Category: More News

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Healthcare NHS Trust has recently seen an increase in the number of people attending its A&E department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. This is consistent with other hospitals across the country.

The Trust has put plans in place to ensure patients continue to receive high quality care. However, in an effort to deal with the higher than expected demand, it is urging people to consider other options available to them before they decide to use A&E.

Dr Tina Kenny, medical director for Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust: “It is important that people only use their local A&E department if they are seriously unwell or critically injured. This allows us to treat the very sick people who need our care the most.”

Other options available for patients who are unwell include the minor injuries and illness unit at Wycombe Hospital, their GP and pharmacist and the NHS 111 advice and support service, which is free and provides telephone support 24 hours a day seven days a week.

The ambulance service too, which finds itself under pressure at this time of the year, is reminding members of the public to be ‘winterwise’ by drinking sensibly over Christmas and the New Year.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is warning that drinking too much alcohol can increase the likelihood of accidents and injuries to yourself and those around you. Regular, high intake of alcohol can also cause a variety of health problems, including high blood pressure (hypertension), alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis of the liver. It can also lead to destructive behaviour, such as drink driving.

SCAS stated in a statement today: “SCAS would encourage people to have fun over the Christmas period but stick to the recommended drinking limits. Women should not drink more than 2-3 units a day (no more than a
standard 175ml glass of wine ABV 13%) whilst men should not drink more than 3-4 units a day (that’s not much more than a pint of strong lager, beer or cider ABV 5.2%).”

SCAS, often in partnership with local healthcare partners, has resources in place to support those injured or taken ill while enjoying the festivities in our city centres this Christmas and New Year, including the SOS bus, which is provided in partnership with St John Ambulance (SJA), which has two treatment beds and three portable beds to treat patients with minor injuries. It runs every Friday and Saturday night at the Cornmarket in Oxford city centre from 10.30pm to 5.30am. SJA first aiders will be treating patients.

Rob Kemp, Operations Director (acting) for SCAS, said: “We want to wish all our public a very Merry Christmas and at the same time want to remind members of the public to enjoy themselves responsibly during the festive period as injuries and accidents are more likely and more severe with the influence of alcohol so please be safe.

“We also want everyone to be aware that this is an incredibly busy period for the ambulance crews. As a result we put on extra resources to cope with the expected demand; we therefore rely on the public to use us wisely to help to ensure that patient care is not compromised assisting us to respond to those patients in genuine life-threatening situations.

““If you do sustain minor injuries or illnesses whilst enjoying the night time economy then please use resources available such as the SOS bus, Safe Space, the ICE bus or the FIRST Stop bus. Use all NHS services appropriately and remember to only call 999 in life-threatening emergencies.”

 

THE Mayor of Thame, Jeannette Matelot Green, drew 24 winning tickets from Thame Players’ Christmas Prize Draw at the Players Theatre on Monday, December 15. Sales of the prize draw tickets have contributed £800 to the theatre’s Building A Better Theatre development fund (following deduction of administrative costs).

The first prize was £200 in cash, donated by a Thame Players’ member, with runner-up prizes donated by local attractions such as Waterperry Gardens, the Wormsley Estate, the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Heritage Railway, and Thame Football Partnership, as well as other runner-up prizes donated by local retailers including Phoenix Electronics, Treacle’s Tea Room, Haddenham Garden Centre, Wren’s Butchers, Isabella’s Closet, Wally’s Toy Shop, and the Cross Keys pub.

Thame Players also contributed prizes of five pairs of complimentary tickets to see Thame Players’ productions in 2015, which include How the Other Half Loves, Yes Prime Minister, Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, Journey’s End, and the annual pantomime, Puss in Boots.

Additional prizes of a bottle of bubbly were each won by the person who had sold the most tickets and by the first name drawn from the bucket who had purchased  £10 worth of tickets. Details of the winners are available on request by emailing thameplayers@gmail.com.

This is the second year that Thame Players have held a Christmas Prize Draw, as part of the fundraising activities they undertake to raise funds for refurbishment of the
100-year old theatre building in Nelson Street, a former Methodist chapel. During 2014 successful fundraising activities, together with grant-funding from South Oxfordshire District Council, Thame Town Council, and various bodies including the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, the Theatres Trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation and
the Foyle Foundation have enabled a new heating system to be installed, a new row of seats to be added, enlargement of the stage, and a reconfiguration of the balcony.
Further building and refurbishment projects for 2015 are yet to be announced.

Thame Players spokesperson, Helen Johns, said: “Thame Players are very grateful for the support of the local visitor attractions and retailers who have contributed goods to the Prize Draw. Without their generosity it would not be possible to stage a Christmas Prize Draw with so many attractive prizes to be won.”

THAME PLAYERS CHRISTMAS PRIZE DRAW – LIST OF PRIZES

First Prize £200 in Cash (Donated by a Thame Players’ member)

Second Prize A Limited Edition Cricketing Print, entitled ‘Cricket at Wormsley’, by acclaimed cricket artist Jocelyn Galsworthy, valued at £125
(Donated by Wormsley Cricket Ground on the Getty Estate)

Third Prize Season Ticket for Two with a Year’s Free Entry to Waterperry Gardens, valued at £47.50, plus 10% Discount on Gifts, Books and Plants bought in the Garden Shop (Donated by Waterperry Gardens)

Fourth Prize Daewoo Compact Cylinder 1500 w Vaccuum Cleaner (model RC-350BK) valued at £39 (Donated by Phoenix Electronics)

Runner-Up Prizes
Five Pairs of Tickets to any Thame Players’ Productions in 2015
(Donated by Thame Players)

Six Tickets to any 2014/15 Season Home Game at Meadow Park
(Donated by Thame Football Partnership)

Family Travel Voucher for Four – Complimentary Travel for up to 2 Adults and 2 Children on a scheduled train service (single occasion March-October 2015)
(Donated by Chinnor & Princes Risborough Heritage Steam Railway)

Traditional English Afternoon Tea for Two with freshly made sandwiches, sultana scones, clotted cream, preserves, a selection of fresh patisserie, tea or coffee (Donated by Treacle’s Tea Room)

A Round of Drinks worth £20 at Thame’s Award-Winning Real Ale Pub
(Donated by The Cross Keys)

A Beautiful ‘Envy’ Fashion Scarf
(Donated by Isabella’s Closet)

Christmas Gift Voucher for £10
(Donated by Wren’s Butchers)

A Soft Cuddly Toy
(Donated by Wally’s Toy Shop)

Speciality Coffee or Tea and Scrumptious Cakes for Two
(Donated by Wheatley Farm Shop)

A Bottle of Italian Montiero White Wine made from the Gavi grape
(Donated by Majestic Wines)

A Gift Voucher worth £10 to Spend on Cosmetic and Fragrance Beauty Products
(Donated by Powder Cosmetics)

An Energy Healing Session with Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Benefits
(Donated by Trudi Lambert)

Afternoon Tea for Two at the Gardener’s Retreat Coffee Shop
(Donated by Haddenham Garden Centre)

A Framed Black & White Print of Macready Performing King Lear
(Donated by Simon Williams, of Upstairs Downstairs, Holby City and Don’t Wait Up fame)

Thame Players is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers offering a varied range of productions, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema for All. The theatre is also used as a venue during Thame Food Festival and the Thame Arts & Literature Festival.

FOR more information about Thame Players, including What’s On, visit http://thameplayers.co.uk/

Thame Players are still fundraising: to donate any amount, large or small, to the Building A Better Theatre fund, please contact Helen Johns on 0771 743 4983.

HISTORY was made today (December 16) on the winners’ podium at Silverstone as three county council leaders signed a tripartite agreement they hope will  jointly boost the economic prospects of nearly two million residents. 

In the first tri-county council alliance of its type, the leaders of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, Ian Hudspeth, Martin Tett and Jim Harker OBE, jointly aim to make an offer to Government to support them in unlocking further economic growth and to significantly build on the £45 billion (GVA) the area already generates.

In the offer, called ‘A shared approach to driving prosperity’, the three councils call on the Government to work with them to develop a brand new ‘combined authority’ alliance focused on their common economies of innovation, science, technology and creative industries.

Building on the established relationships between the three county-based local economic partnerships, the alliance is asking Government to:

* allow joint new plans to be developed for transport, spatial planning and other key infrastructure
* devolve employment and skills funding so employers’ needs can be properly met locally.
* support a devolved approach to the local trunk road network
* incentivise the three councils so they properly benefit from encouraging new growth
* give them enhanced powers over bus services and the ability to maximise public transport between key towns and cities
* ensure the best economic benefits are unlocked from projects such as East-West rail and the connectivity of technology centres like Silverstone to the national road network.

The alliance is also asking for legislation to deliver, what the three leaders call: “… a new and more flexible governance structure tailored to suit such a bold arrangement.”

Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Ian Hudspeth, explained: “By joining up with Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire I believe we can maximise the benefits to the regional economy by improving transport links and strategic planning so we can connect people, jobs and homes.”

You can read more about the alliance here: LINK (external link)

A partially sighted, budding young squash player from Thame’s Racquets Fitness Centre, overcame his fear of a renowned opponent on Saturday (13/12), to make his mark in a one-day junior squash tournament for  juniors playing squash in and around Thame.

 

 

 

 

Playing in his first tournament, Alex Adams-Wright, 15, showed fantastic spirit taking on players with much more experience, winning through the round robin stage against three other regular and talented players, and then went on to play the club’s under 11, nationally ranked talent, 8 year old, Ollie Coulcher-Porter. Alex found that strength was a great help in this particular final and applied plenty of the new squash techniques from recent coaching, to win through.

Alex’s coach, Sue Martin-Downhill, said: “Alex has made great progress in his squash over the past two months and despite being partially sighted, he finds that this is a sport that he can really enjoy. His understanding of the game has improved such that he is able to compete against players who have been playing for much longer.”

The tournament was attended by 16 players, including one who had travelled from Sonning Common to join in. Luca Babb, who plays at Henley Squash Club, joined in with Roger Riddler’s Saturday morning squash coaching group and then followed that by winning the top grade. Although he won his matches in straight games, each of the games were very close.

Sue added: “All the players were extremely helpful throughout the tournament – all the matches were refereed by one of the other players with a few learning how to mark during the day. Learning how to mark is very good for helping children take charge of situations.

“In the beginners grade, Matthew Harper and Fionn Leaney had an exciting close game. Matthew just came through 3-2. Fionn started playing squash just six weeks ago and appears to be naturally talented with amazing hand- eye co-ordination. Matt, who has been playing a little longer, is a dedicated player who has shown that practice can really make a serious difference. Matt’s hand-eye co-ordination is now excellent and his coaches, Roger Ridler and myself, are looking forward to watching Matt grow into an exceptional player and to compete in more tournaments in the future.”

Sue concluded: “Racquets would like to thank Meritus International Hotels for their great prizes! The winners of each of the grades got Meritus Mobile device Battery packs and light pens, the Runners-up – battery packs and the others, light pens – the kids loves them!”

You can find out more about Racquets Squash coaching for all ages, by contacting Sue Martin-Downhill on 07860 328880, or emailing her via: sue@racquets-fitness-centre.com, or popping into Racquets Fitness Centre, North Street, Thame, OX9 3TH, phone: 01844 261754 and by visiting the website: www.racquets-fitness-centre.com

A planning application has been submitted for 203 new homes in Thame, opposite Lord Williams’s Upper School, on an area allocated in the Thame Neighbourhood Plan as Site F. The proposals include a range of starter and family homes, 81 affordable homes for below market rent or shared ownership schemes, new areas of public open space, a new site for allotments and a children’s play area.

Spokesman for Bloor Homes, Daniel Hayman, said: “The development of the proposals have been influenced and guided by the town’s Neighbourhood Plan, public consultation and a design guide looking at the characteristics of Thame and of the site itself. This has led to a development which will feature specifically designed homes reflecting local design and materials and Bloor Homes would expect to make contributions towards local services and infrastructure, where they are required, via a Section 106 legal agreement. “

Section 106 contributions can cover a wide variety of areas including education, transport improvements and health, as well as leisure and community facilities, depending on needs created by the development itself.

The plans will be reviewed and formally consulted upon by South Oxfordshire District Council over the next few months with statutory bodies and neighbouring properties, and trial archaeological investigations will be taking place in early January.

The full planning application can be read here: http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/ccm/support/Main.jsp?MODULE=ApplicationDetails&REF=P14/S3841/FUL and Bloor Homes is inviting anyone who would like any further information about the scheme to contact them on 0800 1488911 or to email: sitef@bloorhomesthame.co.uk

A new scheme to improve services to victims of domestic abuse, has been rolled out across Oxfordshire and Berkshire today, December 15.

Thames Valley Police, Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and victim agencies will work together to ensure cases of domestic abuse in Oxford, South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White House, Cherwell and West Oxfordshire, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire, Slough, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham are processed more quickly than they are currently.

In a statement, Thames Valley Police said: “Domestic abuse is a serious crime, so it is important that the time it takes to get cases to trial is kept as short as possible. The overall aim of the scheme is to improve the outcome at court for victims of domestic violence and speedier justice for those accused of such.”

Under the scheme, all domestic abuse cases will be listed for a first hearing at the local Specialist Domestic Violence Court. This hearing will be within 14 days from the date the suspect was charged. For cases which go on to trial, the aim will be to list for trial within two to three weeks of the first hearing rather than the current six to eight weeks.

Superintendent Rory Freeman, Head of TVP Criminal Justice, speaking on behalf of all the criminal justice agencies involved in the scheme said: “The evaluation of the pilot in Buckinghamshire, which launched last December, has proven it to be very successful. The enhanced file at the first hearing ensures that more guilty pleas are secured, meaning fewer cases are adjourned for trial. If we process cases more quickly, we do not risk victim disengagement and are able to bring more offenders to justice.

“It is anticipated that we will also see positive results across Oxfordshire and Berkshire and a reduction of domestic abuse cases which don’t make it to court because the victim has withdrawn their support. It is important to remember that everything we do is about supporting the victim and achieving the desired outcome for them. This scheme provides an improved service to victims of this insidious and often violent crime.”

Since the pilot began in Buckinghamshire, the overall conviction rate for domestic abuse cases has been 68 per cent, with 46 per cent of those coming from a guilty plea at the first hearing.

A man from Devon has been sentenced to a total of seven years’ imprisonment for sexual offences relating to child, that took place in Thame and High Wycombe, between 2004 and 2008.

Carl Crook, aged 45, of Pale Gate Close, Honiton, Devon, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (12/12) for a number of sexual offences relating to a single child.

Following a five day trial, a jury found Cook guilty of three sexual assaults of a child under 13, five counts of sexual activity with a child, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and two charges of making indecent photographs of children.

Crook had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of taking indecent photographs of a child.

Investigating officer, Det Con Maria Morrisey of the Thames Valley Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: “I am delighted with the sentence given to Crook, who has proved to be an extremely dangerous and predatory paedophile.

“The jury saw through Crook’s lies and concluded he groomed his victim before taking advantage of her for his own sexual gratification.

“I praise the victim for showing the courage to give her testament first to police and then to the court. I also praise the jury who did their duty with diligence and had to listen in detail about Crook’s depraved crimes. Finally, I praise all Thames Valley Police and Devon and Cornwall Police officers and staff who helped in this investigation, without them Crook’s conviction would not have been possible.”

A cycling club from Haddenham, whose members pedaled over three days and nights to Thame’s twin town, Montesson, presented a cheque for £12,377.90 to the Florence Nightingale Hospice during the Thame Christmas Lights event last Friday (05/12).

The Hillbillies raised the money through sponsorship of the ride which saw them battle through sun, rain and storms before arriving to the cheers of a welcoming crowd of dignitories and well-wishers during the regular, weekend visit to Montesson in September, organised by the Thame and District Twinning Association.

Montesson’s Maire-adjoint (equivalent to a deputy Mayor here in England), Huguette Fouche (standing left in the picture), took a break from making crepes on the Montesson produce stall at the event, to support Justin Shardlow and his team of cyclists present the cheque to Sue Jenkins, Executive Director of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.

TWO young entrepreneurs from Thame, one a make-up artist and the other a photographer, have pooled their artistic talents to help promote awareness of Breast Cancer in a very unique way!

Photographer, Kayleigh Victoria and Make-up designer, Lorna Shepherd, together organised a photoshoot, with an extremely Pink theme, called The Pink Ballerina, and the idea is to raffle a beautiful print of the photograph to a member of the public, once everyone who wants a chance of owning the print makes a donation of their choice to Cancer Research UK. The higher the donation the better the chance of winning. The lucky winner will be picked on December 19, 2014.

There is a just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/LornaShepherd14/ and each £1 donated gets the donor’s name in the raffle once.

Lorna explained: “We feel that, although the cancer charities have specific times of year when they promote certain cancers, October being the Breast Cancer awareness month, they should be raising awareness and funds all year round. So our shoot, The Pink Ballerina, will do exactly that.”

Lorna and Kayleigh enlisted a team of people to create the shoot with them, including model – Sophie Dedman, and hair stylist – Charlotte Wilkinson. The images were shot at the Blackfrog Studios (Jefferson Way, Thame) whose owner Steve Lockwood donated the studio time in support of the two ladies’ charity fundraising project.

You can read more abour Lorna and Kayleigh’s inspiration for collaboration, here: https://www.thame.net/archives/14175