Author: Sonja Francis

THAME High Street has been officially recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ among British high streets, and yesterday (November 30), was honoured with a special certificate at the Great British High Street Awards ceremony at Admiralty House, in Whitehall, London.

The event was hosted jointly by High Streets Minister, Marcus Jones, and the President of Boots, Simon Roberts, who are co-Chairs of the Government’s Future High Streets Forum, which instigated the Great British High Streets Awards. The judging panel said that the Rising Stars particularly impressed them ‘with their commitment to working together to bring new life into their high streets’ and of Thame in particular, special mention was made of its Neighbourhood Plan and for the way Thame has ‘been put back on the map through the use of social media’.

Two of Thame’s GB High Streets team, Helen Johns and Sonja Francis, were at Admiralty House to receive the award on behalf of the town, supported by Thame’s MP, John Howell, who was instrumental in formulating the Government’s Neighbourhood Planning policy.

After the event, John Howell said: “It was a great pleasure to be at the awards ceremony and to support Thame. I think Thame did very well to be chosen from across the country and I was particularly pleased to see that its Neighbourhood Plan was specifically mentioned. This is good news for Thame and the excellence of what it has to offer in its High Street.”

In his introduction Marcus Jones said: “All of today’s finalists have proven themselves to be among Britain’s best high streets and I congratulate them on their good work. We’ll be sharing all of their top tips with other high streets across the country to make sure others learn from their success.”

A delighted Helen Johns from the Thame team said: “A small group of people put time and effort into preparing Thame’s application during the summer and it is fantastic to hear that our hard work has paid off because of the Rising Star award being given to the town. I would like to thank all those who worked hard to ensure Thame has been put on the national map in this way and hopefully, next year, when we are told the competition will be even bigger, we can look forward to seeing Thame moving up the scale and awarded as winner in the market town category.”

References: The Future High Street Forum – http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/about
The Great British High Street Awards – http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk

A charity Cake Fest, held in a Thame pub, by the the Thame Scooterists’ club, The Red Kites, has raised over £200, towards Cancer Research.

With the support and donations from the landladies of the Falcon pub in Thame, bar staff, all the regulars, Red Kites scooter club members, work colleagues and friends, the daughter of one of the club’s members, Amy Southern, has raised the first £K of her target £3K for the charity.

Red Kites member, Serena Chamberlain, explained: “Amy is currently studying at Cardiff University and hopes to enter the field of medicine when she graduates, and this charity is very close to her heart. We wanted to help support her and by selling home baked goodies, the grand total from the Red Kites Charity Cake Fest was £233.45, money that will go directly to Amy’s donation page https://k16cardiff.everydayhero.com/uk/amy-southern

In August 2016, Amy will be undertaking the challenge of a lifetime, climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise more money towards her target £3K which will go to Worldwide Cancer Research to help them pay for the technology and resources required to find cures for all types of cancer, all over the world.

Amy said: “I am overjoyed and hugely appreciate everyone’s help and support. Sadly, cancer can affect many of us, whether personally, or through family and friends.”

ACTION Fraud (National Fraud Intelligence Bureau) has warned today that there has been a series of incidents recently whereby fraudsters either phone or call at the homes of elderly people, claiming to be police officers.

The fake officer/s claim that they are investigating a fraud which they believe the elderly person to be a victim of. The fake officer/s will then request the bank cards and personal identification numbers (PIN) of the victim and claim these are needed for investigation purposes. If the first contact was made by a phone call, the fake officer/s will tell the victim that someone will be over to collect the evidence. In one case the victim was instructed to attend their local bank and withdraw all of the money from their account. The suspect was left alone in the victim’s house whilst the victim carried out the instructions.

The advice is, before letting anyone into your home who claims to be from any law enforcement agency, ask to see their identity card and check it by calling 101.
Ask if they can attend at a pre-arranged time when a family member or friend can also be present.
If you receive a phone call from a police officer, ask for their name and force and tell them you will call them back. Wait a few minutes and then use 101 to call them back through their force’s switchboard and verify their identity.

The Police will never ask for your PIN or passwords. Do not give this information to anyone.
The Police will never request that you withdraw/transfer any money to them.
If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud you can report it online via http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or by telephone 0300 123 2040.

MUSIC, wine, stories and songs in the village church, will launch the first volume of a book about the history of the village of Shabbington, near Thame, next Friday (December 4).

The richly-illustrated book ‘Shabbington, A Thousand Years of Village History’ recounts the fascinating story of the village and its relationship with Thame, through centuries of momentous events from Domesday to the First World War. The proceeds from sale of the book will go to charity.

Writer Richard Mayou said: “Shabbington fields are full of mysterious lumps and bumps. The church dates back to medieval times, and there are stories of ghostly sightings. The village has been hiding a fascinating history.”

The highly-readable account touches not only on nationally-important events such as the Norman conquest, the Black Death, and the Civil and Napoleonic wars, but brings alive the everyday hardships of villagers in rural poverty, and the manoeuvrings of the wealthy lords and vicars that put their successive stamp on the village down the ages.

A second volume will explore life from 1920 to the present day. The book costs £14.99 and all proceeds will go to the Friends of St Mary Magdalene Church. The book can be bought from The Book House in Thame High Street, and the Thame Museum, and signed copies will be available from the author at the launch party at 7.30pm, at St Mary Magdalene Church, Mill Road, Shabbington.