SUPER fit Financial Controller of local online training provider Me Learning, at Nether Winchendon near Thame, Alex Wall Morris, excelled herself this weekend by taking on the gruelling Three Peaks challenge.
Raising much needed funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), Alex and the team from Fitlife raised almost £3,000 thanks to their incredibly adventurous quest.
“For a while I’ve been training at Fitlife – a boutique fitness facility in Haddenham,” explained Alex, who lives in Chearsley. “Its great fun and the team there are so encouraging. When the three Peaks Challenge was suggested I didn’t hesitate, especially in aid of such a great cause. It was exhausting but mind-blowing at the same time! I’m still recovering but fortunately my colleagues at Me Learning have been hugely supportive.”
The three peaks challenge involves climbing the UKs highest peaks in under 24 hours – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and finally Snowdon. Sleeping in a mini bus in between hikes, each climb took 4-5 hours, and some of it at night with headlamps! Whilst the rest of the UK were enjoying balmy sunshine they trekked through snow as they conquered Ben Nevis.
Not only is the Three Peaks Challenge seen as a great test of physical ability but also, a huge mental challenge. Furthermore with a team 34 it was critical that as they travelled up and down the mountains as a group, no-one was left behind. For further information and details visit https://www.threepeakschallenge.uk/national-three-peaks-challenge/
THAME Town Cricket Club hosted Oxford last weekend, June 30, in a crunch clash, sponsored by J Bennett & Son. Oxford’s openers both fell just short of 50’s but gave Oxford an excellent platform. Thame fought back well through Andy Russell (4-74) and Hassam Mushtaq, who took 6-54 in a fine spell of legspin bowling. Oxford made 247 on a turning wicket. In reply, Thame were soon 65-4 and staring down the barrel. It took a stoic innings from skipper Mike Beard (44*) to stop the rot but when Mushtaq (66) proceeded to launch a blistering counter attack, the most unlikely of victories looked possible. Eventually Thame finished on 184-7 to secure a draw. They entertain Finchampstead this Saturday.
Hassam Mushtaq, who put in an outstanding all-round display for the Firsts against Oxford
Seconds stay Top of the Table
THAME Seconds travelled to play third-placed Tiddington. Electing to bat, early wickets put Thame on the back foot but Harry Thomas (41*) rebuilt, allowing Jack Aston (34) to accelerate. Thame finished up on 202 for 8 from the 53 overs. In reply Tiddington started slowly against tight bowling from Matt Ridgeway (2-23) and Adam Phippen. With pressure building, the wickets came for spinners Dan Patey (5-47) and Ali Thomas (3-13). Picking up 25 points, bowling Tiddington out for 140 with 1.1 overs to spare, keeps Thame top of the league. This Saturday, July 7, they travel to take on Bletchley Firsts.
Third XI beat the leaders !
THAME thirds convincingly beat top-of-the-table Bletchley Town Seconds by 80 runs to keep them third in Division Nine. Thame were put in and Justin Avery (43) and George Patey (30) got Thame off to a flyer. In the middle order, Liam Evans (49) and Sam Nicholls (38) piled on the runs, in the heat, declaring on 236 for 8. After tea, only opener Ifthikar (39) was a real threat for Bletchley, all out for 156. Main wicket-takers were Ben Buckland (2) and Vim Desai (4). Thame next entertain second-placed Tiddington on Saturday.
Fourths win on the road at Abingdon
THAME Fourths travelled to play Abingdon Fourths, who batted first. Despite a first-wicket stand of 86, Abingdon were all out 177, thanks to Ed Mather (5-52) and Tony Barnes (3-35). Thame also made a good start of 82, through Nick Fuller (52) and Tim Dabbs (33). Backed up by Max Muncaster (20) and Dan Hart (19), Thame won with nine overs to spare. This Saturday, the fourths travel to promotion- contenders Eynsham.
Thame women victorious against Maidenhead and Bray
THE performance of Thame’s Women’s cricket team matched the mercury rising on a scorching Sunday afternoon, July 1, in a home friendly against Maidenhead and Bray, reaching 225 in their highest run-total yet, leaving their opponents melting with 163. Highlights of the Thame innings came from Beth John, smashing 30* in each of 2 innings, Mel White (30) and Bridget Cooper (30). Runs also for Claire Morris, Vicky Shaw, Gill Kelleher and Clare Seed. In the M&BCC innings there were wickets for John, Cooper and Budde-Manning.
THIS year was the third in a row that Manoj Parmar’s Sports In The Street event had closed Thame town centre to traffic; and once again, this unique event proved to be very popular with the town’s budding young sports people.
Manoj told Thame.Net: “It was of a huge benefit to the town with a total of 15 sports clubs coming together this year! There was a huge turn out from the children of Thame and the surrounding areas. It was great to see so many kids in the high street with a Live Steel Band! The Town Mayor Ann Midwinter, the SODC Chair Lorraine Hillier, the Oxfordshire Chair Gill Sanders, and the Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Mrs Marie-Jane Barnett, all opened up the event and then went round to speak to all the clubs and even join in with a few of the sessions!
“Before the event started we sang the national anthem in respect and in the sportsman’s spirit.”
Manoj continued: “The event was a great success and it wouldn’t be possible without the continued support of the townspeople and the town council. A special thank you to our sponsors Kubota and Lightfoots for sponsoring the certificates for the children. I hope the children will use all the free sports gifts from MP Sport to help them become professional players in the future!”
Every child received a free Sports gift, including tennis rackets, key-chains, badminton rackets, table tennis rackets, tennis balls and much more.
The next event Manoj Parmar plans on organising is a Summer Holiday cricket course for children aged 6-13 years, at his new cricket ground, Mp Sports Field, on Kingsey Road. For more information about this event, visit www.mpsportscricketacademy.co.uk or call 01844 212226.
THE July edition of the First Thursday Music Club, Thame, will feature Steve Winch and the Inception from Milton Keynes, The Dicemen from Tring, Articles of War, Rhys Warriner’s Roguey Roads, Megan Wheatley, Anja and our very own Simon Stafford.
Steve Winch and the Inception
“All kinds of music for our lovely audience (that’s you by the way!) and it is, as ever, all FREE!”
TALENTED athletes – 132 of them – from South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse will benefit from a £74,050 Fund – thanks to charitable social enterprise GLL.
The athletes will be supported through the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF), the largest independent athlete support programme in the UK, which this year marks its 10th year of supporting today and tomorrow’s athletes.
Kick Boxer, Ian Carter,from Thame, one of the GLL Sport Foundation beneficiaries
The athlete awards cover Olympic, Paralympic, Deaflympic, Special Olympic and Commonwealth sporting disciplines. With a staggering 84% of award recipients receiving no other sport funding and 77% of recipients being aged under 21, the Sport Foundation has highlighted a vital funding gap for young talented athletes currently competing at National and international levels.
The following are all of the athletes from the Thame area benefitting from the award:
Linsey Smith – Cricket
Marcus Birmingham – Swimming
Ian Carter – Kickboxing
Joshua Williams – Swimming
Jane Bell – Triathlon
Elizabeth Ryan, aged 10, the youngest GSF athlete who competes in Modern Pentathlon and swims at Henley Leisure Centre, said, “I look forward to using my funding to buy my first swim wetsuit. It will also help my mum with my travelling costs.”
GSF Patron and former Olympic Champion Sally Gunnell explained the core role the GSF takes in supporting the next generation of athletes and thus ensuring a sporting legacy is in place for future generation: “Sport is such an important element in our lives whether that be as an athlete; a coach or within the wide network of support, sport can and will continue to deliver so much for us. This was seen once again from the euphoria that gripped the Nation during the World Athletics Championships last year.
“It was fantastic to see GLL Sport Foundation supported athletes deliver medal successes and others to break through to the international representative level. It is a core ambition for the Foundation to be successful in supporting both today’s and tomorrow’s athletes.”
Peter Bundey, GSF Chair, paid tribute to the athletes, programme stakeholders and also highlighted the impact the Foundation is making: “The wealth of young sporting talent within our local communities is truly inspiring. We are delighted to play our part in supporting the development of sporting talent across in every region in the where GLL operate sports and leisure facilities. We believe that the vast majority of the athletes that benefit from the GLL Sport Foundation will give something back to sport and society in a positive way; whether as a future champion inspiring the nation, sports coach, volunteer, fund raiser or as an inspirational role model to other young people to get active and involved in sport.”
He added: “I would like to thank all our partners and sponsors for their support for the programme. SportsAid, SportsAid Wales and Mary Peters Trust provide the direct links to Sport Governing Body talent pathways, whilst our many corporate sponsors headlined by GLL and Technogym, numerous local authorities, university and physiotherapy partners directly contribute to support these sporting dreams to become a reality.”
Since its launch in 2007, the GSF has provided over 16,000 athlete awards at a total support value of over £9 million across the UK.
The Gold coast Commonwealth games were historic successes for home nations, and the GSF supported athletes also broke the Foundation’s record medal haul with 18 medals won between the 60 athletes that competed.
Supported athletes receive Award packages that include financial grants of up to £1,250, free training memberships enabling access across 300 GLL and partner operated sporting venues along with access to sports science, medical support and employment opportunities all focussed towards supporting their athlete journey.
IT’S all change at the top as local retired banker from Wheatley who dedicates his spare time to volunteering and fundraising in the local community takes up the reins as president of Thame Rotary club.
New and past Thame Rotary presidents with charities representatives
Graham Colverson was welcomed as the new president of Rotary Club of Thame & District on Wednesday,June 27, during a Charity Evening presentation at Thame’s Spread Eagle Hotel.
The takeover coincides with a name change as Rotary Club of Thame will from now on be known as Rotary Club of Thame & District in order to reflect the diversity of its members. About 40% of Thame & District Rotary live in villages such as Chalgrove, Chinnor, Long Crendon, Great Milton, Longwick, Towersey and Wheatley.
Rotary spokesperson, Marius Ciortan, said: “Graham is taking over as Club President from John Singer who has inspired the local community and his club members to fundraise just under £12,000 for good causes. John, whose main chosen charity was SeeSaw, said: “I’m delighted that this past year the Club has been able to support a wide range of organisations both locally and internationally.”
The most important fundraising event during John’s year was the Thame Swimathon. A record number of teams from Thame Swimming, Barley Hill School and other local groups took part in the fun event and raised funds for their preferred causes. Jo Sackett, trustee of Barley Hill PTFA, said: “It has been an absolute privilege working with the Rotary Club over the past few months. The children at Barley Hill School love the Swimathon event and we have been lucky enough to enter a number of teams over the past two years and we will certainly be doing it again next year.
“The fact that we get to raise money for so many wonderful charities at the same time as having fun is just amazing!! Thank you so much for all that you do for our community and we very much look forward to joining forces on more ventures over the coming years.”
Graham Colverson has been a Rotarian for almost 15 years and his commitment to the club has earned the respect of fellow members who were only too pleased to vote him in as their new president for the forthcoming year.
Graham said: “This October we celebrate 50 years of Rotary in Thame. Our aim during the next year is to consolidate our many achievements during that time and to prepare the club for our next 50 years.”
Graham will be looking for inspired and enthusiastic men and women to join the Thame and District Rotary club. He would like to hear from anyone interested in joining the club and making a real difference to their community.
To find out more about the Rotary Club of Thame & District or to seek becoming a member, visit www.thame.rotary1090.org or follow on www.facebook.com/thamerotary
THAME’S town partnership, 21st Century Thame, is looking for new blood, people with ‘new ideas and vision’ and particularly for a volunteer to sort out the very successful Thame Equipment Bank’s website.
Today, 21st Century Thame, which has been responsible for initiating Thame Food Festival, Thame’s Blue Plaques, the Thame Walking and Cycling Map and other leaflets, a Shop Fronts Improvement scheme, organising Thame Carnival, running Thame Tidy Day, supporting events such as Thame Town Music Festival and Midsomer Murders Tours, campaigning for Thame’s success in the Great British High Street Awards and Small Business Saturday and much more, has issued the following appeal:
“21st Century Thame is a group of volunteers who work in partnership with Thame Town Council and SODC to ensure the vibrancy of our town. It relies on an abundance of volunteers to continue to run the ongoing projects as well as initiating new ones.
“Before 21st Century Thame was founded various studies were undertaken which showed that Thame was a town used by local people for their weekly convenience shopping. Today Thame is a destination for visitors from far afield and is visited by locals for pleasure as well as necessity.
“Although 21st Century Thame can’t claim responsibility for everything that has given rise to this, it has initiated many projects which have developed into well known, massive events and continue to run other initiatives which support much of the activities that keep Thame an interesting place for everyone.
“As ever we are looking for new blood. We need some people with vision and great new ideas. And we need some people willing to run with those great new ideas. Of course, we also need some people to take over the initiatives which continue to support the ongoing activities.
“In particular – today – we are looking for someone with a specialist skill and a little time – the www.thameequipmentbank.co.uk website was hacked a few years ago and it was rebuilt. But it is still on a black list which means that some potential hirers are warned off the site. Those involved in the equipment bank have not found the time to sort this out – can you ?
“Please do contact us if you can help us with this – contact admin@thame4me.co.uk”
OXFORDSHIRE Fire Service is warning people to take extra care with outdoor fires during this hot, dry spell of weather, after they were called to an incident at Bernwood Forest, Oakley, near Thame, yesterday.
Image courtesy of photographer Simon Jones and Brill Firefighters (For illustrative purposes only)
When crews arrived at 08:30 am to the scene, the fire appeared to be almost extinguished but after further investigations by crews it was found to be burning well under a dense layer forest grassland. Crews acted quickly to uncover the extent of the fire by cutting away the surrounding vegatation and used a hose reel jet to extinguish the fire before it spread any further.
Incident Commander, Crew Manager Dan Shepherd said, “When crews arrived we were faced with a fire that was well developed, but was difficult to see due to the surrounding vegetation. Luckily a passer-by saw small amounts of smoke and acted quickly calling the fire service otherwise we could’ve faced a much larger incident and a rapidly developing fire, with lots of fuel around it, in what is a protected nature reserve. We believe this was caused by a camp fire left unattended.
He added: “Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that extra care should be taken when having outdoor fires, especially during summer heatwaves. Some local areas have specific campfire areas and these should always be used. Care should also be taken when disposing BBQ’s and members of the public should make sure these are fully extinguished and cold before throwing them away or leaving them unattended.”
THAME’S Second XI returnd to top of Division four on Saturday, June 23, after beating Abingdon Vale, while the first team made a heavy loss against local rivals, Aston Rowant.
Sam Lachlan
Thame firsts were looking to get their season back on track against a side they had beaten last year to gain promotion. Aston Rowant won the toss and asked Thame to bat. In a poor display, Thame were skittled out for just 59, with Callum Russell’s 18 not out, the top score. The hosts chased down the target without losing a wicket. Thame now welcome fellow-strugglers Oxford to Church Meadow this Saturday, July 1, in a match sponsored by J. Bennett & Son Insurance.
IN their match, the seconds lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Thame always looked firmly on top with devastating opening spells from Sam Lachlan (7-41) and Matt Ridgway (3-17), leaving Abingdon all out for just 73 runs. In response, openers Christian Warwick (28) and Harry Thomas (32*) ensured a comfortable nine-wicket win for Thame. This victory means they now go back to the top of Cherwell League, Division Four, and travel to Tiddington seconds this Saturday, July 1.
Third team’s batting falls short in Run-chase
THAME thirds visited Stokenchurch secpnds, starting a pivotal run of fixtures in mid-season. Bowling first, Thame got the early breakthrough from Will Bruce-Morgan (1-33), before a swift 90 partnership put the hosts on top. Ian McStay (3-39) and Vim Desai (1-18) then put the brakes on Stokenchurch, who ended on 188-5. In reply, Thame slumped to 63-6, with only Andy Jinman (36) getting a start in the top order. From there, Tim Hester (39) and Paddy Harris (26*) gave Thame hope, but once Hester departed Thame were 137 all out. The third XI host Bletchley Town seconds this Saturday, July 1.
Thame Fourth XI lose at Dinton
THAME fourths travelled to Marsh and were put into bat. In the face of excellent Dinton bowling (O’Sullivan 7-31), Thame were soon 3-3. However, Ben Ward (15) and John Phippen (36) managed a good recovery to 94 all out. In reply, Dinton reached 95 for 2 after 16 overs to claim the win, despite good spells from Max Muncaster and John Phippen. The Fourths travel to play Abingdon Vale Fourths on Saturday.
THAME Town Music Festival has announced the 10 finalists of the 2018 Songwriter’s competition, who will perform their entries live at the Festival Final on Friday, July 13, at The Barns Centre, Thame.
Festival Director, Johnnie Littler said: “We received over 50 entries with some fantastic, quality songs covering a wide range of styles and subjects. It has been hard to whittle it down to ten but the panel felt that this list showed what a breadth and quality of song writing talent there is waiting to break through.
“The final is going to be a fantastic night showcasing this talent and all are welcome to come and watch and support the artists starting at 7:30. I’m especially pleased that due to the incredibly generous sponsorship from Christopher Ward, the British watch company, who passionately believe in supporting emerging talent and challenging established thinking, that the event is FREE ENTRY to everyone.”
The Finalists are:
Artist name Song title
Alex Hedley Possibility
Andy Robbins All out at sea
Ben Corby Fancy supermarkets
Bisola Be yourself
Elisha Green Empty nets
Francesca Luker Eyes
Katey Brooks Call out
Rhys Warriner Half way to heaven
Simon Davies Hear what I say
Zach Johnson New Blockbuster
The winner will be given the opportunity to perform the song on the Festival main stage on Saturday, July 14, be nominated for the Christopher Ward Challenger programme for financial and corporate support, and the song will be professionally recorded and videoed for use by the artist. The winner will also receive promotion and support from the TTMF and its affiliates.
Thame Town Music Festival and Convention 2018 is a free multi-genre, multi-venue, market town centre based free festival aimed at promoting live original music performance from new and established artists. 2018 is its second year and the 2-day festival will be held on 13-14 July 2018 in Thame, Oxfordshire.
TTMF17 saw nine venues host 58 acts with over 200 musicians attract over 8,000 visitors.
Thame Town Music Festival CIC, is a Community Interest Company; a not for profit organization run by unpaid volunteers. It exists to enhance Thame and get live music thriving in our town.
