Category: Thame news

I write in my capacity as Chair of the Red Kite Children’Centre Advisory Group to encourage as many people as possible to take part in Oxfordshire County Council’s consultation on the proposals to close all 44 Children’s Centres, replace them with about seven hubs across the county and provide services only for referred families.

This Saturday morning, December 12, I shall be in Thame town centre near the Town Hall 10.00 – 12.00, to draw the public’s attention to the threat to our Red Kite Centre in Thame and Chinnor and to gather signatures on a petition to OCC, urging them to think again about closing all of its Children’s Centres, which provide a vital service for babies, young children and their families.

To cut these services is very short-sighted, because prevention is always better than cure and saves money in the end.

To join with Children’s Services to have a 0 – 19 provision, as proposed by OCC, does make sense and would definitely save money, but for those services to be available only to referred families, would stigmatise those families, making them harder to reach. It would be crisis intervention, with no preventative work, which would store up problems for later, not only causing grief for families, but also resulting in a greater expense to the public purse.

There are many other problems with OCC’s proposals, some examples being:

• the distance from Thame and Chinnor to Didcot, which would be our “local” hub and the lack of public transport in that direction the cost and time involved for outreach workers from Didcot to come to Thame and Chinnor – and nowhere to hold meetings
• another venue would have to be found for health visitor, speech therapist and physiotherapist clinics – at a cost
• most families would be denied access to what many consider vital support
• public money invested in providing Children’s Centres in the first place would be wasted

I hope that many people will join me in Thame on Saturday morning to sign the petition and that many will take part in OCC’s consultation, which is on their website. Hard copies of the consultation document are also available from the library, the Town Hall and the Red Kite Centre.

If anyone would like more information or discuss the issues with me I can be contacted via the Red Kite Centre or on 07779654840 or by email maryandstella@aol.com

Yours sincerely
Mary Stiles
Chair of Red Kite Advisory Group
3 Willow Road, Thame

THE family and friends of popular Thame photographer and drummer, Nick White, have been devastated by the tragic news of his sudden death while on holiday with his wife, Sarah in Cornwall.

Nick, 51, who was originally from Wheatley, had lived and worked in Thame for many years as a photographer and for some time running Print.com. He originally trained as a medical photographer and worked at the John Radcliff Hospital in Oxford.

Nick was a familiar sight taking pictures at Thame’s big events, like Music In The Park, the Carnival, the annual Service of Remembrance (usually at the top of a ladder), the Thame Swimathon and often gave up his time to take photographs for local organisations like The Thame Youth Memorial and The Day Centre. With Peter Lambert, landlord of the Cross Keys pub where Nick was a regular, he set up the Thame Camera Club where he was always willing to share his expertise to help others take better pictures.

Tributes have been piling into to Nick’s facebook page, paying tribute to his kindness, his generosity and his sense of humour. The following eloquent tribute reflecting the outpourings of many, was posted by Norman Brand on behalf of the Thame and District Day Centre – Nick provided some of his stunning shots of Thame for the Centre’s 2016 calendar :

“We at Thame and District Day Centre are so very sad to hear of the sudden death of our friend and unfailing supporter, Nick White. He gave his time to us as a superb professional photographer, to record in pictures so many of the highlights of our life in Thame and in doing so contributed to the increasing public recognition of our work.

“But his role in the life of our town extended much further. His pictures of so many aspects of Thame day to day, against the background of the landscape in which it nestles, capture the very essence of this very special part of Oxfordshire, always produced with consummate artistry. We really miss him.”

A collage of photographs of Thame taken by Nick is now in Romania where they will be on display permanently at the town museum due to open soon, in one of Thame’s twin towns, Sinaia.

Nick’s many other interests included identifying edible fungi, astronomy and playing drums in the band Doghouse, which regularly plays at The Falcon pub in Thame.

Just on Friday, Nick was in among the crowd taking pictures of the town’s Christmas Lights event, including shots of the guest of honour, Olympic cycling gold medalist, Victoria Pendleton. Thame Town Council, for whom Nick became its official Mayoral photographer, said this: “It is with great sadness that the Town Council has learned of the untimely death of local resident and talented photographer, Nick White.

“The Council has enjoyed many years working with Nick through his role as the Mayor’s official photographer. Whilst he may no longer be with us, his legacy will live on through the many wonderful photographs he has taken that so remarkably capture the spirit of the community in which he lived.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time.”

As well as his wife Sarah, Nick also leaves two daughters, Lucy and Martha.

THE funeral of legendary jockey, Pat Eddery, was held at St Mary’s Church, Thame, this morning, when racing personalities, including Frankie Dettori, carried the coffin.

Pat Eddery died at Stoke Mandeville hospital on November 10, following a heart attack, attributed to alcoholism.

The service was followed by a private cremation in Oxford, and a celebration of his life at Notley Tythe Barn in Long Crendon.

AFTER the mulled wine imbibed during the Thame Christmas Extravanganza on the previous Friday evening, and the champagne to celebrate Thame’s Rising Star, Great British High Street award during Small Business Saturday, anyone witnessing a sea of red ‘santas’ racing through the town on Sunday morning (06/12) might have wondered whether they’d perhaps taken a dram or two too many!

However, the 120 people dressed in all kinds of festive attire, dashing to Thame Town Hall, were all taking part in a 3k fun run in support of Florence Nightingale Hospice – and between them, have pledged over £5,000.

“It was great to see so many people dressing up for the occasion”, commented FNHC’s Karen Shardlow, who helped organise the fun run, in partnership with Thame Lions Club and Thame Town Council. “We saw all sorts of outfits, from Santa’s and elves to Christmas puddings and even a giant Christmas Turkey!”

Starting from the Town Hall, the scarlet swarm ran through the High Street, past the festively decorated FNHC shop in Cornmarket, and continued towards the Phoenix Trail, coming out past Lord William’s School, before making their way back towards the High Street, passing the Thatch and finishing off back at the Town Hall, where all the finishers were awarded a special festive medal, and a present from ‘the big man in red’ himself!

“We’re really pleased that the rain held off this year, so no one’s costume got wet, which made the event even more enjoyable,” added Karen. “We were especially happy as our biggest team of 30+ people, including Jessica Bray and her family, ran the route whilst pushing Jessica’s father, Anthony Morris around in his wheelchair. Anthony is currently being cared for at Florence Nightingale Hospice so it was really wonderful to see him being part of the event.

“On behalf of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, I must say a very big thank you to Thame Lions Club for supporting the fun run for the second year in a row. The Lions have been great in terms of helping with organisation and getting marshals together to help on the day,” explained Karen. “Also thanks to the Mayor of Thame, Cllr Nichola Dixon and Thame Leisure Centre for providing the fabulous warm-up for all our fun-runners.”

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity has to raise over £650,000 a year, to continue providing first class palliative care and support to families suffering with life-limiting illnesses across Bucks, Beds and parts of Oxon.

THAME & District Round Table have launched their Santa Tracker for the third year in a row with the help of Pentangle Internet, a Thame IT & Web company.

Peter Butt of Thame & District Round Table explained: “Santa sometimes had to change the planned route on some collection evenings due to weather or traffic issues so, to try and avoid disappointing anyone, we trialled live updating through Facebook, and Alun Rowe of Pentangle contacted me the first night we tried and said simply: “We can make this easier for you!” The very next evening, the Santa Tracker was live and each year the Pentangle team have improved the app and the website to help everyone see where Santa is on his route. Thanks to Santa Tracker, no need to be disappointed- if Santa hasn’t made it to you, you can come to him!”

Last year Thame Roundtable raised £6,400 and are hoping to raise even more this year. You can sponsor the Santa Tracker and all funds raised through the sponsorship will be used to help fund the running of Thame Round Table as a club, allowing the Roundtable to provide the charitable fundraising ‘vehicle’ of the club and its members. This means that more of the money donated by the public as part of the sleigh runs can go to the charitable groups carrying out the collections.

Collections start on Thursday, December 10, at 6pm from Churchill Crescent. For more information on the full schedule and to track Santa’s every move go to http://santatracker.pentangle.co.uk

FACT: Round Table is the original social network, offering men under the age of 45 the opportunity to expand their social and business networks, develop life skills, have fun and help others. Thame & District Round Table meets every other Tuesday and has a busy calendar of fun and
interesting events, as well as organising various fundraising activities on behalf of local causes.

Twitter: Thame Round Table – @Thame753
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThameDistrictRoundTable753
Website: www.thame.roundtable.co.uk