A THAME Travel Agent has returned from Thailand with a message from the people of Phuket who were badly hit by the Boxing Day tsunami.
?Please, please come back to visit us. Yes, some of us were badly affected by the disaster but we are not sad. Our lives go on and we must make a living.?
Bryony Hordern, of Tickets Anywhere, was among a group of Travel Agents invited by the Thai Tourist Office to see for themselves that, contrary to popular belief, only a couple of places in Thailand were affected but the majority of resorts were not, and that the country desperately needs tourists to come back to their country which is open for normal business.
Bryony told Thame.Net: ?Talking to people out there, I was made aware that they are very proud and even those who lost people are not sad because they are Buddhists and believe that the spirit lives on.
? In the areas that were effected, many of the beaches are better than they were because all the rubbish was washed away, and people who are waiters etc, have become builders and set about repairing much of the damage.
?There is no social security in these places and so they desperately need the tourists to go back.
?Not going back to Thailand because of the damage to a few places, is like not going to Cornwall because of the flooding in Boscastle,? she added.
Bryony pointed out that there are some fantastically good holiday deals around at the moment for such places as Thailand and Sri Lanka and urged people to consider these destinations for themselves.
Blog
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‘Please Come Back’ Say Tsunami Victims
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District Council Leaders Accused
LIBERAL Democrat District Councillors have accused the Tory Leadership of South Oxfordshire District Council of ?raiding the Community Investment Fund to plug a hole in its staff pension fund?.
The decision to use CIF funds to finance a -
Reassurances Over Hospital Closure Fears
FOLLOWING fears for the future of Thame Community Hospital, expressed by trustees of the Day Centre yesterday, the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust have admitted that they should keep their stakeholders better informed and sort today to allay some of those fears.
Colin Foster, Director of Finance for the PCT, contacted ThameNews.Net today and said the following:
?We are working on a Business case for the development of the hospital which will have to be approved by the Strategic Health Authority. We are working very closely with the doctors on the site and trying to look at the needs of the Thame locality and how we can meet those needs and not just looking to bolt a few more beds on.
?Unfortunately this is taking a bit longer than anticipated but we are now dedicating resources to the plan and hope to have it ready by May this year.
?When we did our original Option Appraisal, one option was to find another site for the hospital but now we are concentrating on looking at other possibilities to better utilise the site. For instance, there are bits of building behind the hospital used for storage, kitchen etc, where we could perhaps provide another building without knocking down the existing hospital.
Mr Foster said that as well as looking at the possibility of rooms for the GPs, currently at the Health Centre, to use, the provision of a minor injuries unit is also a possibility.
He added: ?If we want to invest in the building we will have to get the money from somewhere; some charitable money is available but not enough and that is why we have to make a good business case to the Health Authority who have the money and the power.?
He concluded: ?Everything we are looking at, at the moment will preserve those elements already there at Thame Hospital, or add something new; we are not intending to diminish it in anyway.?Sarah Taylor, Chair of the Hospital League of Friends, told ThameNews today that she was of the opinion that because of the PCTs undertaking, under the Stoke Mandeville PFI, to open more community beds, Thame Hospital is in a very strong position.
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Site For New Care Home Much Closer
PLANNING permission for a replacement residential care home for Thame’s elderly, should be granted within the next couple of months, according to the Care Trust that owns Meadowcroft.
Dawn Matthews-Smith, spokesperson for The Order of St John Care Trust, which owns the Meadowcroft Care Home for the elderly, told ThameNews today that final negotiations for the strongest of two possible development sites within Thame, are almost complete.
The new home, which will provide nursing care, as well as residential care, is expected to be built and fully operational by October, 2006, according to Ms Matthews-Smith.
Meadowcroft itself, currently in Towersey Road, Thame, will have to close by 2007, because it does not meet new regulations for such homes with regard to room size, en suite facilities and other requirements.
The Care Trust say that the money for the muli-million pound new home is in place.
It is known that one of the sites considered for a new care home, was the old Rycotewood College site. -
CORRECTION
THAME Tourist Information Centre will close in April 2006, and not 2005 as reported on Friday, February 25.
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Fears For Thame Hospital
STAKEHOLDERS in Thame?s Community hospital are fearful about its future.
The Chair of the hospital?s Day Centre Trust, Brenda Prosser, says that she and other users of the hospital have been ?kept in the dark? and not consulted about the hospital?s future, since work to build an extension to increase the number of beds did not materialise as planned last March.
Two years ago, the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust, which runs the hospital, decided to close its top floor for fire and safety reasons which reduced the number of beds from 24 to 11.
Ms Prosser told ThameNews.Net that at a meeting last May, the PCT said that they were looking at other options for the site, including building a new health centre and a replacement for Meadowcroft, Thame?s residential home for the elderly in Towersey Road.
?That proposal has apparently now gone by the board,? said Ms Prosser.
Since then, the Day Centre Trust has received a letter from the Director of Finance for the PCT, which stated: ??there is a high level of commitment from the PCT Board to developing Thame Hospital. The PCT believes the expansion to 24 beds in Thame is in line with strategy as set out in ?Shaping Health Services? and capacity requirements arising from the Stoke Mandeville PFI (Private Finance Initiative). ?HOWEVER (Ed.?s emphasis), this development is still subject to approval by Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority and affordability of plans will be a key consideration.?
?In other words,? said Ms Prosser, ?the money may not be there.
?If the Health Authority doesn?t approve, it?s hard to see how economically viable the hospital will be with only 11 beds!
?If the hospital is closed, where will the Day Centre Go? Where will the respite team go, and the Physiotherapy service, the mental health service and the Speech Thereapy?
?The Day Centre and hospital mean so much to this town; it really is invaluable for the respite care it offers and whilst everything is up in the air and nothing assured, we will feel insecure and anxious until we know exactly what is happening. The answers we have been given to our letters and questions are not good enough. This work should have started 12 months ago and I would like to know where that money has gone. This is a very valuable site, including the extension which was built in 1983 after a big drive, by public contributions.?
Neither Colin Foster nor Shaun Brogan was available for comment today. -
Kick Boxing and Karate Lessons
NEW beginners’ classes for adults and children (including “Mighty Matt’s” class for 3-6 year olds) are starting at Haddenham Community Junior School. Call 0800 0354 660 for details and bookings.
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Thame To Lose Its Tourist Information Centre
THAME’S Tourist Information Centre is to lose its funding from South Oxfordshire District Council from April 2006.
The almost certain closure of the centre will be part of the council’s plans to invest an extra -
Thame Stores Remove Contaminated Products
FOLLOWING the disruption in the food industry due to the discovery in some prepared foods of a dangerous food additive, stores in Thame have removed over 400 items, including frozen pizzas and the popular student dish, pot noodle.
The culprit, Sudan 1, is a dye used in waxes, solvents, petrol, oils and polishes and has been banned for use in edible products since it was linked to causing cancer. Today, the Food Standards Agency announced that shops, restaurants and food companies had until noon today to identify all products containing Sudan and to begin removing them. Companies that did not meet the deadline could face prosecution. Schools and hospitals have also been affected.
When Thame Co-op was approached and asked how the crisis was effecting them, they issued the following statement:”Co-op own braqnd products are affected and product recalls have taken place and are publicised in stores. We are also inviting customers to bring back any affected products they may have at home for a full refund.”
A spokesperson for Waitrose said: “Although the FSA has confirmed that there is no immediate risk to health, as a precautionary measure we have removed some products from sale. In the interests of customer safety we are working very closely with the FSA, our suppliers and trade associations.”
The alert was sparked when a consignment of a well-known brand of Worcester Sauce, made by Premier Foods, was found to contain chilli powder contaminated with the banned dye.
A full list of all the products affected is available on the Waitrose website:
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