energy as well as energy efficiency aspirations.

    SOURCE: Contributed – Chinnor and Thame Friends of The Earth (FOE)
    Zoom details:
    Topic: Friends of the Earth Zoom Meeting 
    Thursday, November 19, 2020 Low Carbon Hub and Ethex
    Time: Nov 19, 2020 07:00 PM London (meeting starts 7.30 pm)

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5191402424
    Meeting ID: 519 140 2424

  • Phoenix volunteers accepting donations for Thomley’s Toy Appeal

    VOLUNTEERS from one of the newest volunteer groups, Phoenix Community Club, an offspring of the Thame & District Rotary Club, will be supporting Thomley, the local children charitVOy, for their toy appeal.

    The public is asked to buy one toy as a Christmas present and to donate it to Thomley at one of the collection points indicated below. The charity will use these gifts for their raffles, events and the children visiting Thomley.

    Volunteers from the Phoenix Community Club will be helping with the collection of the presents at the following locations and dates:

    • Citizens Advice Bureau, Market House, North Street, Montesson Square, Thame OX9 3HH on 14 and 21 November 2020 – 10:00-14:00.
    • Thomley, Menmarsh Road, Worminghall, Bucks HP18 9JZ on 23 November and 2 December 2020 – 10:00-14:00.

    During the time of the pandemic, Rotary Club of Thame & District and Phoenix Community Club members have been meeting safely online and have welcomed five new members since March 2020. The club’s virtual rooms are largely open to welcome new volunteer members.

    To find out more about the Rotary Club of Thame & District or Phoenix Community Club or how to join, please visit www.thame.rotary1090.org or www.facebook.com/thamerotary or www.facebook.com/phoenixcommunityclubthame  

  • Invitation to community solar scheme online Q&A

    DESPITE the rain, members  of the Thame Green Living group were at Thame market last Tuesday, October 27, to talk to interested people about the community solar scheme that has recently been launched with the support of Thame Town Council.

    Visitors to the stall included the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Amanda Ponsonby, and the Mayor of Thame, Cllr Ann Midwinder, who has herself expressed an interest in having solar panels installed on the roof of her home. 

    For anyone not able to make it to the market, there is an opportunity to talk to IDEAA – the company leading the solar scheme – who will be hosting an online Q&A session, next Wednesday, November 4, at 7.30pm. For more information and to register for the event go to solarstreets.co.uk/thame

    What is Solar Streets?

    Thame Solar Streets is a community solar project that gives individual home-owners and businesses in Thame the chance to install and own solar PV roof panels at around 20% discount, by taking advantage of bulk purchasing and coordinated installations.

    Individual households benefit from free, low carbon energy and the community benefits from cleaner air. In addition, IDDEA will donate £50 towards PV panels for a local community building for each domestic solar installation, and a minimum of £100 for every commercial installation.

    Thame Green Living works in support of this initiative, while IDDEA contract directly with property owners.

    Who are IDDEA?

    IDDEA was established in 2008 and has installed over 800 solar projects across the South. It’s committed to supporting communities to take action against climate change and has run similar projects in Frome and Henley, and another is going ahead in St Albans.

    To register your interest and find out more, go to www.solarstreets.co.uk/Thame and join the live Q&A session via Zoom on Wednesday, November 4, between 19:30 and 21:00, hosted by the technical and installation team at IDDEA.

  • UPDATE- Re-arrest on suspicion of murder

    UPDATE: Benjamin Eyles, 19,  of Monks Hollow, Marlow Bottom, has since been charged  with murdering 19-year-old accountant Joshua Harling, from Oxford, on July 22 this year in Thame.

    Eyles, was also charged with ‘conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm with intent’ alongside Nathan Braim in Elms Park in Thame on July 18.

    At Oxford Magistrates Court last Wednesday, Eyles, of Monks Hollow, Marlow Bottom, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address, and was ramanded in custody until he next appears at court with Braim, of Broadwaters Avenue, Thame on January 4, next year. 

    THAMES Valley Police have today (29/9) re-arrested a man in connection with a murder investigation in Thame.

    The 19-year-old man, from Buckinghamshire, was arrested this morning on suspicion of murder, conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.

    The arrest is in relation to an incident in Chinnor Road, Thame, on Wednesday, July 22, this year which resulted in the death of 19-year-old Josh Harling.

    The man arrested remains in police custody at this time.

    Nathan Braim, aged 20, of Broadwaters Avenue, Thame, has previously been charged with one count of murder. He has been remanded in custody to appear for trial at Oxford Crown Court on January, 4, 2021.

  • Watch one-off live streamed Tea concert

    TODAY, Friday, create your own afternoon tea concert and get ready to watch a one-off live stream of the ever-popular Rumsey’s Tea Concert. It’s the perfect way to ease into the weekend.

    While you relax in the comfort of your home, you’ll be able to have your cake and eat it as you listen to the wonderful music from Kate Billimore and the popular string quartet, Bagatelle, while sipping a cuppa and tucking into a slice of something delicious! In the past their repertoire has ranged from Bach and the Beatles to Grieg and Gershwin, Elgar and Elbow.

    This exceptional fund-raising, pre-festival event is part of the annual Thame Arts & Literature Festival (TAL) – called DigiTAL for this year as the Festival will be going virtual, launching online on October 15.

    “Every year tickets for Rumsey’s Tea Concert sell out in record time” said Yvonne Maxwell, TAL Festival Founder. “This year, we didn’t want to disappoint. So we teamed up with Rumsey’s to not only put on a live, socially-distanced concert, attended by the first 16 lucky people who booked for this unique event. We also decided to live stream it so everyone can still enjoy the music.”

    So this Friday, wherever you may be with internet connection, you’ll still be able to experience virtually this amazing concert, played live from the lovely setting of Rumsey’s Chocolaterie in Thame.

    As an extra tasty treat, not only will you be able to watch the Tea Concert from your home, if you take your ticket into Rumsey’s Chocolaterie in Thame they will give you a 50% discount on any cake you may wish to buy for your home viewing. Total indulgence!

    Rumsey’s Tea Concert, Friday, October 9,  4.30pm
    To book tickets for this Friday’s Live Stream
    For full details of events and to book go to www.talfestival.org



  • Lord Williams’s to host cricket performance clinic

    THE Institute of Cricket will be holding a Performance Satellite Camp at Lord Williams School, Thame, on Thursday, October 29 – Friday, October 30.

    Performance Satellite Camps include:

    • Specialised high-intensity coaching. [Current and former County players]
    • Pitchvision technology.
    • Goal setting.
    • Recovery and sleep advice.
    • Strength and conditioning screening.
    • Skill assessments in all areas of the game.Lord

    Full details on the I.O.C. Performance Satellite Camp website HERE

  • Thame Art Crawl back for the fourth year!

    FOR the most part, 2020 has been a year of isolation. Lockdown life has meant that those desperate for a touch of culture have had to resort to watching plays on YouTube, tuning in for Grayson Perry’s Art Club and exploring galleries through their computers. 

    While there is something engaging about ‘walking’ through the Guggenheim whilst sitting at home in your pyjamas, nothing can replace being able to view pieces of art in real life. Thame Art Crawl 2020, running from Thursday, October 15 – Sunday, October 18, will provide you with this opportunity.

    This fabulous pop-up annual art event will showcase a wealth of creative local talent in windows and venues around Thame’s town centre. There will be paintings, pottery, photography, fused glass, sculptures and more, from 18 different artists, spread over 15 locations. So get the dates in your diary to enjoy four days of tangible culture on your doorstep.   


    There will be an event map available from Thame Town Hall Information Centre and fitch & fellows in the Buttermarket from Monday, October, 12. You can find out who is exhibiting and where by visiting the website www.thameartcrawl.com. Follow the event on Instagram and Facebook @thameartcrawl for regular updates and details of any changes to the event in the situation we face a local lockdown.