Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • TAL Festival prepares to be different!

    DESPITE the lockdown, the organisers of Thame’s Arts and Literature festival, TAL, are determined to produce a version of the festival, and are keeping the dates, October 15-18, 2020, open and have already lined up some brilliant authors! 

    Charlie Walker, author of On Roads that Echo, A bicycle journey through Asia and Africa

    “If we can hold a physical TAL Festival this year, it will be a festival to remember!,” said TAL Founder, Yvonne Maxwell.  “If not, the good news is that we’ll try and arrange an alternative way of bringing the festival to life online where we can entertain, inform and hopefully give you some much-needed inspiration.

    “We’ll keep you up to date with how things are going on the TAL website and in future newsletters.” Click HERE to visit the TAL Festival website.

     

  • Claim your Covid 19 grant support

    BUSINESSES across Oxfordshire that are yet to submit their details for grant support in response to COVID-19 should do so as soon as possible, including those who already receive 100 per cent rate relief.

    South Oxfordshire District Council  is working hard to ensure that those who are eligible for support receive their money as quickly as possible by contacting businesses directly to remind them to submit their requests but they do not have contact details for all eligible businesses, so it is vital that you contact them if you have not already heard from them.

    For more information and to confirm your eligibility for a Business Grant please go to southoxon.gov.uk/businessrates

  • Matt Williams leaving Chinnor RFC

    CHINNOR RFC Thame has confirmed that Director of Rugby, Matt Williams, is to leave the Club to take up a new role with London Scottish. 

    Joining the Club in 2014, Matt oversaw the club’s rise from amateur to the semi-professional ranks, achieving promotion to National League One for the first time in 2018. 

    After just two seasons in the third tier of English rugby and as one of the youngest sides in National League One, Chinnor is now firmly tablished  at this level. 

    Simon Vickers, Club Chairman, said: “When Matt told me he had received an approach from London Scottish and a firm offer, I told him that if he was happy with it he should seriously consider taking it. 

    “We have never stood in the way of any of our team moving forwards and this is clearly a career progression. Matt has shown that with his determination and strong vision he can move a side forwards as he has quite clearly done at Chinnor and we thank him for that.

    “I have no doubt he will be slightly sad that he did not fulfil the joint ambition of finishing top of National League One. It is however a testament to what we have achieved at Chinnor that both our players and coaches are able to move up the leagues.  Matt leaves with our blessing – best wishes and thanks. 

    “These are uncertain times for all clubs, but we are already quite well advanced with the search for a replacement director of rugby and we are very enthusiastic about the exciting structure that we have in mind and are confident that when we get the all clear to start up again we will be good to go. 

    “Do make contact if you would like to be part of the next stage of our journey.”

  • Thame Rotarians help raise funds for food banks

    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

  • And in other news…..

    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.

    Typical Zoom meeting screen (for illustrative purposes only)

    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

  • Be part of a new ‘first’ for Thame businesses!

    CAN Thame be the town with the best managed, safest queues in the UK? A Thame company thinks we could, and is building a ‘take a ticket’ App to help businesses manage queues, observing social distancing safely and fairly for everyone. 

    The Tech wizards at Adactus, based in Church, Thame, are currently building SmartQ, which they are aiming to launch at the end of April so that it can be part of the UK emerging safely from lockdown, when the time is right. 

    “We’d like to be the first town to benefit from SmartQ – so we’ll be offering it free to all Thame businesses that have or will have queues of customers to manage,” explained Adactus’s Scott Muncaster.

    The Key features of SmartQ include: – 

    • Customers can ‘take a ticket’ via the app, text or from a staff member at the front of the store – all at a safe distance 
    • Reduces time spent close to people as you wait in your car or stand away from other shoppers – no need to take your place in a physical queue
    • Removes the challenge of neighbouring shop’s queues getting in each other’s way
    • Can be configured for your brand, your messages to customers
    • Managed by the team in-store on any android or apple device 
    • GDPR compliant

    Adactus would love to hear from any Thame businesses who would like to be involved now, or when their business re-opens, to discuss how you can work together.

    Contact:
    Hello@adactus.co.uk 

    www.adactus.co.uk
    O1844 2690



  • New application for land at The Elms in Thame

    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

  • Kerbside collections of small electrical items, textiles & batteries – suspended

    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.

  • Big-hearted Thame supports crowdfunder for Oxford ICU hospital staff

    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.”

     

  • Car park charges dropped during Covid 19 pandemic

    FOLLOWING  the Prime Minister’s announcement on March 23, regarding travel restrictions, South Oxfordshire District Council has suspended all parking charges with immediate effect – this applies to all district council car parks including that behind the Co-op in Thame and the Cattle Market car park. 

    South and Vale have taken this action to support key workers and those who need to shop for essential food or medical supplies during the Coronavirus pandemic.

    All charges are suspended until June 1, and during this time you do not have to display a ticket.  Any outstanding car park permits, recently expired or due to expire, will also be honoured until that date – permit holders therefore do not need to take any action before then.

    Cllr David Rouane, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “This measure is designed to support those who are playing a vital role as we tackle the Coronavirus crisis and assist those who need to run essential errands.  If you are not a key worker or are not in need of essential supplies, then you must follow the government guidance and stay at home.”