Category: Thame news

A Bridge Player from Thame has been awarded the Dimmie Fleming Award, 2010, in recognition of his hard work in promoting the game of bridge locally.

Bill McCarthy has been a Thame Bridge Club member for over seventeen years, many of those as club team captain. He has also been a committee member for the Aylesbury Bridge Club for at least 10 years. Bill was the sole scorer until Bridgewebs came into use and has set up his own website to show the Aylesbury Club results and ladders. He is also stand in scorer for the Thame Club.

As well as duplicating board for both Aylesbury and Thame Bridge clubs, as well as Oxfordshire Bridge Association home county matches, Bill directs at both clubs and has taken on responsibility for movement cards. He regularly directs and/or scores various charity events.

Bill ran the OBA county championship for at least two years and was an active member of the OBA Tournament Committee for several years and has maintained the websites for the results of all the County league competitions.

Bill himself told Thamenews.Net: “It is very pleasant to be awarded recognition for something you enjoy doing.”

PHOTO: Bill receives his certificate at the English Bridge Union?s AGM from the Chairman, Sally Bugden.

THE founder member of Thame’s nationally acclaimed family butchers, died yesterday while on holiday.

Michael Newitt, who in 1965 with his wife, Susan started the business in the seventeenth century butcher’s shop on the High Street, Thame, was on holiday in Antigua when he died

The family business he founded, M. Newitt & Sons, has since grown into a nationally renowned food producer, achieving numerous awards and accolades, including the Britain’s Best Butcher’s Shop Award, just weeks ago.

PHOTO: Michael Newitt and his son Tom, photographed after receiving their award for Best Butchers Shop in Britain, at the 2010 Meat Management Industry Awards ceremony back in June. The guest of honour was the England World Cup goal keeper, Gordon Banks.

Here is the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Diane Jackson and PCSO Lucy Thorne, relating to everything from anti-social behaviour and alcohol, to shoplifting and criminal damage:

Crime Info:

CRIME mapping shows a decrease in anti-social behaviour (ASB) from 24.7 to 23.7 between the period of May ? July 2009 and the same period for 2010. This is a 4.1 percent decrease. By providing high visibility patrols at key times in key areas, we work to deter/prevent ASB in the town. We engage regularly with the young people, and conduct home visits with parents present when necessary if individuals are coming to our attention.

More information on the above categories can be found on the Thames Valley Police website under local crime mapping Thames Valley Police

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Info:

DURING September, PCSO Lucy Thorne has had two alcohol seizures. The first from a young person under the age of 18 in Southern Road Rec. The second seizure was from a large group of young boys and girls at Priest End River. Following this incident and the concerns based around the young people gathering in this area, we will continue to patrol and tackle any ASB issues at the Riverside. This is a very dark, secluded area, far away from the town centre and is extremely dangerous for young people to gather.

ONE SECTION 59 (S59) has been issued to a local resident, following reports of alarm and distress from other residents and police officers. For those of you who are not aware a S59 Warning is a first response in dealing with anti social use of a vehicle and it?s a warning that is recorded on the police database. If the person or vehicle is seen again to be using a vehicle in an anti social way then this will be seized.

THE ASB meeting was a success. Individuals that have been coming to our attention more over recent weeks will be dealt with accordingly by the ASB team. We have received reports of broken glass bottles in the baseball field backing onto Churchill Crescent. We would like to remind people how seriously we take this behaviour. The areas suffering with this type of ASB will be patrolled regularly and any offenders will be dealt with appropriately.

THAME FAIR passed with little crime or disorder, which we were very pleased about with improvement on last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dkte5B1BFg

Community Messaging

THIS free service provides information to subscribers about crime and police activity in their area via phone or email. It also includes information on what we and our partner services are doing to bring offenders to justice or combat anti-social behaviour, and information on opportunities for local residents to raise concerns with their local policing teams.
More information can be obtained via our website, and you can sign up here too:
LINK

Offenders brought to justice:

IN September, there have been 12 offenders brought to justice. Four of these were related to shoplifting incidents, three were for the possession of Cannabis, one was related to criminal damage to vehicles and another for criminal damage to dwellings. Three offenders were brought to justice for selling alcohol to young people aged under 18 years.

Comments on all priorities:

THR Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) priority for Thame is:
1. Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) – Key areas are patrolled when on duty and any ASB is dealt with and youths are moved on if necessary. Where needed, home visits are carried out with parents present.

Partnership Activity:

DURING September, we have worked closely with housing associations, carrying out site inspections and home visits, tackling very few neighbourhood disputes.

WE were delighted to be invited to Barley Hill Primary School on 28th September to attend the opening of the new teaching block. This provided us with a great opportunity to engage with other invited guests and staff.

We are also working closely with Lord Williams Upper School, where we will be holding our Distraction Burglary Day on Wednesday 13 October between 09.00-12.30. The event will take place at the Leisure Centre on the school site. Some years ago, the police held a well received presentation aimed at trying to target bogus callers. As distraction burglaries continue to plague us, we will be running another presentation morning, involving a local drama group, other agencies and partners etc. Our target audience will be the elderly and vulnerable. Free transport will be available from the town centre for residents who require it. Posters will soon be placed around the town and leaflets will be available and distributed as necessary. If you would like more information on this event or would like to confirm attendance, please call 0845 8 505 505 and ask for PCSO C8966 Lucy Thorne or PCSO C9610 Diane Jackson.

PCSO Lucy Thorne would like to take this opportunity to inform young people looking for work, or looking for assistance with finding employment, that from Wednesday 13th October, there will a Connextions representative available to speak with at the Young Persons Centre in Thame from 14.00-16.30. This will be held weekly on Wednesdays from 14.00-16.30.

COUNTRY Watch meetings are being held quarterly.

Planned Activity:
There are monthly operations for Country Watch.

WE will continue to deploy the Speed Indication Device (SID) in the area on a monthly basis, on roads which have been highlighted for speeding. We will also be looking to deploy the Automatic Number Plate Recognition Device along with the SID to tackle travelling criminals entering and travelling through our area.

PCSO Thorne visited the Beavers on Friday 24 September at the Scout Hut.

PCSO Thorne and PCSO Jackson will be visiting the Rainbows on 13th October to provide a talk to the young girls on safety.

Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) Activity:
We continue to support our Neighbourhood Specialist Officer with any priority actions set by the NAG.

Good news stories:

In September PCSO Jackson and PCSO Thorne carried out the routine drug swabbing in all Public Houses in Thame. The results were presented at the Pubwatch meeting at the beginning of the month. Any premises that need re-swabbing following the results will be swabbed again when Licensing request them.

PCSO Jackson assisted with the arrest of an offender for Theft. She identified the offender from a previous incident.

Have Your Say online

YOU can now send non-emergency messages to us using the online form that is available on the Thames Valley Police website. A number of people have already sent their concerns using this method. For you to do that please follow the link: LINK Please allow some time for us to get back to you as we do check our mail box only at certain times of the day.

Have Your Say Meetings

? PCSO C8966 Lucy Thorne, Monday 11 October 2010- 3pm -5pm at the Co-Op Caf

THAME primary school teacher, Fiona Dyer of St Joseph?s Catholic Primary School, has shown her true grit and determination by achieving one of her lifetime dreams by completing the recent Great North Run.

What is remarkable about this achievement is that whilst at University, Fiona was told that she would be crippled and in a wheelchair by the age of 30 because of her arthritic condition.

Wanting to demonstrate that if you follow your dreams anything is achievable, Fiona asked her consultant at Stoke Mandeville if her body was up to the run. Her consultant said knowing Fiona?s personality, anything was possible and she was a great inspiration to us all; the consultant was also inspired to train and run with her.

?The experience was truly amazing, almost overwhelming,” said Fiona. “The race had a great atmosphere and the support from spectators and fellow runners was fantastic.”

At times the race was difficult but Fiona remembered how the children at St Joseph’s had arranged a special assembly in her honor singing Chariots of Fire!

?Determination is what makes me the person I am,” she continued. “We can all achieve our dreams if we try.?

So far, over

THREE years into the housing slump and homes in Oxfordshire are still out of reach for thousands of households throughout the county. That is according to a new report published by the National Housing Federation today (Tuesday 12 October). South East Home Truths 2010 warns that house prices across the South East region increased more than 11% in the year to May 2010, and were rising faster than any other region outside London.

The report is being launched at a special reception at the Jubilee rooms at the Palace of Westminster this morning, at a special event being attended by South East MPs and Councillors. Representatives from Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council and South Oxfordshire District Council are among them, and will hear that South East house prices have risen three times faster than incomes over the past decade.

With the average home in Oxfordshire costing

DISTRICT Cllr for Thame, David Dodds, has reported that plans for the much needed and long-awaited refurbishment of the public toilets in Market House, Thame, are taking a while because they are part of a grade 2, Listed building but that consultations are taking place with the district’s Conservation Officer.

FLOODING

Following the flooding of several properties in Chiltern Vale, Thame, two years ago, works to the flood plain are apparently on hold, awaiting direction from the Environment Agency. Some flood eleviation work has been carried out at Cuttlebrook and the waterway that feeds into it.

EXCITING PROJECTS FOR THE TOWN

A partnering agreement making Thame Town Coucil the Acountable Financial body for the spending of a

THE Rotary Club of Thame is aiming to take part in the Rotary in GB & Ireland (RIBI)Challenge to set a new Guiness World Record for planting bulbs.

The challenge will involve around local 322 people planting a minimum of five purple crocus bulbs each an hour in at least one location, including The Moats on Lea Park.

The Challenge aims to mark Rotary Day, February 23, 2011, and to help make Thame a more pleasant place to live.

IMAGE: Courtesy of Zazzle.co.uk

AN amazing donation of photographic books to the Oxfam Bookshop in Thame, is currently featuring in the windows and instore display at the shop in Cornmarket.

The stunning collection of 400 books includes titles from the simple ‘How to’ books to the rare and collectable monographs of important photographers of the past and present.

Photographers featured include P H Emerson, Roger Fenton, David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lynn Davis, Lord Snowdon, John Thomson,vSam Haskins, Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ernst Haas, Cecil Beaton, Alfred Stieglitz, Eugene Atget, Don McCullin and many others.

All the books are in very good condition.

PHOTO: Nude, London, 1950 By Bill Brandt

A THAME police officer has expressed concern that looming cuts in police funding could do away with PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers).

“There are no pressing problems in Thame at the moment,” PC Russell Hounslow told Thame Town Council last night, “and looking at the crime figures for September over the last three years, crime is falling in the town.”

“At the moment we are not quite sure how the cuts will affect policing in Thame, including what the future is for PCSOs. But if they are taken away, that would probably put more pressure on uniformed officers working in Thame.”

PC Hounslow said he generally welcomed the introduction of the Street Pastors who, he explained, will probably patrol the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights (and early mornings) during the winter, and the open spaces where people congegate, in the summer.

“The Street Pastors will be extra pairs of eyes and ears,” he said, “which will help, and hopefully crime will again fall in Thame.”

Following the disbanding of the Thame NAG (Neighbourhood Action Group), which helped set priorities for local policing, PC Hounslow will now be liaising with the town council more and his team are organising more ‘Have your say’ meetings, usually held in the Co-op cafe, where local people can meet officers and discuss any concerns.

In answer to a question from a Cllr Owen Davies, PC Hounslow said that very little crime had taken place at this year’s fun fair, and that trouble with a gang from Aylesbury was able to be averted by use of CCTV cameras and Stewards following them around the town.

PHOTO: Thame PCSO Lucy Thorne talks to market traders in Thame.

OXFORDSHIRE County Council is urging people to consider joining Oxfordshire CarShare to mark national Liftshare week (October 4-8).

The free service at www.oxfordshirecarshare.com is a great way to experience the benefits of car sharing and is available to anyone travelling in or through Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Rodney Rose said: “We are asking people to consider celebrating Liftshare Week by joining Oxfordshire CarShare.

“Whether you drive or not, the website provides the opportunity to choose a travelling companion – or even companions – significantly reducing petrol and parking costs, decreasing pollution and cutting rush-hour congestion. There are no obligations involved in joining the service and it is completely free.”

The average member of the Liftshare network saves over