Category: Missed a ThameNews story?

MEMBERS of the Rotary Club of Thame and District have joined other Rotary clubs in the Thames Valley in an initiative to support the funding of local food banks, including Thame’s run by Sharing Life Trust.

With the current COVID-19 lockdown, members cannot meet physically for dinner. A former Rotary Thames Valley District Governor, Joy Arnott, supported by the current Governor, Frank Quinn, had the idea to grab this opportunity and recommend donating the unspent dinner money towards local food banks, and Thame & District Rotarians responded overwhelmingly to this initiative.

Joy Arnott wrote in an email to Thame and District Rotarians: “Thank you so much for contributing to our initiative to make Rotary a significant contributor to the welfare of the most deserving people in our communities.”

Frank Quinn thanked in his blog all Rotary Clubs in the Thames Valley which covers most of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire: “Past District Governor Joy Arnott is leading the District on raising funds for local Food Banks. The call went out for money rather than Foodstuffs and as of today, you have raised nearly £30,000. Congratulations to all the Clubs who have donated!”

Rotary Club of Thame and District members are now keeping in touch with each other via online video meetings and email.

To find out how to join Rotary Club of Thame & District or contact www.thame.rotary1090.org or www.facebook.com/thamerotary

THAME Town Council will make local history when it holds the council’s very first ever, virtual Full Council Meeting in public over Zoom, next Tuesday, on April 28, at 6.30pm.

The meeting will be held in accordance with The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.

To view the meeting, use the URL: https://zoom.us/j/598240993 – Meeting ID: 598 240 993 – To obtain the Password, contact the Town Council up to two hours before the meeting start time (6.30pm). Email: info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk or call: 01844 212833.  You must be on the electoral role to join this meeting. Exceptions will be made for representatives, agents and authorities.  The agenda is HERE

THE vacant shop in Thame town centre that was Steamer Trading, is likely to be taken over by Specsavers, following a planning application currently with South Oxfordshire District Council’s Planning deparment for ‘Redecoration of the existing timber shop front and installing a Specsavers fascia and new hanging sign and undertaking internal fit-out with de-mountable partitioning and replacing the hvac units.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Healthcare Trust, which includes Stoke Mandeville Hospital, has set up a scheme to help families and friends stay in contact with the ones they love in hospital, that they are unable to visit. Family and friends can send a letter to a loved one via a dedicated email address bht.lettertoalovedone@nhs.net. Full details here: https://www.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/About/trust-launches-letter-to-a-loved-one-initiative.htm

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council has re-opened its bulky waste collection service for large household items. It is limited to online orders only and there are a limited number of bookings available. The bulky waste collection service was temporarily stopped to allow the council’s waste contractor, Biffa to prioritise the important kerbside household collections while members of their waste collection crews were off sick or self-isolating. Biffa has now built up sufficient resilience in its workforce and can now provide the paid-for service again. The situation is being regularly monitored and residents should be aware that if staffing levels fall the service may need to be suspended again.

Examples of what they collect:

furniture (such as sofas, chairs, and tables)
televisions
washing machines
mattresses
fridges and freezers*

Full instructions and advise here: http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and-advice/recycling-rubbish-and-waste/your-recycling-and-waste-collections/bulky-household

THE latest in a series of planning applications for the piece of land known as The Elms, off Thame’s Upper High Street, has been submitted by the same applicant, Rectory Homes. (NOT Elms Park!)

This latest planning application is, like the last one, for erection of an extra care development (Use Class C2) of 66 units; three guest rooms; a communal residents’ centre with staff facilities; provision for car, cycle and mobility scooter parking; the creation of a new public open space; the provision of new pedestrian/cycle links from Upper High Street to Elms Road and Elms Park and thas associated infrastructure works and landscaping.

The approval of the original and first appication, which was for housing, ran out before work started on the development. Eversince, Rectory Homes, claiming that the ‘footprint’ of the subsequent proposed development for a care home, was the same and that there was a need for such a development, has not been able to convince the local panning authority, South Oxfordshire District Council, to accept new proposals.

Previous articles about this site can be read HERE

SOUTH Oxfordshire District Council haS suspended its kerbside service collecting small electrical items, batteries and textiles for recycling.

In the current situation, recycling centres for these items are unable to accept them for processing as staff shortages, due to illness and social distancing, has meant work at these centres cannot continue as it did before the Coronavirus pandemic, and The council doesn’t its self have storage for such items.

In a warning to residents the council said: “Please do NOT put unwanted or broken electrical items or batteries in the general refuse (rubbish) or recycling as they can cause a fire in the bin trucks which could endanger the lives of bin crews and others nearby. A fire could also lead to the loss of a bin truck and less of a service at a time when the waste service is needed by everyone.

A Crowdfunding page, set up by a Thame couple concerned about front-line staff working with Covid-19 patients at the JR Hospital in Oxford, has very quickly reached its fund-raising target ‘to provide a little bit extra to make their lives better’.

Ron and Gill Swanson’s JustGiving page has been set up to help the ICU team at the JR with ‘some of the simpler things’ to boost morale and help the Unit through these difficult times ahead. Ron was prompted to do something after chatting with a neighbour of his who works on the ward about the challenges he and the NHS teams on ICU have been facing.

The aim is to provide things like pizza deliveries, a coffee machine (now the coffee shops are closed), taxis home after what might have been a 48-hour shift, and anything else they might need.

A Just Giving Page, with a target figure of £8,500, has already raised £8,350, due to the generosity of the people of Thame and the surrounding area.

Gill Swanson told Thame.Net today: “The intensive care medical, nursing and allied health professional staff have all been deeply touched by the generosity of all who have donated to the page.

“All the wonderful messages of support are helping to lift spirits at this difficult time.”

THOUSANDS of people and many organisations across the district have already volunteered, or would like to support their local communities in this time of crisis, and now there is an ‘all response map’  where all these efforts and these sites can help coordinate those efforts.

Whether it’s delivering essentials, putting all the bins out for someone, or being on the other end of a phone, there are hundreds of opportunities available across Oxfordshire for you to get involved and these organisations will be a central point of information for you.

To ensure that residents know where to turn, all community groups, community organisations and local businesses are being asked to include details of their initiatives on the Oxfordshire All In Response Map. If you have linked with your District or the City Council already – please don’t worry, the link would have already been made for you. The map is the best way to  maximise eeryone’s ability to spend the time helping our communities.

If you live in Vale of White Horse, South Oxfordshire, West Oxfordshire or Cherwell then please visit Oxfordshire All In for  details of all the opportunities across Oxfordshire.

THE Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) has announced a new fund and package of support available to help community and voluntary organisations meet the new needs and challenges created by the Coronavirus emergency. 

OCF’s new Community Resilience Fund has been kick-started with a donation from the Indigo Trust and has already reached more than £500,000. At a time when they have never been more needed, many charities and voluntary organisations are at risk, with little or no working capital, thus anticipating significant cash flow problems.

 “We want our new fund to unlock the power of our community,” explained OCF CEO Jayne Woodley. “This is a time when their services have such potential to provide the essential lifeline so needed by those who are most vulnerable and at risk in our communities.”

How the funding will be distributed is currently being formulated as Kate Walker, OCF’s Marketing Projects Manager, explained to Thame.Net: “We are working hard to pull the details of grants that will be available as soon as we can.  As I am sure you can understand we want to do this right and also ensure that there is a long-term solution as well.

“We are currently working on the details of how the fund will be managed. Information will be released on our website as soon as these are completed. People will be informed by email when the fund is open for applications and anyone who does not normally receive OCF communications, can opt in to receive these emails here.”

The objectives of the fund are to:

•  Help organisations to respond better: grants will help organisations meet new needs appearing as a result of the Coronavirus and help organisations for whom restrictions mean they have to find new ways of meeting existing needs.
• Help organisations to recover stronger: grants will help to ensure organisations can survive if their operations or income are interrupted by the Coronavirus.

The design for operating the fund will be guided by the following:

•  The need to respond quickly and to adjust to a changing situation. Therefore, the fund to include a “light touch” element.
•  The recognition that there will need to be flexibility with regard to milestones and reviews.
•  An assessment of the wider context of needs and resources available. This will include a needs analysis in relation to urgency and importance, plus the evaluation of applications based on their relative levels of impact.
•  The need to be professional and thorough in assessing applications and the use of funds.

Help to scale up efforts to distribute food

The fund will help organisations like SOFEA (South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance), who can scale up their efforts to distribute food to vulnerable people across Oxfordshire. It is already working together with existing volunteer hubs, such as Oxford Together and Citizens Advice Banbury.

This means renting additional vans, buying more fuel, cleaning materials and redeploying staff. SOFEA have committed to this even as their cash flow is reaching a critical point. Restrictions on educational activities are reducing SOFEA’s income. The speed with which the fund has been set up means that SOFEA has already received an emergency cash injection of £10,000. CEO Richard Kennell said, “Support from this new fund is vital for us. It enables us to focus on meeting the urgent needs of the crisis and gives us confidence that SOFEA will still be here when the crisis is over.” 

The OCF funds will be pooled with other money being made available, including that from the National Emergencies Trust (NET).