Category: More News

YOUR nominations are needed for the tenth Thame Town Awards. There are people all around Thame who help their neighbours, support local groups or go out of their way for others to make our community a safer, more vibrant and happier place to live. In

The Town Awards scheme has been recognising and celebrating those
exceptional people in our community for ten years and each year, members of the public are invited to nominate their local unsung heroes for a town award.

Nominations are needed this year for individuals and groups who have made a special contribution to life in Thame. This could be a volunteer, a teacher, a shop assistant, a friend, a teammate, a doctor, a committee member – the list is endless!

This year there are five categories in which you can make a nomination:
Sporting Achievement (sponsored by Thame Leisure Centre)
Do you know someone who deserves a gold medal for their commitment to a sports club in Thame? Perhaps a player or team who excels in their sport or someone who goes above and beyond to support their team from the side-lines.

Volunteer of the Year (sponsored by Thame Freight Services)
Thame thrives on those individuals and organisations who selflessly give their time to help others in our community. From event organisers and fundraisers to friendly neighbours and volunteers, there are plenty to choose from but who do you think deserves to be awarded Volunteer of the Year?

Lifetime Achievement (sponsored by the Town Awards Panel)
This award is for those in our community who have made a significant contribution to Thame over an extended period of time. A friendly face who is always supporting
community events and local causes, or perhaps someone who has provided many years’ service to an organisation or business in our community. This award There are so many individuals and businesses who consistently provide a friendly service in Thame, but who do you know that should be recognised for it? We’re not just
looking for shop assistants – we also want to hear about opticians, carers, cleaners and doctors, to name but a few!

Creative Arts Achievement (sponsored by Towersey Festival)
A person of any age who excels in the creative arts or contributes to the creativity of our town. This award covers a wide range of people – from the star of the show to the behind-the-scenes team and everyone in between.

To date, the Town Awards panel has awarded 54 Town Awards to local people. One of last year’s winners, Ian Blyth, was delighted with his Sporting Achievement award: “I was shocked and surprised that I had been nominated to receive the 2017 Sporting Achievement Award. The nomination made me feel very proud that I had been recognised for all my hard work with Thame Swimming Club. I was not expecting to receive the award. The Town Awards event was well organised and held in a friendly and warm atmosphere which made the evening thoroughly enjoyable for all the award recipients.”

Marking a nomination could not be easier. visit: www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk and complete the online form, or pop in to the Town Hall Information Centre and pick up a nomination form. Be sure to follow the Town Awards Facebook page ‘Thame Town Awards’ and on Twitter #ThameAwards to be one of the first to find out who has won a Town Award this year. The nomination period starts today (February 26) until 5pm on Thursday, March 29, 2018.
Please visit  www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk for terms and conditions.

THE Upward Bound Trust, the charity gliding club based at Haddenham, is being forced off of its airfield at short notice, by the landowner. The charity  now finds itself looking for a new home in the area so that it can continue to teach young people to fly.

Thomas Heidcamp, whose son Oliver is learning to fly with the Trust, explained the situation to Thame.net. “We were told last week that we need to vacate the airfield on April 5. We had thought that we would be able to stay for another year, so this is a pressing matter for the UBT.”

The Upward Bound Trust, a registered charity, has been teaching young people to fly since 1965 and over the last 53 years, many of its young students have gone on to professional aviation careers or had a lifetime of thrills in aviation sports.

“All of the young people have gained self-confidence from their achievements,” continued Thomas. “We are entirely run by volunteers.  Adult members pay a commercial rate to fly, which funds the heavily subsidised training for our students.

“We knew there might be trouble when the landowner planted rows of three-meter-high trees on our airfield approach last week. At a subsequent meeting, they told us that they have rented out our airstrip to a farmer, who will put the plough to our strip at the end of March.

“The landowner will help us with relocation costs, but because of the short notice, we do not have a new home to go to. We are looking for a suitable field, or existing farm airstrip in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire. We need a (reasonably) flat field of 1000m x 100m. We can pay agricultural rates for the fields and commercial rates for our small hanger.

“Perhaps someone among your readers might be aware of farm airstrips and aviation-friendly farmers. Our small operation would enhance any small airstrip, offering maintenance, grass cutting and skilled volunteers to help with ground operations.

“We are a weekend only operation, winch launch club with 25 active members, so noise and disruption are minimal for the surrounding area,” concluded Thomas.

Do you know someone who owns a suitable piece of land, or an existing farm airstrip that could be extended to suit the Upward Bound Trust? Please contact Thomas Heidkamp on 07960496806 or THOMAS@SIMPLE-KITCHENS.CO.UK if you can help.

THIS year’s Artsweek at John Hampden School took pupils on a Fantastic Voyage, with the theme, It’s a Small World, inspired by an ant’s eye view of life!

With the school’s very own supersized ant called Dec, the school hall was transformed into a giant garden to help him feel at home, with monumental grass and mammoth flowers. Huge bugs populated the skies, with massive garden debris filling the land. The Year Six children had that shrinking feeling, and could be seen ducking between the colossal obstacles and riding the huge bugs in true ’Honey I shrunk The Kids’ Style.

A range of artistic activities enabled the growing transformation, including larger than life ladybird biscuits, buzzing big bottle bugs, creative clay and plasticine scaled up sculptures, spectacular stained glass insects, beautiful colour mixing butterflies, soft toy sewn bugs and butterflies, as well as the enduring favourites of painting, drawing and junk modelling all things supersized. The children also carried the theme on in class with a cross curricular week inspired by that shrinking feeling.

Friday’s dress-up day saw the school and its inhabitants metamorphosis into the Ugly Bug Ball, with an array of ants, a score of scary spiders, a bunch of beautiful butterflies, some big beetles, lots of large ladybirds, a swarm of buzzing bees and a gaggle of great grasshoppers!

Jackie Nichols, Arts Coordinator at the school, explained: “As always John Hampden has seen an art army of parents, grandparents, governors, carers, artists, teachers and teaching assistants, old and new, and volunteers to support the children in their massive artwork, with a multitude of helpers (nearly 60!), who came to help bring our ideas to life!

“The John Hampden PTFA provided the means to fund the week, with a generous donation which enabled the school to provide a multitude of artistic experiences and resources for the children to enjoy! The staff also set the children a challenge in the Artsweek Quiz, where pupils had to match a Small World creation to the right staff member who made it, in the ‘Whose Small World Is This?’ competition, complete with an arty prize for the winning entries!

“Well done as well to Niamh Whitworth and William Franklin for being the crowned winners of the Artsweek shield for their participation this year.

Jackie concluded: “At the end of the week JHS friends and family were pre-shrunk to enable them to enter our gigantic, glorious garden of art at the Friday Artsweek Fair-Trade Café finale.

Honey we shrunk the kids, made friends with big bugs and hid within our giant garden, but all will be returned to normal size over half term at JHS, and we will enjoy our hall in the weeks to come as a reminder of our supersized mini adventure!”

A SHOCKING news story has emerged involving Thame-born YouTube superstar, Gavin Free, and his girl friend, Meg Turney. According to the Albuquerque Journal, based in the United States where Gavin now lives, the couple hid in a wardrobe, calling 911 while a man searched through their home in Austin, Texas, armed with a gun and firing at least one round inside the house.

Less than 10 minutes later, that man was dead in the driveway, apparently by his own hand. But, thankfully, according to the report, Gavin and Meg had not been harmed. The man, according to police quoted in the report, had ‘developed a fondness’ for Meg Turney, and had made notes of violent thoughts about Gavin Free.

Gavin was brought up in Thame, and was a pupil at Lord Williams’s School in the town. He has made a name for himself producing ‘science and Technology entertainment’ YouTube videos made with high-speed cinema cameras, with his friend Daniel Charles Gruchy, also from Thame.

Their YouTube channel has over 10 million subscribers and over one billion video views.

You can read the whole story published by the Albuquerque Journal, HERE

IN case you haven’t yet heard about the wonderful Forget Me Knot Café, it is a Monday morning café to provide information, peer support and fun activities aimed at helping with co-ordination, brain stimulation, and general health and wellbeing for people suffering with dementia, mental health issues, old age or isolation.

Co-ordinator, Michele Pethers says: “Everybody is welcome – come along with your carer, we would love to meet you! We meet twice monthly 10.30 – 12.30pm at the Chinnor Village Centre.  You will be welcomed with a cup of tea and biscuit. We start with fun seated exercises, followed by our visiting expert. At the end of the session, we play parachute games, juggling, throwing balls, flat football, floor netball, finishing the session with a poem, lyrical or a reading.”

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2018

19 Feb      Visiting Museum Hands on Heritage
19 March  Music Dance Song Heddi – Kiddledivy
16 April     Spring Tea Dance Ian Engish and Co
30 April    Music & Comedy Adrian Broadway
14 May      Music & Entertainment Jinglers Band
11 June     Folk Dancing & Singing Black Dog Band
25 June    Singing and Guitars Julia Hollander and Roddie
9 July       Singing and Dance Village Voices
23 July     Music and Singing Banjovi Revival
06 Aug     Music and Song Doroth Howlett – Music for Health
20 Aug     Singing & Guitar Andrea Yates
03 Sept    Music and Singing Chiltern Songbirds
17 Sept     Music Therapy Ellie Ruddock ChilternMusicTherapy
01 Oct      Music Singing Black Dog Band
15 Oct      Drumming Fun African Marimbas
29 Oct     Autumn Tea Dance Ian English & Co
12 Nov     Music Therapy Frances Vovillo ChilternMusicTherapy
26 Nov    Warm up to Xmas Heddi – Kiddledivy
10 Dec     Christmas Carols Mill Lane School Choir

For further information contact Michele on 01844 353154/07779732097 or at info@holisticmassageuk.co.uk or Val on 01844 352254 or at valerie.edwards2053@btinternet.com And follow on the facebook page:  www.facebook.com/forgetmeknotcafe

Future Electric Charging Points in Thame High Street? – THAME Town Council has been looking at details of a Government announcement about funding to provide electric charging points on High Streets. However, it has become apparent that getting the funding isn’t as straightforward, as a lot of changes would have to be made to the layout of parking bays, which would need to be carried out with Oxfordshire County Council as the Highways authority, and with the district council; a possible facility to be included in a future ‘Green Plan’ being worked on by the Thame Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee.

Currently, the nearest charging point for electric vehicles is at Haddenham and Thame Parkway Station.

Cricket Club Neighbour’s Meeting – NEIGHBOURS, businesses and community groups whose properties adjoin Thame cricket club are being invited to attend a meeting at The Barns Centre, for an update on how work on the new pavillion and facilities there is progressing. Representatives from the project management team, the construction company, the cricket club and the town council will be in attendance on Tuesday, February 13, from 4pm-5pm, to answer and questions.

Do you have a burning question for the Police? -REPRESENTATIVES from Thames Valley Police will be attending a full, Thame Town Council meeting at 6:30pm on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, to give an update on policing in Thame. Questions will be allowed by both by Councillors and anyone else who attends.

Thame’s Kebab Van needs your vote again! – For the second year running, Atalay’s Kebab Van has been shortlisted in the ‘Kebab Van of the Year’ category at the sixth British Kebab Awards. Your vote is needed to help Thame’s Kebab Van retain it’s crown as the best Kebab Van in Britain! Go to the facebook page and vote now! https://www.facebook.com/Atalayskebabsthame/

Prayer Week in the town centre – THE seven churches in Thame have united to organise a Prayer Week in the town, to run from 13-20 May, 2018. Planning permission for a yellow portocabin-type accommodation unit to be sited in Montesson Square for people to use for prayer throughout the week has been submitted to the District Council.