THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a burglary in Moor End Lane, Thame.
It is believed that on Thursday, November 3, between 11am and 4pm, an offender or offenders gained entry to the property by smashing through a rear patio door. Once inside they carried out an untidy search of the property leaving personal possessions and clothing strewn around before leaving through the same door with stolen jewellery and camera equipment
The investigating officer PC Christopher Gibson of Abingdon, said: “I would like to speak to anyone who was around Moorend Lane on Thursday (03/11) who may have witnessed the incident.
“Anyone who has any information of the incident should get in touch via the Thames Valley enquiry centre on 101”
If you do not want to speak to the police directly you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
IN response to the imminent closure of Thame’s Red Kite Children’s Centre due to cuts at county council level, two local voluntary groups are preparing a business plan to keep the centre open and have appealed to Thame Town Council for financial assistance.
One of the groups is Sharing Life Trust which aims to help people in need in the Thame area, and last week, one of its founder-members, John Hulett, presented the proposal to Thame Town Council’s Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee (CLR). John explained that in the Centre’s catchment area of Thame and Chinnor, there are 1,135 under-5s, and although the area is socio-economically ‘affluent’, there are ‘significant areas of need and disadvantage’.
Child with banner at one of he many protests against closure of childrens centres -Image courtesy of Oxfordshire NASWT
What does the Children’s Centre provide?
At the moment, the centre runs a range of activities for young children and families, and frequent clinics are arranged jointly with health professionals, as well as some special targeted activities, all currently free to use. John told councillors that of all the children eligible to use the centre, over 82% have taken up activities offered.
Sharing Life Trust has the support of the Thame Alliance Group (TAG) which has set up a working group aimed at ensuring the Red Kite Children’s Centre continues, as well as local councils, church groups and Action For Children which currently runs the centre for Oxfordshire County Council. Together they have identified the key issues for continuing to run the centre and looked at various management plans.
How much will it cost to run?
Now they are ready to complete the business plan, and although they have already raised £20,000 through Sharing Life Trust, it is estimated that the centre will cost £80,000 per year to run. Other possible sources of funding include the Oxford Community Foundation, the local business community and OCC’s transition fund of £30,000 over three years. John was asking the town council for £10,000.
“This is a local, community resource. It is all about investing in the young of our town,” he said.
Most town councillors were very supportive of John Hulett’s proposal, with Cllr Mary Stiles saying: “You get fewer problems later down the line if you help children under five years-old and their families. Also, you don’t have to be deprived to suffer from Post-natal depression!”
What is the alternative if the Centre closes?
Referring to OCC’s plan to have two or three ‘hubs’ around the county targeting services to those in need, Cllr Helena Fickling said: “Universal provision means everyone can come without being stigmatised. We want to keep it that way. What OCC is proposing separates out.”
The CLR committee voted to take the proposal, that the council provides £10,000 towards running the Red Kite Children’s Centre, to the town council’s Budget Working Group.
BREAKING NEWS – OCC’s Cabinet will today (Tuesday) bdebate whether or not to waiver the rent for the first year (from March 2017) for its buildings that are currently being used for Children’s Centres around the county, which would help those taking over their running, to get funding in place for future years.
CHRISTMAS is fast approaching and to get Thame into the festive spirit, the Town Council will once again be launching a treasure trail around the town centre for the young and young-at-heart.
In line with the Go-Karts which will be at this year’s Christmas Lights Switch-On on Friday, December 2, 24 Go-Kart Santa’s have been hidden, including one very special Santa holding the Golden Trophy, in shop windows and town centre buildings around Cornmarket, Upper High Street, North Street, Buttermarket, Swan Walk, Greyhound Walk and High Street. You can start hunting high and low from Friday, November 4, and see if you can you find them all! To give you a helping hand, all of our Go-Kart Santa’s will be numbered.
The first entry out of the hat with all the correct answers will get the chance to push the plunger and switch on the town’s Christmas lights, as well as win some other fabulous prizes. To enter the competition all you need to do is download an entry form from www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/christmas or pick one up from the Town Hall Information Centre, write down all the places around town that you find a Go-Kart Santa and return your entry to the Town Hall Information Centre by Thursday, December 1.
Don’t forget to include your name, age, address and telephone number. Good luck and happy hunting!
All the latest news and information about this year’s Christmas Lights Switch-On will be available on the Town Council’s website at: www.thametowncouncil.gov.uk/christmas
OF all the visits to the War graves of Thame Servicemen made as part of the Thame Remembers project, the most extraordinary must be that made to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in a Cunard liner, to the wreck of a captured French torpedo boat.
With the help of the National Hydrographic Office in identifying the exact location of the wreck, and the co-operation of Cunard, Thame resident, Wendy Townsend, was able to drop a Thame Remembers wreath over the side of the ocean liner, Queen Mary 2, at the almost exact spot where the boat went down, and with it an English Lieutenant Commander, Hugh McRae.
The incredible story of how Wendy and the Thame Remembers team were able to overcome the logistical challenge of such a feat, is told in the latest Thame Remembers Newsletter shortly to be published.
So who was Lieutenant Commander, Hugh McRae and how did he happen to be in command of a French Torpedo boat? The following extract from the newsletter explains:
“Hugh, born in 1909 and educated at Lord Williams’s Grammar School in Thame, joined the Navy as an officer cadet in 1926, and served on a number of ships before being posted to the destroyer HMS Grafton as second in command in 1938. In June 1940, during the evacuation from Dunkirk and after successfully rescuing 1600 troops, the Grafton was struck by a torpedo from U-62 and her captain and fourteen others were killed. Lt McRae was rescued, was subsequently Mentioned in Despatches, and was promoted to Lieut-Commander, taking over command of the captured French torpedo boat Branlebas.
“Branlebas was one of the units of the French Navy which adhered to General de Gaulle´s Free French force after the capitulation in June 1940. The vessel was manned by a mixed French and British crew and came under the orders of the British Navy. On December 13, 1940, she left Dartmouth at around 18:00 hours and was charged with escorting a west-bound convoy, but her poor sea-going qualities meant she could not keep pace in rough weather and she lost contact. At 09:00 on the 14th, a heavy sea caused her to break her back at the aft end of the engine room, separating the stern section; she turned over and sank immediately. There were only three survivors, picked up from a life raft four days later, from a complement of 92. Hugh McRae was not among them.”
Branlebas’ s wreck now lies at a depth of 68 metres, approximately three miles due south of Lizard Point, and is a protected ocean grave.
Wendy talks about the whole experience in the newsletter article, describing the dropping of the wreath as: “…very moving in the dark of the night with the waves rushing by.” She concludes: “The Deputy Captain (Karl Shepherd from Witney) and I tipped the wreath over into the sea. It all happened so quickly in the end that there was no chance of the actual wreath- laying to be photographed, only our backs as we looked over to follow its progress, but it disappeared very rapidly in the waves. We all felt that it was a very emotional and moving experience and I was honoured to be able to take a small part.”
EDINBURGH Fringe sell out writer and performer, Ginny Davis, brings her latest play Learned Friends to the Players Theatre, Thame, for one night only following sell out performances at the Old Bailey.
Learned Friends sees two barristers in a London court robing room, awaiting the verdict in the trial of a high profile football manager. Irregularities in the trial are exposed which threaten friendship, careers and the true course of justice.
“A high stakes, legal cliffhanger.” Leamington Spa Courier
Davis writes from experience. Her popular series of comedic one-woman plays about family life have wowed Edinburgh Fringe audiences since 2008. As a former criminal barrister married to a High Court Judge, she knows her legal stuff. Learned Friends has sold out in the former Warwick Crown Court as well as at the Old Bailey. She performs alongside Sharon Baylis (The Bill, Juliet Bravo, Emmerdale).
Part two of the programme is Arrows of Desire a warm-hearted comedic play set within a rural branch of the Womens Institute. President of West Nippleton WI, Sally Brown, holds tradition dear but radical change is on the agenda at this month’s meeting. An unexpected visitor brings bad tidings, challenging opinions and Cupid’s arrow. Will Sally change her mind?
Learned Friends and Arrows of Desire – The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, on Friday October 28, at 7.45pm
Tickets cost £10 from Spear Travels, 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk
THAME Players, based at The Players Theatre just off Thame High Street, will be presenting its first, dedicated comedy night featuring, direct from the Fringe:
Jake Yapp is One In A Million. Jake will be performing his acclaimed Edinburgh show highlighting all his comedic and performing talents. Jake’s comedy credits include Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe; 8 out of 10 Cats; BBC Radio 4 comedy and he is a talkRADIO Sunday breakfast host.
“This is the art and the craft of comedy at such a high level my ears were popping…” The Scotsman ****
“Funny and smart in ways this poster cannot possibly convey” Charlie Brooker
Olaf Falafel and The Cheese of Truth. Olaf presents his unique mixture of one-liners and Scandinavian-tinged stories along with his hilarious new show which debuted in Edinburgh recently.
“Wonderfully absurd”… Ed Fringe Review ****
“Punchy, surprising and highly entertaining… a gloriously daft show” Fringe Guru ****
THAME’S growing calendar of town centre events is about to get a lot livelier, with ambitious plans for a town-centre wide, multi-venue, multi-genre music festival.
An annual Thame Music Festival is the brainchild of Musician and Thame First Thursday Music Club (FTMC) Founder, Jon Littler, and on Tuesday evening he presented his proposal to members of Thame Town Council’s Community, Leisure and Recreation committee (CLR).
Jon Littler, performing with his band, 2AM Blue, at Music In The Park
Jon told Councillors: “Such a festival would add to the diversity of activities in the town, enhance its cultural life and stimulate and add value to the economy of the high street. The dream is that every pub and coffee shop, the Snooker Club etc in the town centre would become a venue with music going on in different places all day, a day where whole families could come, split up to enjoy different aspects of the festival, then come together at the end, like in Edinburgh for instance.”
Jon’s suggestion to the council was that a structure such as a Community Interest Company be formed, which would include town councillors on ‘the board’, and that the festival would be free to attend and not commercial, but funded by sponsorship and grants. Long-term, Jon envisaged 10 venues in the town, including perhaps classical music in the church, Rockabilly outside the Vintage Guitar Shop, folk, rock, electronic – every genre somewhere in the town, with a long term dream to create a brand new, dedicated performance venue of 3-400 capacity.
The festival could see a large, main stage in the town centre, with activities spilling into the Buttermarket, with 1950s, classic American cars lined up there close to the guitar shop, with perhaps Jordans Courtyard hosting accoustic, singer-songwriters performing in a marquee in the garden.
The town councillors were very supportive of Jon’s proposal and agreed to take his request for £5,000 seed money to kick start the campaign and seek further funding and sponsorship, to the council’s Budget Working Group for further consideration.
THAMES Valley Police is warning tool owners after a recent rise in thefts of tools in South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse, including in Thame.
Image courtsey of vanvault.co.uk
Over the 25 days between September 16, and October 10, there were 34 tool thefts. These were as follows:
16 thefts from motor vehicles
15 burglary non dwellings
2 burglary dwellings
1 vehicle interference
1 theft of a motor vehicle
The outskirts of Oxford (Wheatley, Chalgrove, Horspath, Forest Hill, Great Haseley, Great Milton, Littleworth, Sandford on Thames) saw the highest number of thefts – accounting for 14 of the 34. Chinnor saw 10 thefts, Thame saw 8, while Watlington saw 2.
Sgt Vicky Hoskin, based at Thame Police Station, said: “I ask that members of the public and in particular tradesmen take preventative steps to avoid becoming a victim of theft by removing tools from vehicles overnight, being vigilant when using tools in the open and when leaving these unattended whilst going about their work.
“Residents of the area are also asked to ensure that steps are taken to fully secure property by considering removal of tools from vehicles when not in use, lock sheds and garages with well-maintained locks.”
A significant number of the thefts were burglary non dwellings. This covers business premises and outbuildings such as sheds and garages. Some good advice for people who keep tools in their homes includes:
Do not leave a garage or garden shed unlocked, especially if it has a connecting door to the house.
Fit strong padlocks and hardware to shed and garage doors.
Make sure that the doors are solid enough not to be kicked in.
Fit locks or bars to windows.
Lock ladders inside your garage or shed.
Consider lockable steel boxes or anchor posts fitted to the floor to secure tools and equipment.
Garden tools and machinery should be permanently marked with your postcode.
Install a battery or mains-powered shed alarm, available from all good DIY stores at a reasonable price.
For extra security, replace the screws in external hinges of your shed or garage side-door with ‘clutch-head’ screws (also known as ‘anti-tamper’ or ‘coffin’ screws).
Secure your wheelie bin to stop an intruder using it to climb on.
There is also further crime prevention advice on the Thames Valley Police website.
If you have any information on crime, you can contact Crimestoppers (opens new window) anonymously on 0800 555111 or Thames Valley Police on 101.
AS judgement day for the Great British High Street Competition draws ever closure, Thame’s campaign to win the public’s vote moved up a notch today when the Thame High Street team went out into the market gathering support by talking to people and explaining just how important it is that EVERYONE goes online ONCE every day, and votes for Thame to become the top Great British High Street of 2016.
Helen Johns (L) Paul Peedell – Manager Thame Co-op, Linda Emery
Almost 500 leaflets were given out by a dedicated team from 21st Century Thame and Thame Town Council, throughout the day at the Tuesday market, working hard to ensure that Thame wins. The Mayor of Thame, Cllr Linda Emery was chatting to locals and visitors – some from as far away as the US, New Zealand and Iran – and practicing her new twitter skills – an essential part of how the contesting towns are being judged between now and November 18, when the campaigning stops.
The public vote is only 50% of the total reckoning to decide which of the three Small Market Towns wins, Chipping Norton, Hebden Bridge or Thame. Within the next couple of weeks, Thame will be visited by a judge from from one of the sponsors, and their verdict will account for the other 50%.
Thame’s MP, John Howell, is getting behind the campaign. He said: “It’s excellent news that Thame is one of the three finalists in the small market town category of this year’s Great British High Street Competition. Thame is a vibrant town with the community very much at its heart. Last year it was awarded Rising Star status and it has certainly risen to the challenge. Its place in the finals this year is well deserved. My congratulation and thanks to all those who work so hard, day in day out, to build the community here. I would encourage everyone who values Thame Town Centre to support them by voting for Thame.”
More opportunities to vote
During the next three weeks, there will be voting stations at the Town Hall, some shops and other venues throughout the town, so look out for ‘Vote Here’ stickers. If you can’t place a vote online, there are voting slips available at the Town Hall which you can hand to family members or friends, so that they can vote.
As a winner, Thame stands to win a share of a £100,000 prize pot plus expert training from Google’s digital taskforce for Thame’s shops, bars and restaurants and a trip to Twitter UK’s London office to further boost social media skills.
How is Thame doing in the voting and what if we win?
Helen Johns, who is co-ordinating Thame’s Great British High Street team, reiterated what winning would mean for the town: “Winning will boost town pride and have tangible economic impact with increased footfall in the town.
“Now that public voting is underway, the organisers are publishing weekly league tables so that anyone can see where the finalists in each category stand in order of first, second and third place. Every vote helps to push Thame up the voting league. Everyone – businesses, families, friends and relatives near or far, can help Thame win by making voting for Thame their number one task! EACH DAY.” When the voting league tables were published on Friday, Hebden Bridge was in front so Thame needs to get serious now and really ‘pull out all the stops’ to pull ahead of its rivals by next Friday’s league table!
To vote for Thame, go to: vote4thame.uk and to find out more about The Great British High Street Competition, read about the sponsors and learn about how you can use your pictures and social media to boost Thame’s chances, go to: thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk and FOLLOW @TheGBHighSt on Twitter.
THAME’s Mayor, Linda Emery, was out and about in Thame’s Tuesday Charter market this morning, helping to spread the word about Thame’s exciting opportunity to win The Great British High Street 2016 competition.
Mayor of Thame, Linda Emery, with a young fan of Thame’s high street and market
With support from Helen Johns and other members of 21st Century Thame and the town council, Linda was encouraging everyone who passed the market’s Community stall to take a leaflet and a ‘Vote 4 Thame’ badge, and urging them to vote for both Thame in the Small Market Town category, and for Chris Hurdman, who is shortlisted in the top three, Market Retail Champion category.
The market was buzzing with families and visitors of all ages as it is half-term, and free face-painting was available for the children who were encouraged to ‘wear your badge with pride’ by the Mayor. Felicity Walker from That’s Oxford TV, interviewed the Mayor, and Helen Johns, for broadcasting later in the week. Watch this space for details.
To find out more about The Great British High Street 2016 competition, visit: thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk and to vote for Thame, go directly the voting page at vote4Thame.uk and to vote for Chris Hurdman, go to: vote4chris.uk.
Thame is up against Hebden Bridge and Chipping Norton – tough opposition – so Thame needs all the votes it get! Anyone can vote once every day up to November 18, in any category, so spread the word and VOTE FOR THAME !
