THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following the theft from vehicle in Sydenham, Chinnor.
Between midday on Sunday (19/3) and 7.30am on Monday (20/3) unknown offender(s) stole the number plates from a Silver Mazda estate (OV**FRR) From Sydenham Road, Sydenham, Chinnor.
If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating to this message please call the Police via the 24 hour non-emergency telephone number 101.
Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
EVERY for to six weeks Racquets Fitness Centre runs a one-day Junior Squash Tournament. New and experienced junior players from the club are encouraged to enter. We see great changes in the juniors from one tournament to the next.
Cameron Law was one such example. Cameron played in his first one-day tournament in January of this year. He played in a group of players all of similar standard where he struggled, finishing near the bottom of the section.
For the past two months with regular coaching from Roger Ridler and joining in the group coaching sessions on a Monday every week, Cameron has worked hard and with dedication has gained in confidence and playing ability.
Cameron played on Saturday, March 18, in the second level of standard. He showed all the other players what a great style and understanding of the game can achieve. Cameron won all of his games. Many of the games were close but Cameron’s strong mind set this time round meant he came out on top in every match. Alex Glover and Thomas Taylor were both notable in their attempt to derail Cameron’s win but were unsuccessful.
Well done Cameron !!
The lower grade included eight of the newest Racquets Academy kids. From St Josephs and John Hampden primary schools we saw plenty of extremely close matches. Joe Johnson and Artie Shrimpton fell to the floor at the end of their first place final match because it was such a long and hard fought contest. Joe came out on top in a perfectly spirited competitive game. Allegra Michopoulou, the only girl in the competition, fought well to come in third.
In the top grade the visitors, Sam Crowley and Alex Smith from Abingdon took the top places. But Dryw McLaren and Silas Glover put up excellent fights.
The Racquets Academy has two places available at the moment for any Year 5 or 6 children who want to take up a sport and have the opportunity to excel in it. Please contact sue@racquets-fitness-centre.com if you might be interested. If you’re looking for a sport just for fun then please come along to any of our squash lessons available throughout the week.
TOWNSEND PRODUCTIONS present Dare Devil Rides To Jarama, on Sunday, March 26, written by Neil Gore, who described his play as:” ..an exciting and evocative piece about the incredible contribution made by the volunteers that made up the International Brigades to fight the forces of fascism and to uphold the power of democracy.”
A speedway star forges a friendship with a literary critic, poet and aeronautical expert in a country miles from home. This unlikely friendship is celebrated in DARE DEVIL RIDES TO JARAMA, a moving account of why so many ordinary people made the extraordinary choice to leave family and livelihoods and fight in the brutal Spanish Civil War so far from home.
It’s 80 years since the Spaniards rose up to resist General Franco’s military rebellion. This compelling and humorous play, contrasts the lives of International Brigaders Clem Beckett and Christopher Caudwell who were killed together at Jarama in February 1937, having become friends as members of the British Battalion’s machine-gun company.
The play, a critical success on its first tour, captures the humour, raw passion and emotion produced by the idealism of these men through immersive storytelling, stirring song, poetry, and movement. A cast of two play multiple roles in a grand theatrical style with music of the period arranged by acclaimed folk musician John Kirkpatrick.
Neil Gore, the playwright also said: “The play is also an important examination of the fascinating and brilliant life of Clem Beckett who achieved so much in such a short time as a top speedway rider and a rider in the Wall of Death around Europe. His life touched on so many of the major happenings in the 1930s from involvement in campaigns such as better conditions in his sport, the Mass Trespass in Derbyshire to participation in anti-fascist demonstrations in Manchester, as well as visits to the Soviet Union with a contingent of sportsmen and women and ultimately to his involvement in the Spanish Civil War.”
Dare Devil Rides To Jarma is Directed by Louise Townsend, and is at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, starting at 7.45pm on Sunday, March 26. Tickets are £10 (concessions £9) available from Spear Travels, 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk
THE Oxfordshire Cycling Network (OCN) has launched its vision of a future Strategic Cycle Network for Oxfordshire, which it believes could bring £112 million a year in health and travel time benefits to the county, by linking the major towns, workplaces and transport hubs with safe, direct and attractive cycle routes.
“Our vision is that people of all abilities can choose to cycle anywhere, feeling safe and comfortable,” said Robin Tucker, Chair of OCN. The only proven way to achieve this is to have high quality routes linking places that people want to go.”
“All ages, all abilities. These are the four As of best-practice standards for cycling. The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark – and even Cambridge – have shown that this works. Now let’s bring similar 4A benefits to Oxfordshire,” said Simon Hunt, Chair of Cyclox.
Image courtesy of CyclingUK
“The 366-mile network would bring huge economic and health benefits to Oxfordshire people, whether or not they cycle. The first gain is improved health, because people who cycle live longer and are healthier, removing a cost burden from the health services. Secondly, switching from cars to bikes cuts air pollution, increasingly recognised as killer in urban environments. The third benefit is shorter journey times, both by reducing congestion on the roads and because cycling is simply quicker for short journeys – everyone wins. Robin notes, “Instead of stop-starting in traffic jams, fretting about where to park, I can bike the five miles from home to Abingdon more quickly and more
predictably. Plus, I will have done my exercise for the day.”
All ages, all abilities means routes similar to Dutch or German standards. Smooth tarmac, at least three metres wide and separated from busy roads by a green verge. In town, cycle tracks would be separated from both pedestrians and motor vehicles, and would continue across junctions.
OCN calculates that increasing cycling to 10% of journeys1 in the county compared to 3% today is worth £112 million per year in health and journey time benefits2.
“There will be other benefits too”, says Kevin Wilkinson, Chair of workplace cycling group HarBUG. “Cyclists spend more in local shops and cycling links attract businesses, employees and tourists to a location.”
You can read more HERE including a map of the proposed network, which includes Thame.
THOMLEY Activity Centre, based at Worminghall near Thame, has been awarded part of £1 million grant funding for community groups, charities and support organisation across the district.
South Oxfordshire District Council, which has awarded the funding, intends the money to help ensure that important services such as support for disabled people, carers, and the elderly can continue to be available locally for South Oxfordshire residents.
The lucky groups awarded funding, including Thomley
The revenue grant funding will help groups to pay for things such as salary costs, rent and rates, marketing and publicity, and transport and utility costs. The groups receiving funding are:
Thomley Activity Centre – £97,500
Age UK Oxfordshire – £93,289
Berinsfield Information and Volunteer Centre – £56,814
Community First Oxfordshire – £74,250
FISH Volunteer Centre – £12,000
Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire – £66,706
My Life My Choice – £16,840
Nomad Youth & Community Project – £80,000
Oxfordshire Association for the Blind – £25,000
Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre – £52,500
Riverside Counselling Service – £65,000
South & Vale Carers Centre – £83,508
South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance – £94,000
Style Acre – £66,000
The Chiltern Centre for Disabled Children – £100,000
TRAIN – £79,297
Cllr Elizabeth Gillespie, Cabinet Member for Grants at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “As a council we are delighted to still in be a position to offer this significant funding to these organisations. They all play a vital role in providing support services to many people across the South Oxfordshire community and this funding will help to ensure that residents will continue to benefit from these services over the coming years.”
Grant Hayward of Collaborent, who assisted council officers with workshops for the grants application process, said “Not only is it good to see the financial commitment from South Oxfordshire District Council, but I have been really impressed with the range of support it has provided to these charities and groups in helping them explore new opportunities of becoming more sustainable and less dependent upon grant funding.”
The council’s grants officers will work with these organisations to ensure spending is appropriate over the four year grant period.
Community groups in South Oxfordshire looking to improve their facilities, such as carrying out building improvements, can now apply for Capital Grant – for more information visit www.southoxon.gov.uk/grants.
COMMUNITY choir, Towersey Village Voices, presented a day of workshop singing with Paul Sartin, half of Belshazzar’s Feast, followed by an evening concert when Paul was joined by Paul Hutchinson for Belshazzar’s first ever appearance in the intimate setting of Towersey Memorial Hall.
Members of Village Voices and other singers from the wider area were taught three songs, and in the evening a packed audience was treated to a mixture of humour and brilliant music-making by the Pauls, leaving everyone clamouring for more.
A raffle was held in aid of Village Voices’ chosen charity for the year, Rosie’s Rainbow Fund, which provides music therapy for sick children in local hospitals, and in various community settings for children with special needs, as well as offering support to parents.
A squad of swimmers from Thame Swimming Club ventured to Watford for the annual Regional Qualifier meet over the weekend of March 18-19, and came home with delighted with a string of Personal Bests and wins.
“Those swimming on the Saturday were lucky enough to enjoy a lie-in as the meet didn’t start until 1pm so the swimmers were lively and raring to go once the event got underway,” said club spokesperson Michele Block. “Sadly this wasn’t the case for those swimming on Sunday with another more usual early start!” Here’s Michele’s full report:
Team Thame enjoyed a great weekend of racing against a very competitive field from much larger clubs, with all the team’s swimmers coming home with at least one PB and most with multiple PBs, which was a fantastic result!
Outstanding moments from the weekend are highlighted below:
* An awesome opening swim for Murray Wakefield, knocking 14 secs of his 400 Free, having only just set his ‘old’ PB at Counties in February!
* In the 200 IM, the Group 3 girls – Tabitha, Maya and Flora all got impressive PBs with an eye on trying to move up a lane in training (a very canny
lane ordering system introduced by Simon Haarburger!)
* Josh Williams went a fantastic sub 2 minutes for the first time in his 200 Free, which ranks him top of the South East Region and 13th in the whole
of Great Britain in this distance for his age group. Wow – what a phenomenal achievement; well done Josh! Josh also takes the top place in the SE
Region for his 400m Free PB of 4.15.74.
* George Pearson, our sole Group 1 swimmer on Saturday, knocked an amazing 5 seconds off his 50 Fly (also getting PBS in 100 Fly and 200 Fly – no
guessing his favourite stroke!)
* Joshua Greig powered to a PB of 29.56 in his 50 Free, his first sub-30 second time at this event – fabulous!
* Oscar North picked up four Regional Consideration Times for 400 Free, 50 Fly and 200 Free and 100 Free – great work Oscar.
* Katelin Phillips for an outstanding 400 Free swim, knocking a whopping 25 seconds off her previous PB, way to go! Katelin also went sub 40 for the
first time on her 50 Fly with a time of 38.81.
* Maya Camp for fabulously swimming sub 3 minutes for the first time in her 200 Backstroke (2.54.21) – awesome swimming Maya.
Our Club was congratulated by some of the Watford Marshals for having such a lovely, polite and punctual squad of swimmers – so thank you to you all for being so fabulous!
Thanks to Paul Williams, Emma Camp, Rachel Humphreys and Emma Day for officiating and to our ever supportive coaches Ian Blyth and Iain Phillips for all their encouragement. It was a rare outing for Michele Block as Team Manager (usually officiating!), helped by our new recruit, Damian Wakefield – we had a great time – thanks to all the swimmers there who threw themselves into cheering and supporting each other – what a Team!
HEAD squash coach at Racquet Fitness Centre in Thame, Sue Martin Downhill, is determined to spread the word that squash is a great game for ladies. “For mums they just need someone to look after the kids!” She says.
And to prove it, last Sunday, March 12, Racquets held a Ladies Squash Festival – an opportunity for ladies of all ages to visit the club, try out the game and socialise with other ladies who have already discovered that squash is great exercise and fun. Coach, Roger Ridler was on hand to help any ladies who had never been on the court before.
Sue Martin Downhaill (R) with her band of happy squash-playing ladies
“Roger’s gentle approach allows ladies to conquer the fear of walking on the court for the first time,” explained Sue. “Using a bright orange, bouncy ball he helped a few learn how to hit the ball and to serve and after only a short while all the ladies were able to play the game. Some ladies on the court for the first time were able to progress from the orange to the blue and then onto the symbolic ‘single yellow dot’ squash ball. Everyone learns at their own pace and there are other ladies looking for games with other ladies who are at the same stage of learning.
“We find that many ladies are afraid that they might make a fool of themselves on court. After only a few minutes on court though they realise that there are plenty of others in the same boat and I find that everyone laughing at the strange things we do when faced with an oncoming ball is the best way to rid ourselves of the fear; just get in there and give it a go.”
While the ladies were playing squash, the club ran a Creation Station workshop for the kids and a crèche for the very little ones. So the mums could bring their kids along and know that they were in good hands and enjoying themselves too.
Mary Frew, whose husband has played regularly for years but has only just taken up the game, said: “I had a brilliant time at the ladies squash festival. It was a great mix of friendly games and drills to keep us all sharp. The best thing was the amazing atmosphere and laughter. It was great to spend my birthday today with some of the fantastic ladies that I have made friends with through group coaching at Racquets, and to be joined by other friends trying the game for the first time or remembering it after 15 years away from squash. The kids all loved it too. Thank you Sue and Simon for organising!”
Denise Caley only had one hour to play because of mother duties but still managed to get plenty of squash in. Denise has only been playing for two weeks but said; “The kids didn’t want to leave and neither did I. Thanks indeed for organising this brilliant event.”
Sue concluded that Racquets were grateful to England Squash and South Oxfordshire District Council for the #SquashGirlsCan funding which allowed the club to offer so much on the day.
PASSENGERS travelling on Chiltern Railways at around 5pm yesterday, were surprised to find their train halted at Haddenham and Thame parkway, and the train boarded by police officers.
A 23 year-old man, who had assaulted the guard in one of the carriages, was then tackled by several officers and arrested .
A statement by British Transport Police stated: “We were called to Haddenham and Thame Parkway station shortly after 5pm on Saturday, 18 March, following reports of an assault on a train guard.
“Our officers attended and a 23 year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of ABH and is currently in custody awaiting interview.”
Reports in the media on-line about the man being in possession of a knife, and trying to enter the driver’s cab, have not been confirmed by the police.
AN impressive £600 was raised at the Mayor’s ‘Bubbles, Boards and Creams’ evening held in The Stables at The James Figg last Thursday (9 March).
The charity event was in support of the Mayor of Thame, Linda Emery’s charities, The Red Kite Children’s Centre and Thame Youth Café.
Frazer Sutherland, from Peach Pubs, hosted the event. He said: “It was great being able to work with Linda on this event, and we are delighted to have helped to raise money for The Red Kite Children’s Centre and Thame Youth Café. Plenty of bubbles were consumed and a fantastic evening was had by all!”
The event was sponsored by Liberty Wines, Boutinot Wines and Jude’s Ice Cream.
