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  • Fake Government grants fraud alert

    INDIVIDUALS and businesses are being warned to watch out for cold calls and online contact from fraudsters who are offering victims the opportunity to apply for Government grants for an advance fee.

     

    To make the grants look legitimate fraudsters have set up bogus companies and convincing looking websites that claim to be operating on behalf of the UK Government.

    Fraudsters cold call businesses and individuals offering the grant and if they’re interested direct them to fill out an online application form with their personal information.
    Once the fraudsters have that information they’ll contact back victims and congratulate them on being accepted onto the grant programme.

    Pre-paid credit cards

    Applicants are then asked to provide identification and are instructed to get a pre-paid credit card to deposit their own contribution to the fake Government grant scheme. Fraudsters will then contact victims on the phone or are emailed and asked for the details of their pre-paid credit card and copies of statements to in order for them to add the grant funds.

    Of course the grant funds are never given by the fraudsters and the money that’s been loaded by the victim onto the card is stolen.

    If you receive one of these calls, hang up immediately and report it to us. We’ve already taken down one website fraudsters have been using to commit this fraud and are working with Companies House to combat this issue.

    How to protect yourself

    Be wary of unsolicited callers implying that you can apply for grants. You should never have to pay to receive a government grant, and they definitely won’t instruct you to obtain a pre-paid credit card. The government should have all the information they need if a genuine grant application was submitted, therefore any requests for personal or banking information either over the phone or online should be refused.

    What to do if you’re a victim

    If you think your bank or personal details have been compromised or if you believe you have been defrauded contact your bank immediately.
    Stop all communication with the ‘agency’ but make a note of their details and report it to Action Fraud.
    If you have been affected by this, or any other type of fraud, report it to Action Fraud by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

    The information contained within this alert is based on information from gathered by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). The purpose of this alert is to increase awareness of this type of fraud. The alert is aimed at members of the public, local police forces, businesses and governmental agencies.

  • Lucky tenants for new social homes near Thame

    THE first residents of four new social homes in Great Haseley, near Thame, could be moving in for Christmas. (more…)

  • Thame groups benefit from Music In the Park grants

    THE team behind Thame’s annual Music in the Park, has recently awarded grants to two local organisations. Barley Hill Church received a grant of £250 to help fund Thame’s Christmas Eve “Carols Around the Tree” event, and Thame Concert Band was awarded a grant of £300 to help it boost recruitment and purchase new music.

    Cheques were presented to both organisations by Chris Fram, Chair of Music in the Park’s organising committee.

    Michael Lindsay of Barley Hill Church said: “We work with other groups such as Thame Concert Band to organise Carols Around the Tree on Christmas Eve, which, every year brings pleasure to some 500 – 600 Thame residents. This grant will help us provide everyone with a glass of mulled wine to help warm them up.”

    Marie Bradley, Chair of Thame Concert Band, said: “Thame Concert Band is a community-based wind band which has been a vital part of the local music scene for twenty-five years. We welcome musicians of all ages, from school children to very senior citizens, and of all abilities. This grant will help us increase our recruitment activities and buy some new music.”

    Plans for Music in the Park 2018 are well underway and local organisations that meet the criteria will once again be able to apply for grants.

    Grants to local organisations

    Music in the Park initially directed proceeds from its event to improving the facilities in Elms Park, where the event takes place. Music in the Park contributed to lighting along the path through the park and bought a commemorative bench to help people sit and enjoy the park. In 2016, Music in the Park announced it would also award a limited number of grants to local organisations that have a clear link to Thame or the surrounding area and meet Music in the Park’s key objective of assisting in the provision of facilities in the Thame area in the interests of art, music or recreation, or other leisure time occupation of individuals or organisations that live or operate in the Thame area.

    To keep up-to-date with news of Music in the Park 2018, visit the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MusicInTheParkThame or website: www.musicinthepark.org.uk

  • Chinnor keep cool heads in freezing conditions to beat Bury

    IT took cool heads in freezing conditions to see off the challenge of free flowing Bury St Edmunds on Saturday, but despite being outscored five tries to six, Chinnor RFC secured their 13th win of the campaign.

    For the second week in a row Chinnor got on the score sheet early with an impeccable lineout catch and drive. Jack Gilding emerged from the pile to claim the points on eight minutes. Then Bury struck back with a speculative grubber causing confusion on the Chinnor line allowing the Suffolk side in at the corner flag which on the advice of the touch judge was upgraded to a penalty try with a yellow card issued to Jamel Hamilton for ‘playing the player without the ball’.

    Chinnor’s 14 men regrouped and struck back with Jack Ramshaw powering over to give Chinnor a 5-12 lead. Bury had a simple game plan – to hit the wide man Corcoran and let him run! It was a tactic that Chinnor failed to deal with effectively all afternoon. On 27 mins it paid dividends again with the pacey winger running in for the first of his hat-trick.

    Chinnor’s scrum dominance strangely went unrewarded by the officials for the full 80 mins. However, they stayed focused and George Oliver duly finished of an excellent series of phase play to give Chinnor a half time lead 12-19

    The first score after the break was going to set the scene for the rest of the game. Chinnor, comfortable in possession, gifted an intercept to the home side to allow Corcoran to touch down on on 41 mins and the conversion levelled the scores. It was game on!. Jonny Bentley then edged the visitors ahead with a coolly slotted penalty. A Beales try then swung the pendulum back towards Bury.

    There followed an exhibition of running rugby from both sides which was appreciated by the packed Haberden crowd. Henry Lamont cut through the Suffolk sides defence to score and was shortly followed by a superb length of the field run by Kieran Goss which set up Al Gliksten to dive over. These, in true form, were answered by two tries out wide again by the Bury pace men which made the scores level 34-34 with 10 minutes left to play.

    Chinnor then showed their class in front of the raucous home crowd by working their way up the pitch and earn a penalty 25m out to the sides of the posts. Replacement Bertie Hopkin stepped up to slot the winning points. With five minutes left to play Bury threw everything at the Chinnor line but it was in vain as after several phases of text book defending Bury St Edmunds infringed and Bertie Hopkin put the ball in touch to seal the five points.

    This was a great game for the neutral and the packed Haberden stand helped their side to a deserved two points. Chinnor made life difficult for themselves but it was job done! Five points in the bag and on to Canterbury at home next week.

    SOURCE: Contributed

  • Thame news shorts

    WITH the exception of John Hampden Primary School, all the other schools in Thame were closed today because of the wintry conditions, so many children were able to enjoy a second ‘snow day’,  just like these youngsters enjoying one of the few slopes on Sunday, in Thame, near Lord Williams’s Upper School. (more…)

  • Top chef’s sister admits attacking their mother in Thame

    THE sister of Heston Blumenthal, who lives in Park Street, Thame, has admitted to Oxford Magistrates that she attacked their mother, Celia, aged 76, in East Street, Thame.

    Alexis Blumenthal (Image Courtesy of thisisoxfordshire.co.uk)

    According the the Mail Online, the court heard how a witness, Mrs Lambert, who lives in Thame, reported hearing the defendant, scream: “You f*****g b***h; I’m going to kill you!” before going out onto the street and calling the police, at which point the altercation stopped and the younger woman left the scene.

    It was revealed that Alexis Blumenthal, who had a problem with drink, had on one occasion, grabbed hold of her mother’s hair, repeatedly punched her and almost caused her mother to fall down the stairs, at the older woman’s home in Watlington. In the second attack in Thame, Alexis ‘slammed’ her mother’s head against a car.

    Alexis was originally charged last October, with two counts of assault by beating on October 7 and September 9, but failed to show up for the court hearing.

    The case has been adjourned for sentencing until January 11, and in the meantime, Alexis Blumenthal’s Bail conditions mean that she cannot contact her mother or call at her house unless accompanied by a police officer with the purpose to collect her own belongings from the property.

  • Onwards and Upwards for Thame Young Entrepreneur

    THOMAS Wylam, who is in his final-year at school, has completed a productive year developing his business idea, Cupcycl, after winning first prize in the Small Business Saturday Young Entrepreneurs Competition, held in Thame last December.

    The competition, which was sponsored by CarmichaelUK, a specialist civil engineering and construction recruitment company headquartered in Thame, was open to young entrepreneurs under the age of 30 who had a great business idea and were based in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire.

    Thomas’s big idea

    Over 8 million paper cups are disposed of every day, but they aren’t made from easily recyclable materials and take 30 years to rot down in landfill sites. Cupcycl is a waste management project that aims to reduce the number of throwaway cups being disposed of via landfill by providing the infrastructure for throwaway cups to be properly recycled and turned into new goods.

    The scheme will operate by providing collection points in local coffee shops and cafes. Consumers leave a coffee shop with their drink and once done consuming their beverage, drop the empty cup into the nearest collection point as they walk past. Thomas then empties each collection point once a week and once packaged and the different materials segregated, he ships these to a recently launched scheme, Cupcycling , run by James Cropper PLC who use the materials to manufacture some of the world’s most distinctive and technically advanced paper products.

    How Cupcycl will makes money

    CupCycl is a non-profit enterprise. The revenue comes from local business who pay a membership fee that covers Cupcycl’s fixed costs (the collection point, labour, marketing, waste couriers license) and a small fee per cup recycled through their collection point. Included in the budget is a minimum wage of £5.60 for Thomas himself, or someone else to collect the cups from the coffee shop/cafe.

    On completing his first year, Thomas, who attends Princess Risborough Upper School, said: “Thame’s Young Entrepreneur Competition gave me the opportunity to take an idea and run with it. It’s fantastic to have gone through this process and get to where I am now, with a project that brings something unique to the local area.

    “Thanks to the event sponsor, CarmichaelUK, the prize included not only the financial means to start up CupCycl, but also 12 months of mentoring. This helped me develop my scheme so that I could exhibit at Thame Food Festival, where I recycled the cups of over 1,200 visitors to my stand. I’m delighted with the interest I’ve had from other local event organisers, who may run this scheme at their events.”

    Collection points in Thame

    “The goal for 2018 is to install collection points in Thame so that coffee shop customers can dispose of their cups and ensure that they get recycled, rather than go to landfill. Currently, even cups put in recycling bins end up being picked out as contaminants and put into landfill, because recycling authorities don’t have facilities to separate the wax coating that waterproofs paper cups.”

    Owen Mendez, Commercial Director of CarmichaelUK, the competition sponsors, said: “It’s great to be able to support innovation and encourage entrepreneurship in the next generation of business people.”

    Thomas also drew praise from his three mentors, who gave their time free of charge – Jackie Jarvis, business and sales coach; Sarah Fletcher of social media experts, Mushroom Souffle and Jemima King of Richardson’s Chartered Accountants.

    L to R – Sarah Fletcher, Thomas Wylam, Jemima King, Jackie Jarvis and Owen Mendez

    Jackie said: “Thomas is really impressive, incredibly well-organised, and has a good business head on his shoulders. He took on board everything I told him about opening up opportunities, participated in my natural stress-free selling programme, and appreciated the value of tips from my book Quick Wins in Sales and Marketing.”

    Sarah too was impressed with Thomas. She said: “Thomas attended one of my Facebook workshops and attended a private mentoring session. It was great to see him absorb information and come up with ideas for social media and how he could implement them. I’m looking forward to seeing his business progress and becoming a great success.”

    Jemima said: “We discussed business planning, including the importance of budgeting and the implications of different business structures. We were impressed with Tom’s enthusiasm and commitment to running a business while completing his A-Level exams.”

    The Young Entrepreneurs Competition has taken a break this year, but it’s intended to run it again in 2018. Sponsors are being sought and if any businesses in the local area are interested, they should contact Helen Johns at helen.johns39@gmail.com or on 0771 743 4983.

  • Sad news for Thame Sinaia Friendship Association

    MEMBERS of the Thame and Sinaia Friendship Association were sad to learn of the death of King Michael of Romania who has passed away at the age of 96.

    The late King Michael of Romania

    Marius Ciortan, the founder and Chair of the TSFG, who is himself from Romania, told Thame.net: “For me, King Michael was a symbol, a great personality and a great believer in Romania restoring its democratic values and the rule of law. He defied both the brutal fascist and communist dictatorships which succeeded in Romania in the 20th Century. He was in fact, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth ll.

    “I remember His Majesty visiting Bucharest in 1992, and myself – in my early ’20s at that time – being among hundreds of thousands of people waving at him hoping that one day His Majesty would regain his throne, should the will of the people say so.”

    Vlad Oprea, the Mayor of Sinaia, who has visited Thame, wrote the following in the condolences book at Peles Castle December 6: “For me, as a resident of Sinaia, it was a great honour to meet in person His Majesty, King Michael of Romania, for the first time here at Peles Castle in June 2008.”

    Marius recalled that during Sinaia’s Christmas Lights switch on in the evening of December 6, Vlad Oprea said: “His Majesty, King Michael is joining in Heaven those other personalities who watch over our town where they were born.”

    Crown Princess Margareta’s words expressed the feelings of the Romanian people: “….A personal loss as well as a loss for the entire Nation. We mourn together, knowing that we are united in our sorrow. An example of unwavering devotion to his people, with a high sense of duty and strong principles, he wrote the most valuable page in the contemporary history of our nation. His kindness and compassion defeated all villainy of the past century. His wisdom insured the constancy of our identity, in times of serious deviation from the natural path of our State and Nation.”

    You can read the Princess’s full statement here: LINK

    You can read about the life of King Michael of Romania via the BBC: LINK

  • It’s On! Date announced for Thame Music Festival 2018

    YES! Following last year’s fantastic, free, inaugural event, the Thame Town Music Festival will return on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (more…)

  • Thame Community Lunch for those alone this Christmas

    THERE’S no reason why anyone should be alone this Christmas because, for the sixth year running, Community Christmas Thame aims to provide a lunch on Christmas Day for the isolated and vulnerable elderly of the Thame area.

    Two of the Thame Community Lunch volunteers from 2017

    Previously, the events have been hosted in the The Birdcage pub, in Thame, but due to increasing demand, Founder, Kathy Thomas, has had to find a larger location so this year’s event will be held at the Masonic Hall, in Thame.

    Kathy said: “We must also say a massive thanks to Sainsburys and the Thame Welfare Trust for supporting us these last couple of years. Without them, we would not have been able to provide this event.”

    On Christmas Eve, Kathy and her band of volunteers we will be preparing the food and decorating the dining area. Volunteers will then collect the Christmas lunch guests on Christmas morning, and once at the Masonic Hall, they will all enjoy some entertainment and a traditional, freshly cooked lunch.

    If you would like to join Kathy as either a volunteer or a guest, call 01844 217413.