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  • Cricket matches to start again in Thame!

    THE long-awaited start to the club Cricket season will commence in Thame this weekend, following government approval. 

    The ECB has confirmed that 11-a-side cricket matches can now be played provided several safety measures are adhered to. Amongst the measures are – ‘hygiene breaks’, which should take place every six overs or every 20 minutes and should include hand sanitisation and the cleaning of the ball; no sweat or saliva is to be applied to the ball at any time; players to remain socially-distanced at all times; batters are to run along distinct running lines to ensure they are not within 2m of the bowler or other batter; players should bring their own food and drink for ‘teas’; water bottles or other refreshment containers should not be shared; spectators should remain socially-distanced at all times and refrain from all contact with the ball e.g. returning it to the field-of-play and spectator groups must be restricted to discrete groups of six people and spread out, in line with wider UK Government guidance. 

    Matt Swain TTCC Chairman said: “The start to the season has been long and eagerly awaited and we are raring to go this weekend with some adult, warm-up games followed by league matches from Saturday, July 18. Thanks to the continued hard work of our ground team over the last three months, the pitch has been well maintained and prepared in readiness for this start-up. 

    “Our games this Saturday are against Aston Rowant (at 1st and 2nd XI level), who we naturally socially-distance ourselves from anyway, and on Sunday, the squads of the 3rd and 4th XIs will play a warm-up match.     

    “I would like to thank our principal sponsors, J Bennett & Son, Field Sales Solutions, Kubota and Farol for their continued support this year during a very difficult time for everyone. Their contribution to this club and in turn our contribution to the community of Thame is hugely valued, and we look forward to welcoming them, our other sponsors, supporters and spectators to the club once again. 

    “The bar will be open to the public from 3pm on Saturday and Sunday, with everyone welcome, provided you adhere to the safety guidance which has been put in place.”

  • Thame’s ground-breaking Green Living Plan is ready!

    PROBABLY the most important document to affect the future of life in Thame, will be presented to Thame Town Council, next Tuesday, June 14, and the public are invited to attend.

    On the agenda for next week’s Town Council Meeting, after almost five years in the making by the RSA Thame Group, the Thame Green Living Plan will be presented to the council for it’s approval.

    So, why a Green Living Plan? 

    Under the heading ‘A way to think globally’, the Green Living Plan website explains:

    “The Earth is undergoing a climate emergency and we need to act now, but with such a big challenge it can be difficult to see where to start or how to get involved. We can make a difference globally if we each strive to improve the environment around us.”

    How local people would be able to get involved

    The Green Living Plan is split into five main focus areas which, when the actual Action Plan can begin, volunteers will be able to engage with the activities they care about most strongly. These are:

    Spaces and Routes
    Energy and Efficiency
    Water and Drainage
    Waste and Reuse
    Air and Environment

    What next?

    If accepted by the town council, the Green Living Plan will the the first of its kind and will inform the revision of the Thame Neighbourhood Plan which is about to get underway.

    Tuesday’s meeting will be held virtually on Zoom, joining from 7:15pm, and members of the public who would like to watch the meeting, can request a personal Zoom link by emailing info@thametowncouncil.gov.uk  

    PLEASE NOTE the joining password will be sent to you after 4pm on July 14, and you must also be on the electoral role to join the meeting.

    Find out more about the Thame Green Living Plan HERE




  • ‘Democracy delayed is democracy denied’ says councillor

    SOUTH Oxfordshire’s Green Party Councillors have condemned Conservative attempts to delay the 2021 local elections.

    Against the backdrop of a forthcoming government White Paper on the future of local government, Oxfordshire County Council’s Conservative leader has proposed that county elections should be delayed until 2022, claiming that this will “support a vibrant local democracy.” (ED. The local elections have already been delayed from May this year, to May 2021)

    Robin Bennett, Green Party Councillor for Berinsfield and South Oxfordshire Green group Chair, said: “Green Party councillors welcome the opportunity to offer proposals to improve local accountability, such as strengthening the role of Neighbourhood Plans in deciding where development should be approved, and ensuring greater democratic oversight of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP), but these discussions should not stand in the way of normal democratic timetables.

    He continued: “Local government reorganisation could offer an opportunity to strengthen local decision-making and put community well-being ahead of the relentless pursuit of economic growth, but this transparent attempt to stifle democracy is not the right way to go about it. Democracy delayed is democracy denied.”

    NB You can view the full Agenda for the OCC meeting on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 HERE

     

  • Latest re-signings for Chinnor RFC

    CHINNOR RFC, based at Kingsey Road, Thame, have completed several resignings to the club this past week.

    Seb Scott (Left), Kieran Goss (centre) and Oscar Heath (right)

    Chinnor started the week with the re-signing of a product of its youth system in Seb Scott. The homegrown winger, who first joined the Club as an Under 13, has become the sixth player to commit for the 2020/21 National League 1 campaign. 

    Scott, who returned to Chinnor last summer following his degree at Bath Spa University, impressed throughout pre-season to earn a spot in the 2019/20 squad. The 23-year-old is still awaiting his first XV league debut, but excelled for the Wildboys as well as producing brilliant performances in the Oxfordshire Cup semi-final and Lauren Cyster Megabowl Trophy.

    The club’s second re-sign is Kieran Goss, a firm favourite with members and supporters. The popular South African will be staying in Thame for a fifth season. 

    A thorn in any side whether playing at full-back or on the wing, Goss originally joined Chinnor on loan in 2015, from Cornish Pirates before making the move permanent for the 2016/17 campaign. A club spokesman said: “The 28-year-old has made quite an impression at Kingsey Road, scoring 38 tries in 111 appearances, and is now looking forward to pulling on a black and white jersey again.”

    And, just today, Chinnor announced the club’s seventh re-signing with Oscar Heath committing to the Club. The talented winger becomes the latest player to agree terms for the 2020/21 season, adding to an already exciting back line. 

    Heath is set for his sixth campaign at Kingsey Road, but injury has limited his game time in recent years. Capable of playing at full-back and as a half-back, he has an impressive record for Chinnor, scoring 26 tries in 31 games.

    For full details of all Chinnor’s re-signings, visit the club’s website HERE

  • Helen’s double challenge!

    LOCAL resident, Helen Johns, set herself a challenge a few weeks ago – to cycle 100 miles on her indoor exercise bike during May and raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society as part of their Cycle for Dementia Challenge. The 100-mile target was far more than she normally cycled.

    Well, she did it! It was 111 miles to be precise, but having achieved this much, she thought she couldn’t leave it there – so she decided to repeat the challenge in June, cycling another 100 miles to raise funds for dementia. By June 30, Helen had cycled a grand total of 213 miles! 

    The Cycle for Dementia campaign is helping the Alzheimer’s Society fund the cost of care for dementia sufferers and fund research for a disease that affects 850,000 in the UK and for which there is currently no cure. It is estimated that 1.6 million people in the UK will suffer from this cruel disease by 2040. 

    Helen has been spurred on by the fantastic donations made by friends, family, and business contacts. An amazing £1,525 has been donated to date! Helen commented: “This is an amazing figure, but if you haven’t made a donation yet, I hope you will support my Cycle for Dementia Challenge and help raise funds for the vital work the Alzheimer’s Society is doing to help dementia sufferers. It’s easy to make a donation by visiting my Just Giving page, and you can continue doing it until July 31. Every donation helps the Alzheimer’s Society continue their important work!’”

    Offline donations can be made by sending a cheque payable to the Alzheimer’s Society c/o 11 Swan Gardens, Tetsworth, Thame OX9 7BN. 

    For more information www.alzheimers.org.uk on 0330 333 0804,  at challenge@alzheimers.org.uk, on facebook.com/alzheimerssocietyuk or on twitter.com/alzheimerssoc.

  • Re-brand for Thame day centre

    THAME and District Day Centre, which has been a well loved and respected part of the Community for the past 34 years, has undergone a rebrand and is now known as Thame Senior Friendship Centre.

    In a statement, the Trustees said: “Thame and District Day Centre has experienced many changes during those 34 years. The most significant change before the current pandemic was the move to the new Cricket Pavilion from Thame Community Hospital. The hospital needed more clinical space and having a larger space for the Charity would provide an opportunity to support a larger number of members.

    “Over the last year after a significant amount of discussion at the Trustees meeting and AGM, it was an opportune moment to look at the name and branding of the centre. When the Day Centre started it was part of Age Concern and since then there have been significant changes in health care in conjunction with the needs and expectations of the elderly community of Thame. Now the centre is an independent Charity it is important to continue to reflect our members’ needs to ensure they continue to live independently. The new name of ‘Thame Senior Friendship Centre’ will help us do this.

    “Unfortunately, as many of you know ,we closed on March  17, due to Covid-19 and unfortunately, we have no date for reopening due to current restrictions. We know that when we do re-open the way in which we operate will change significantly. However, whilst we have been closed, we are in contact with all our members to make sure they are fit and well. The staff, volunteers and trustees have continued to work during the closure to support those isolated within the community and this has also afforded us the time to rebrand, print new leaflets and create a new website which will allow forms to be completed online.

    “Via our website you will see links to join the South Oxfordshire Lottery, donate via Givey and via purchases from Amazon smile. 

    “The aims, and values of the centre are the same as the day it started in 1986. A friendly space in which to socialise is the key to helping tackle one of the biggest challenges as we grow older – loneliness. Thame Senior Friendship Centre provides a welcome to everyone on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and we can arrange transport through volunteers and much more. On arrival, members get a cup of tea or coffee and a chance to catch up with and interact with other members. Some of the members like to chat and do puzzles, jigsaws or some like to play games like indoor curling. At lunchtime members are offered a glass of sherry and a 2 course lunch followed by afternoon entertainment.

    “Providing this key service to our older community cannot exist without the support of the rest of the community in the form of grants, donations, volunteer helpers and drivers and we hope that this will continue for many years to come.”

  • Race Around The World – Chinnor v Powerhouse

    CHINNOR RFC Thame and Powerhouse Performance Club, who work together on the teams’ fitness at Kingsey Road, will be going head-to-head over the next month in a race around the world!

    Starting tomorrow, Chinnor and Powerhouse will use the GPS cycling and running app Strava to see who can cover the circumference of the Earth – 40,075km – first. 

    Chinnor RFC Thame Head of Community, Matt Goode said: “This is a new chapter for the Club and we would like everyone to work together. This is a great way to start a little bit of fitness before the season begins, but to also have fun and enjoy some healthy competition with our friends at Powerhouse. It is a fantastic opportunity to come together as a whole Club without physically being able to at the moment.” 

    Powerhouse Performance Club are based at the rugby club’s Kingsey Road ground, running small group personal training and outdoor bootcamps. 

    Co-founder Daz Oliver, who is also Chinnor’s Head of Strength & Conditioning, said: “I’m very excited about this challenge! Although the rugby club will have more numbers, we have a group of crazy dedicated members who are already excited to get started. It’s a perfect opportunity to get the kids off the computer and to get active as a family. Whether it’s a one-mile walk or 50-mile cycle, it all counts towards the total and everyone is improving their health and fitness along the way.” 

    While Chinnor and Powerhouse will be battling it out for supremacy during July 1-31, prizes will also be awarded for the top performers across the following categories: 

    • Powerhouse Performance Club Members & Staff 
    • Chinnor Minis 
    • Chinnor Juniors & Colts 
    • Chinnor Senior Players 
    • Chinnor Staff, Members & Supporters 

    To sign up, download the Strava app and register. Once you have done that, select ‘Explore’, then ‘Clubs’ and search for either ‘Chinnor RFC Around The World’ or ‘Team Powerhouse Around The World’.

  • Covid 19 forces postponement of Thame Food Festival to 2021

    LIKE most of Thame’s annual events, the Thame Food Festival for 2020, due to have taken place in September, has had to be cancelled due to the Corona virus.

    In a statement, the organisers explained: “Paramount in making the decision has been the safety of all those attending including visitors, stallholders, volunteers and chefs. The appeal of Thame Food Festival is the hustle and bustle which for obvious current social distancing reasons would be impossible to achieve. Plus, there would be significant additional expense to maintain the required cleanliness standards including more frequent cleaning, wash stations, hand sanitizer and extra security to ensure social distancing measures are not being breached. In addition, there is currently limited government guidance on how events of this scale should be managed, or if they should be held at all.

    “This has been a tough decision to make. However, we ultimately have to consider the health and safety of all those that join us. While a number of alternative options have been explored, including potentially holding the event earlier in 2021 it was felt the best solution was to postpone it until September 2021. Hopefully by this time there will be clarity on how events like these can happen. And so while we are extremely disappointed, we will be transferring many of the plans and ideas to next year and look forward to hopefully welcoming everyone then.”

  • Join ‘Thame Against Racism’

    FOLLOWING the wave of demonstrations that began in the USA after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and then spread to almost all corners of the globe, the anti-racism movement has been revived and re-energised here in the UK.

    The call from all those linked to, or supporters of, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign is for an end to systemic racism. Full stop. 

    In the past few months, most of us were leaving our houses on Thursday evenings to clap for front line workers and especially for those on the front line of the NHS. We have become acutely aware, if we hadn’t been before, that 44% of the NHS workforce is from BAME communities – without them the NHS simply could not survive.

    We have also seen the images and statistics on the TV that make it abundantly clear that those NHS employees of BAME heritage have been dying in disproportionately high numbers.

    It is no longer possible for anyone who has seen all this unfolding during the pandemic to deny that immigrants have enriched our society by forming the backbone of the NHS, a national jewel of which we are all, almost universally, so proud.

    If anyone doubts that systemic racism still exists in the UK, they only need to watch the BBC dramatisation of one of the Windrush generation, Anthony Bryan and his nightmare experiences at the hands of the Home Office (‘Sitting in Limbo’ – BBC 1 – Monday June 8, at 20.30 – still available on iplayer). Despite Theresa May delivering an apology to the victims of her ‘Hostile Environment’ in 2018 (with promises of compensation) and 12,000 people having finally been given documents proving their right to live in the UK, only 60 claims for compensation had been settled by May 2020.

    Anyone interested in joining the anti-racist movement in this area can check the Facebook page of  ‘Thame Against Racism‘ (TAR).

    TAR is holding a “Fourth of July Mass Micro Protest” this Saturday July 4. Groups of six, socially-distanced protesters will take the knee all over Thame, simultaneously at 11.00. Meet near the Citizens Advice centre from 10.30, to be dispatched in your groups. ALL WELCOME!

  • Prize to transform the future

    A brand-new initiative in the form of a competition has been launched to help make lives and landscapes greener, healthier, more beautiful and wilder.

    A prize to Transform the Future (www.prizetotransformthefuture.org) is calling for optimists to help visualise a hopeful and possible future for the London City Region, which includes the Chilterns.

    The Coronavirus pandemic is changing the way our country looks and feels. Our communities and neighbourhoods look different now, resurgent community spirit offers hope for a different way forward.  Symbols of shared support for our NHS have presented in rainbows in windows, more people are accessing their local green spaces and ideas are bubbling across the country to use this crisis as an opportunity to make life better. 

    That’s why the Chilterns Conservation Board has come together with National Parks, other Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), the London National Park City, Culture Declares Emergency and Ordnance Survey to launch the Prize to Transform the Future. 

    The Prize is a bold and exciting opportunity for optimists to help visualise a hopeful and possible future for the London City Region by sharing ideas to make our lives and landscapes greener, healthier, more beautiful and wilder.

    What might the London City Region look like 20 years from now? Now imagine what it could and should look like. What if it was radically greener, healthier, wilder and more beautiful? What would it look like? What would it be like?

    The Prize to Transform the Future is a call to artists, architects, cartographers, imagineers, optimists, realists, landscape architects, master planners, conservationists, graphic designers, farmers, film-makers, ecologists, illustrators, geographers, students, politicians, professionals, writers, modellers, pensioners, weavers, idealists and bankers. In fact, it’s for anyone and everyone.

    Dan Raven-Ellison, founder of the London National Park City, said “I hope lots of people will be inspired to rise to this challenge. This may not be a financial prize, but the potential reward is something much greater, deeper and longer lasting than that. We are currently facing a number of urgent wake-up calls. Our health, our ecology and our climate are all entwined in states of emergency that threaten our lives and livelihoods. We need bold and positive visions that we can get behind to restore our futures and make life better for ourselves and future generations.”

    Dr Elaine King, Chief Executive Officer at the Chilterns Conservation Board said: “We’re living through unprecedented times and the need for access to greener and wilder spaces for our health and well-being has never been greater.  The Prize couldn’t have come at a more pivotal moment and we hope that people will be encouraged to think about how a greener, healthier London City region might look.” 

    Discover more about the Prize to Transform the Future, including how to enter by visiting www.prizetotransformthefuture.org  and join the conversation at #PrizeToTransformTheFuture