ALAN Battista, who was reported missing from his home in Thame last night (13/2), has been found safe and well. Thames Valley Police have thanked the police and the public for their assistance in this matter.
THAMES Valley Police is appealing for help from the public to trace a 76-year-old man who has been reported missing from his home in Thame.
Alan Battista who is missing from Thame
Alan Battista is white, around 5ft 7ins and medium build. He was last seen in Thame last night (13/2) wearing a navy blue anorak, navy blue trousers and black shoes.vMr Battista sometimes wears a cap and glasses which he might have with him.
Insp Nick Deacon, leading the search, said: “We are becoming increasingly concerned for Mr Battista’s welfare. We believe he might have walked from Thame to Bicester and then got a bus to Milton Keynes.
“I would also like to appeal directly to Alan to say that his family and friends are very worried about him and I would ask him to get in touch with his family or the police as soon as possible.”
If you have any information please contact the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101.
If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
TRIUMPH and Tragedy is the theme for Thame Chamber Choir’s next concert, in conjunction with the Petros Singers, and directed by Duncan Aspden. The Accompanist will be Timothy Wakerell and music will include Barber, Elgar, Williams and Walton.
The Petros Singers who will be performing with the Thame Chamber Choir
The event is on Saturday, March 22, 2014, at St Mary’s Church, Thame, beginning at 7.30pm. Tickets are Adults: £12, concs: £10, Under 16: Free – Available on the door, or from CAAOS 15 Cornmarket, Thame.
THOMLEY Activity Centre at Worminghall, near Thame, which is a recreational and educational facility for disabled children and teenagers, their families, friends, schools and groups, is currently planning its activities days, including those for half-term week which are open to ALL children. Here are the details for this Saturday’s quiet day, and beyond:
The Sensory room at Thomley Activity Centre
Quiet day – Saturday 15th February Do you prefer Thomley on a quieter day? Quiet days are a party free zone and bookings are limited so that children who struggle with the hustle and bustle of a busy day can enjoy themselves with more freedom and space to play! Activities include, family mobiles, family tree frames and cookie letters.
February half term – booking is essential. All of the regular activities are on offer, with additional activities provided for each day; with a separate provision for teenagers and young adults available too. Please see the planner on the website for further information www.thomleyactivitycentre.org/newsletters
Monday 17th February – Community Day – for all children with and without a disability, their family and friends. The theme for the day is Colourful. Activities include Rainbow mobiles, rainbow bubble snakes and glow in the dark art. Join in with parachute games outside at 11am and rainbow bubble snake fun between 2 and 3pm. Teenagers can choose from a number of options available on our new look planner, just let us know when you book.
Tuesday 18th February – Family Day – for all children with a disability, their family and friends. The theme for the day is Thomley. Activities include making bunny masks, bunting and felt toys. Can you be the champion of the bike races to be held at 1pm? See the Cheeky Dog puppet ventriloquist on site between 1 and 3pm. Teenagers can try something new from a range of choices on our new look teenage planner.
Wednesday 19th February – Teenage & Adult Day – for all disabled children aged 13+, with their family and friends. Make a choice from our New Look Planner, options include animation, sport and cooking. Please let us know your choice when you book.
Thursday 20th February – Group Day – bookings for disability groups only. Theme for the day is ‘Sensory’. Activities include; scented colouring, tactile collage and 3D model making. Teenagers please let us know if you would like any of the activities on offer on the new look planner.
Friday 21st February – Community Day – for all children with and without a disability, their family and friends. Theme for the day is ‘Squared’! Activities include Cube craft, hamma bead art, cube printing and pixel portrait and a cube hunt at 1.30pm. For teenagers make a choice from our new look planner.
Saturday 22nd February – Quiet Day – Do you prefer Thomley on a quieter day? Quiet days are a party free zone and bookings are limited so that children who struggle with the hustle and bustle of a busy day can enjoy themselves with more freedom and space to play! Activities include Family tree art, Salt dough Print Keepsakes and photo frame art.
Dates for your diary beyond half-term
Pre-School day – Tuesday 25th February – Come and have a fun-filled day with other parent/ carers and take advantage of our soft play area, play rooms, lots of outdoor space and activities and our indoor craft room. All children under 6 are welcome, why not bring a friend and make a day of it? The theme for the day is ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’, activities include bear masks, bear finger puppets, bear collage and enjoy a creative story of Going on a Bear Hunt at 1pm.
Adult day – Thursday 27th February – For any adult with additional needs, come and enjoy our relaxing environment and socialise with other adults or why not book a session in our sensory room? We also offer multiple art and craft activities for all abilities, and encourage groups to chat, have fun, and relax!
Community day – Saturday 1st March – A day for all children to come and play together, raise awareness in the local community and best of all make new friends! Activities include My Star Chart, My memory box and make Fun Face Pizzas at 11am.
Pre-School day – Tuesday 4th March – All children under 6 welcome, theme for the day is the ‘Gruffalo’, activities include masks, character collage, stick puppets and a creative story of the Gruffalo at 1pm.
Adult day – Thursday 6th March – For any adult with additional needs, come and enjoy our relaxing environment and socialise with other adults or why not book a session in our sensory room? We also offer multiple art and craft activities for all abilities, and encourage groups to chat, have fun, and relax!
Family day – Saturday 8th March – All the regular Thomley activities on offer, with additional themed activities. See the website www.thomleyactivitycentre.org/newsletters and select Saturday planners to see what’s going on!
Pre-School day – Tuesday 11th March – Come and have a fun-filled day with other parent/ carers and take advantage of our soft play area, play rooms, lots of outdoor space and activities and our indoor craft room. All children under 6 are welcome, why not bring a friend and make a day of it? The theme for the day is Jack and the Beanstalk, activities include magic bean craft, counting dominoes and finger puppets. Enjoy a creative story at 1pm.
Adult day – Thursday 13th March – For any adult with additional needs, come and enjoy our relaxing environment and socialise with other adults or why not book a session in our sensory room? We also offer multiple art and craft activities for all abilities, and encourage groups to chat, have fun, and relax!
Saturday 16th March- Thomley is closed due to exclusive use for the National Deaf Children’s Society event. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Pre-School day – Tuesday 18th March – Come and have a fun-filled day with other parent/ carers and take advantage of our soft play area, play rooms, lots of outdoor space and activities and our indoor craft room. All children under 6 are welcome, why not bring a friend and make a day of it? The theme for the day is Room on a Broom, activities include make a wand, witches hats and egg cup frogs. Creative story of Room on a Broom at 1pm.
Adult day – Thursday 20th March – For any adult with additional needs, come and enjoy our relaxing environment and socialise with other adults or why not book a session in our sensory room? We also offer multiple art and craft activities for all abilities, and encourage groups to chat, have fun, and relax!
Quiet Day – Saturday 22nd March – For those who prefer Thomley on a quieter day? Quiet days are a party free zone and bookings are limited so that children who struggle with the hustle and bustle of a busy day can enjoy themselves with more freedom and space to play! Activities include High Five Art, “Selfie” Portraits and make a Dough Buddy at 11am.
Pre-School Day – Tuesday 25th March – All children under 6 welcome. Today is free play.
Adult Day – Thursday 27th March – For any adult with additional needs, come and enjoy our relaxing environment and socialise with other adults or why not book a session in our sensory room? We also offer multiple art and craft activities for all abilities, and encourage groups to chat, have fun, and relax!
Family Day – Saturday 29th March – All the regular Thomley activities on offer for children with a disability, their family and friends. Theme for the day is Me, Myself and I, activities include, finger print painting and t-shirt printing (bring your own t-shirt to decorate).
THE Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) – which represents 7,500 small firms in the Thames Valley – has called on the Government to offer more insurance protection for businesses when floods strike.
Many small businesses in the county have been severely damaged in the current floods sweeping through England and with the potential of more flooding to come in future years the FSB has called on the Government to provide better insurance safeguards to flood-threatened firms.
The FSB is urging MPs to include businesses in a new scheme currently going through Parliament designed to protect homeowners in high flood risk areas from excessive insurance premiums.
The scheme – called Flood Re – aims to ensure people living in flood-affected part of the UK can continue to find affordable flood insurance by placing a cap on the total cost they have to pay.
The scheme is a key component of the Water Bill currently being discussed by MPs but business properties have not been included in the plan – and the FSB says this must change.
David Knowles Leak, the Maidenhead based Regional Chairman of the Thames Valley Region of the FSB said: “We feel is it vital that the Government has a rethink and includes small businesses in its Flood Re scheme. And it would obviously be a very timely and welcome thing for the Government to do at the moment.
“FSB research shows one in five small firms were affected by flooding last year alone and obviously this year threatens to be even higher.
“If the Government doesn’t add small businesses in areas at risk to this scheme many will be forced to pay exorbitantly high costs to be insured against this threat and some may struggle to do so.
“We therefore urge the Government to think again on this issue at this particularly sensitive time and we urge MPs to table amendments to the forthcoming Water Bill to make it happen.”
THAME Youth Theatre will be performing a very special play at the Phoenix Performing Arts Studio at Lord Williams Lower School, Thame, on February 24 and 25, as part of ‘National Theatre Connections’, a nationwide celebration of new plays for young performers. The play Thame Youth Theatre will be performing is called Same, and has been written by Deborah Bruce.
Members of Thame Youth Theatre rehearse a scene from Same
Connections is produced by the National Theatre and supported by a number of individuals, trusts and foundations and each year the National Theatre invites ten writers to create new plays for young people to perform. This spring 230 youth theatre companies will present the premieres of these plays in venues from Scotland to Cornwall and Northern Ireland to Norfolk. Each company will also perform at one of 26 Connections festivals in professional theatres across the country, and ten companies will go on to perform at the National Theatre.
Same is set in an old people’s home in the week that Josie dies. Her teenage grandchildren reminisce about their memories of her, and the residents in the home feel the effects of her death on their lives as her funeral takes place. Is the gulf between the young and old as wide as it feels, or are we fundamentally the same inside whatever age we are?
Tom Mackriell, Youth Arts Development Manager for Thame Youth Theatre, said: “Connections has been a very positive experience for our members, it has seen them challenge their performance skills and has helped them develop a place within their community with visits to Meadowcroft Care Home in Thame. To have the chance to perform a piece of theatre that shows great passion and heart has been fantastic and rehearsals have been a great chance for members to push their creativity, and a perfect place to talk about shared experiences that have helped install their own passion into the performance; we are all very excited for the performances.”
To book now to see Thame Youth Theatre perform Same at the Phoenix Performing arts Studio on February 24 – 25, at 7.30pm, contact the Box Office on 07805 885846 or email admin@thameyouththeatre.co.uk.
For more information on the National Theatre Connections visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/connections.
THAME United faced a strong Oxford United team in the quarter finals of the Oxford Senior Cup, at the ASM Stadium last night, and were defeated 0-2. The Oxford team comprised five players who have played for the first team, together with regular members of the development squad. Thame gave it their best shot but struggled to compete after going down to ten men half way through the first half.
Image courtesy of Oxford United http://www.oufc.co.uk/
The first 10 minutes were fairly even and when Luke Ricketts tested the visiting keeper with a long shot it looked as if the teams were evenly matched. Once the visitors settled however they won more possession and went ahead on 20 minutes. Josh Shama dribbled pass three Thame players and ran at the Thame goal before feeding the ball to Aiden Hawtin, on the right, who hit a superb low 20-yard shot, from an acute angle, which flashed pass Lee Farrow. Minutes later Lewis Cordice forced the Oxford keeper to block his shot and Ollie lynch followed up but the keeper dived to collect the ball just before Lynch clattered into him. The referee reached into his pocket to pull out a red card, and Lynch was dismissed. Just before the break Ian Pykett made a run on the right but was rewarded with an injury and, although he tried to play on, it was too severe, and Ian was replaced by his twin brother Phil.
Oxford increased their lead nine minutes after the restart. They took a corner on the right which rebounded off the near post and Hawtin was on hand to force the ball home from close range. Thame were forced to defend for long periods and Lee Farrow was compelled to make some excellent saves. Thame managed to mount the occasional attack and the hardworking Cordice created a half chance, but his shot was wide. Thame’s final chance came from a Shannon Jesson free kick which was met by Ellis Hercules, but his header flew over the bar.
Thame United: Farrow, I Pykett (P Pykett), Hall, Hercules, Rhodes, Lynch, Connelly, West (Johnston), Jesson, (Kedzierski), Cordice, Ricketts.
United are at home next Saturday 15th February when Brimscome and Thrupp are the visitors.
THAMES Valley Police has released images of stolen jewellery after a burglary in Lower Icknield Way, Chinnor, sometime between Tuesday, January 14, and Sunday, January 26, when offenders gained entry through the rear conservatory door.
Stolen items of jewellery taken in the burglary
Offenders conducted an untidy search of the property and stole a television, Bose music system and items of jewellery. A man wearing a fluorescent jacket was seen in the area on January 21, walking along the victim’s driveway and near neighbouring properties carrying a 15ft pole.
Anyone who saw any suspicious vehicles or activity in the area, or saw the man in the hi-vis jacket is asked to contact Det. Con. Chaz Boshell from Marlow police station via the Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 101.
If you don’t want to speak directly to the police you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org No personal details are taken; information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
THAME’S ambitious plans for this year’s centenary of World War One have been revealed by the town council, from where the event will be co-ordinated, and they include researching the lives of every name on the town’s memorials, locating each grave throughout the world and placing a special cross on each resting place.
Thame’s Memorial Gardens in Autumn (Photographer unknown)
There are at least seven memorials in the town with around 180 individual names on them and it is hoped that everyone in the town, from its school children to those descendants of relatives directly involved in WW1, will take part in the research to produce a lasting record for the town. The big challenge will then be the ‘cross delivery programme’ to places including France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Egypt, India, Iraq, Singapore and Tanzania, as well as ocean graves where navy crews went down with their ships. How this will be achieved will depend on the ingenuity and imagination of the people of Thame – already offers have come from people taking holidays in some of these places or others making business trips to a region where a grave is sited.
It is hoped that the main funding for the project, initial estimated cost currently being £22,000, will come from the Heritage Lottery Fund but more help will be needed through grants, and donations from townspeople and local businesses.
An exhibition of material from the project is planned for Thame Museum and a big launch event on August 3 (the eve of the centenary of the start of WW1) to start the cross delivery programme.
More information about the project will be available via leaflets and posters, a website, a video and presentations at schools and town events.
Anyone can get involved by registering their interest with either David Bretherton or Mike Dyer at Thame Museum: 01844 212801.
THAME Football Partnership will be running a Half Term Soccer Course at Meadow View Park from February 17 – 21. These fun-packed football activity days are for children from under five, to 12 years-old, cost from £12.50 per day and kick off is at 9am to 3pm.
Children taking part will need a packed lunch, a healthy snack & lots of refreshment. The Club also has a Kiosk Bar on site for Drinks and Snacks. Pre-Booking is required for all days, £15 if booked on the day – save £5 if you book for the full week.
A little girl who lives in Wellington Street, Thame, is feeling very sad because her beloved cat, Mabel, who usually goes up stairs to wake her in the mornings, is missing.
Mabel the cat who has been missing from her Thame home since February 1, 2014
The cat’s name is Mabel and she went missing from home on February 1. The little girl’s mum, Alice Wakling, told Thame.Net: “It was raining so possible she could be in a shed or a garage somewhere. Mabel is approximately 1.5 years- old, is mainly black with white paws and bib, and a black splodge to the left side of her nose. She was wearing a pink collar with a diamonte heart name tag, with our address and phone number on. She is fairly long haired. She belongs to our eight year old daughter who is really missing her.”
Please search gardens, sheds and garages if you live in the area. Anyone with any information about Mabel’s whereabouts can phone Alice on 07800 502 149.
