THAMES Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a series of thefts from charity collection tins across Thame.
The contents of four Poppy Appeal collection tins were stolen between Monday, October 19 and Thursday, November 12. The four tins were stolen from The Coffee House, Buttermarket, Cafe Bobo, Greyhound Walk,
St Mary’s Church, Church Road and from the Masonic Hall in the High Street.
PC Matthew Huard of Thame Police Station said: “Unfortunately none of the locations have CCTV footage of the incidents, and so we want to appeal to the public to come forward if they saw anyone acting suspiciously around the collection tins in the above locations.”
Anyone with any information should contact the Thames Valley Police enquiry centre on 101 and ask to speak with PC Huard.
If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
Harry King demonstrates his BMX skills at the opening of the new Thame Skate Park
IT takes more than a drop of rain to dampen the spirits of Thame’s skaters and BMX bikers, especially if the promise of a brand new, state of the art Skate Park, the fruits of years of fund raising and planning, is in the offing.
On Saturday, November 14, the Mayor of Thame, Nichola Dixon officially cut the ribbon to launch the new facility, and after the speeches and thanks to all who had made it happen, the town council, South Oxfordshire District Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Thame Rotary, Thame Carnival, ex Mayor Jeannette Matelot Green and others who have made donations towards the scheme, the Mayor bravely borrowed a bike and tested out the slopes for herself!
Raising the £250,000 funding for the new skate park has been driven by three young men, Corin Rea, Olly Ross and Harry King.
The Mayor told those assembled for the opening: “This is amazing for town. It has taken so much dedication from all those involved. It’s going to be such a great place for young people to meet and get involved.”
Harry King (L) Jeannette Matelot Green & Corin Rae
Corin Rea, who Chaired the Skate Park Working Group, was ecstatic and speaking to a local TV station, said: “I cannot believe that after five years of hard work, we are finally here! Thame already has a fantastic community built around the Skate Park. What we have done is taken everyone’s ideas on board and come up with, what will be a national skate park destination. It’s amazing!”
The feelings of those who will be flocking to use the skate park are expressed in the comments on the Skate Park’s Facebook page LINK HERE
The Mayor of Thame, Nichola Dixon tries out the skate park for herself!
“This looks super sick, hyped to come skate it!”
“Place is too good, was fully rammed all day. I just watched, all a bit overwhelming! Ha ha. Need to chip of the rust and get on it.”
The fund-raising will carry on. Next on the agenda, is a push to raise money to provide lighting at the skate park, to extend the hours when it can be made use of.
One again, the people of Thame have pulled together to raise the bar in sporting and cultural activities for all sections of the community.
DO you have a special memory of retiring Thame Headteacher, Alan Haigh? The staff and pupils of John Hampden School want to make his last weeks memorable and would like to give him some of these memories to take away and read at his leisure.
The staff are putting together a big book of messages, stories and photographs and to do this they need the help of anyone connected with the school over the 23 years of Alan’s headship.
Teachers’ spokesperson, Laura Craig, explained: “We would like to invite families and individuals connected to the school to write a message to Mr Haigh. It could be a ‘Happy Retirement’ message, a memory, a story, a photograph, a picture or whatever you want to do.
“If you would like to contribute a message or memory please send a message via e mail to lcraig@john-hampden.oxon.sch.uk Please don’t e mail photographs though.
“It would be wonderful to have memories spanning the many years that Mr Haigh has given to the school so if you can help us we would be very grateful. This book is a secret for now so if you see Mr Haigh please don’t tell!”
SWAN Walk, which is just off the Upper Street, has seen several retail businesses come and go over recent years and currently includes an established Hair Salon, an Indian Take-Away restaurant, a sweet shop, a ‘vaping’ shop (recently opened) and a printing business and dry cleaners, both recently opened. A designer and builder of conservatories has also been operating in Swan Walk for some time.
The sale also include ground rent from houses in Swan Walk and The Swan Hotel.
CHINNOR RFC played with the elements in the first half and camped themselves firmly in the Worthing half for the first 20 minutes. Chinnor’s driving mauls resulted in a penalty converted by No 9 Greg Goodfellow, then quick handling put full back Keiron Goss over for an unconverted try.
From an image by Warwickpics.com
Worthing’s first venture into Chinnor’s territory earned them a penalty converted by fly half O’Hagan. Chinnor were able to stifle further Worthing attacks near the try line preventing them from scoring. Chinnor then kicked deep into Worthing’s half and created a rolling maul from the lineout allowing Ben Manning to carve his way through the defence to score under the post. Goodfellow converted the try. Just before half time Worthing were successful in driving to the Chinnor line for James to score a try converted by O’Hagan reducing Chinnor’s lead to 10 – 15 at the interval.
Worthing now had the wind and rain in their favour and pressurised Chinnor into making mistakes and giving away two penalties converted by O’Hagan and giving them a 1 point lead. Play and possession were fairly even between the two sides though Chinnor attacks were spoiled by handling errors caused by the wet conditions.
With 20 minutes to go Worthing put in a high cross field kick bouncing tantalisingly away from the Chinnor defence in the in-goal area. Worthing full back McLean pounced on this opportunity to score a try converted by O’Hagan.
Worthing then used the wind to good effect by kicking the ball deep into Chinnor’s half and putting them on the back foot until the final whistle and giving Worthing a 23 – 15 victory.
THAME Choral Society’s Christmas concert this year will be a performance in English of the first three parts of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. As well as the joyous Bach, there will be new and traditional settings of Christmas songs and carols, including some for the audience to sing. During the interval, traditional mince pies and mulled wine will add to, what promises to be, a special serving of Christmas spirit.
St Mary’s Church, Thame, Saturday, December 12, 2015, is the date for your diary, with the programme beginning at 7.30 pm. Tickets are £12 at the door or £10 in advance from A Piece of Cake, 18 Upper High Street, Thame OX9 3EX and Blooming Fruity, 6 Banks Parade, Haddenham, Aylesbury HP17 8ED.
Anyone interested in singing with this long-established choir, whether an experienced singer or a beginner, will be welcomed at one of its Wednesday evening rehearsals, which begin again in January 2016, at the Methodist Church in Haddenham. More information about the choir can be found on the website www.thamechoralsociety.co.uk, or drop an email to thamechoralsociety@hotmail.co.uk
THE consultants recently appointed to design and deliver improvements to Elms Park, The Environment Partnership (TEP), will be at the Thame Christmas Lights Switch on, on Friday, December 4, from 3pm to 7.30pm, and at Small Business Saturday on Saturday, December 5, from 10am to 2pm.
Music in The Park is held annually in Elms Paark (image Nick White)
Spokesperson for TEP, Anna-Sophia Stamm, said: “The Park is an important component of the historic town centre and conservation area of Thame, and TEP will be working hard over the next few weeks to really understand the needs of the local community and those who regularly use the Park. The information gathered will be used to inform the design and to make sure that a really special and inspiring place is created for the people of Thame.”
Look out for their gazebo outside the Town Hall and go and share your ideas. TEP is eager to listen to what you have to say. If you are not able to go to either of these events, you can e-mail your thoughts and suggestions to ElmsPark@tep.uk.com
A community organisation that opposes proposals for a supermarket on the outskirts of Thame, is anxious that the planning application may go through, despite being against the Thame Neighbourhood Plan, the district council’s Core Strategy, and flying in the face of mounting evidence that it would threaten the viability of the town centre.
A group of local people demonstrate in the rain, their opposition to an edge-of-town supermarket in Thame
Thame Centre First believes that, despite the success of other local campaigns in overturning Tesco’s plans, including those in Market Harborough, Huddersfield, New Haw, Lowestoft, Grimsby, Plymouth and others, Thame’s will be a real test of the weight that Neighbourhood Plans carry with local authorities and maybe ultimately, with the Secretary of State, if it goes to appeal.
Spokesperson for Thame Centre First, Andy Slater, told Thame.Net: “Our MP John Howell, is now the Government’s flag carrier for Neighbourhood Plans, and several independent reports have concluded that such a development would be detrimental to the viability of the town centre. Also, Several recent reports and research studies point towards shifts in shopping habits, away from the large weekly shop towards smaller, convenience shopping trips.
“As one of the very first Neighbourhood Plans ever, the decision regarding this supermarket proposal will be ‘the acid test’ for the whole concept of local planning.”
Tesco has cancelled many of its development plans in recent months – 14 sites were sold in October to property investment firm Meyer Bergman. This follows the closure of 43 stores in January and the abandonment of plans for 49 large supermarkets.
“Could the proposed Tesco superstore development proposal for Thame be the last one standing?” suggested Andy. “SODC’s planning officer recently commented, in reply to a phone enquiry from a member of the public, that ‘Thame is a very special case, with so many small, independent shops’ and confirmed that the independent consultant it had commissioned was not satisfied with data submitted by Tesco.”
A date for South Oxfordshire District Council’s Planning Committee to consider the Tesco planning application has yet to be announced.
LORD Williams’s School in Thame has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its outstanding work with partner schools in Europe and in The Gambia.
‘England versus The Gambia’ football match played during a study visit to The Gambia last year, 2014.
On hearing the news, Headteacher, David Wybron, commented: “We have long established links with the Friedrich-Ebert Gymnasium in Bonn and the Lycée-collège Marcel Gambier in Lisieux. Student exchanges have been successful over many years. The School’s work with the Brikama Upper Basic School in The Gambia has led to some very innovative and creative curriculum links. On a broad front, and across many subject areas, students at Lord Williams’s School have many opportunities to engage in dynamic curriculum activities which promote global awareness and citizenship. This is vital work and I am delighted that our commitment to it has been recognised. I would like to thank Sherry Richardson, our Gambia Link Co-ordinator, for her drive and wonderful enthusiasm which led to us securing the award.”
He added: “Through a varied programme of activities designed to engage students in all year groups, Lord Williams’s international work enriches education by infusing global themes such as citizenship and collaboration across the whole curriculum.”
Much of Lord Williams’s international work stems from its link with Brikama Upper Basic School in The Gambia, a partnership which has developed since its inception in 2006. Teachers from The Gambia visit Lord Williams’s School annually to engage with staff and students and to participate in ‘Gambia Week’ activities. The Thame school has funded the building of an assembly hall and a perimeter wall at Brikama Upper Basic School, and computers and a broadband connection help maintain communication between the two schools.
In recent years teacher training workshops, led by Lord Williams’s staff, have been held at Brikama Upper Basic School and Lord Williams’s School is currently raising funds for the refurbishment and restocking of the library at Brikama Upper Basic School.
Next year, 2016 will mark the 10th anniversary of the partnership and both schools will be undertaking ceremonial activities to commemorate the occasion.
The British Council’s award is designed to foster in young people the cultural understanding and skills they need to live and work as global citizens.
Anne Gillet, President of Montesson Twinning Committee
THE horrific emergency unfolding in Paris tonight, has touched some of us in Thame when it was learned that Anne Gillet, the President of Thame’s Twinning Association’s counterpart, the Montesson Twinning Committee, was at the Paris Stadium when the explosions and attacks happened.
Fortunately, Anne has reported that her and her husband are safe, and that although their two young children were secure at home in Montesson, Anne and her husband found a young boy who had become separated from his father. Fortunately they were able to discover that the father is safe and two were eventually reunited.
Although some of the transport system is not running at the moment, fortunately, Ann and her husband had their car in the area and are hoping to be able to drive home to Montesson tonight.
