PUT your brain to the test this month, when the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC) comes to Chearsley Village Hall for its popular general knowledge quiz.
Back for the third year, eggheads are being encouraged to take part by submitting a team (maximum eight people) for the event taking place on Saturday 28th April from 7.15pm.
Tickets cost
STUDENTS at Stagecoach Theatre Arts, Thame, have given a warm welcome to their new principal Nicky Goodwin, who is keen to spread the word about the wider advantages to young people of the performing arts.
Stagecoach Thame has been running at The Phoenix Performing Arts Centre, Lord Williams?s (Lower) School for two years, providing high quality training in singing, dance and drama to children aged 4 to 18.
New Principal, Nicky Goodwin, is looking forward to her new role. “I am so excited to be taking over such a welcoming school with a fabulous, lively atmosphere,” she said. “There’s a team of incredibly talented and dedicated teachers who make every lesson exciting and fun. I am a firm believer that Stagecoach does not only give children training in Performing Arts, but also valuable skills for life.
“Having previously worked for six years at Stagecoach Oxford and having two of my own children attend Stagecoach, I have seen first-hand the difference Stagecoach can make to a child and it is fantastic to be able to offer this opportunity to children in the Thame area!”
On Saturday, May 5, at 2.30pm. at The Phoenix Performing Arts Centre, in Towersey Road, Thamem Stagecoach Thame will be holding an Open Meeting where parents can go and meet Nicky and her teachers at the school, to find out more about what Stagecoach Thame has to offer. For further information, or to enrol for the new term starting Saturday, April 21, contact Nicky on 01865 763767. www.stagecoach.co.uk/thame
IT was all about style, glamour and the shades of jewels at a fashion show in Thame this week, in support of the valuable work of the town’s Citizens Advice Bureau.
The organisers, The Friends of Thame and District CAB, have hailed the show a tremendous success.
“The town and its businesses rallied round and they were very generous”, said Janet Styles, a trustee of the voluntary organisation, “and we would like to thank everyone in the town who supported us in this enterprise.” A final figure for the sum raised has yet to be calculated but Mrs Styles estimated that it would be at least
THAME Bowls Club is targeting youngsters from Lord Williams’ School to try their hand at the game of Bowls this year. They are currently working with Sports teacher, Christine Daplyn at the School to try to get a teaching module at the Bowls Club this summer, which will go towards a GCSE in Sport.
The Chairman of Thame Bowls Club, Bill Giles OBE, the former head of the BBC Weather Forecasting, is very keen to promote the game of Bowls within the younger age groups locally.
Last summer 21 year old Natalie Melmore, the current Commonwealth Gold Medal winner in the Singles competition, visited the Club in Thame to demonstrate her skills and pass on knowledge to some eager teenagers from Lord Williams.
INVITATION FROM BILL GILES & THAME BOWLS CLUB
You are invited to try your hand at the game of Bowls at Thame Bowls Club’s Annual recruitment evening, in Queens Road, Thame, on TUESDAY, MAY 1ST & TUESDAY MAY 8TH from 6pm onwards.
Experienced Club Coaches will be on hand to demonstrate the basics to those people trying the game for the first time, and other Club members will be there to help and advise. All equipment, including Bowls and Shoes, will be provided, although if you bring your own flat-soled shoes to wear that will be fine.
Free Refreshments & Licensed Bar.
Come along and join in the fun and find out more about the great game of Bowls. We look forward to meeting you.
Bill Giles, Chairman and Vic Brooks, Club Captain.
BLOOD PRESSURE CHECK Haddenham and District Rotary Club is joining Thame Rotary Club to host a ?Know your blood pressure? event at the Co-operative Supermarket in Thame on Saturday, April 28 (10am-2pm). They will be offering the public a free blood pressure monitoring service and, along with Rotary Clubs nationwide and in partnership with the Stroke Association and the ambulance service, will be helping to raise awareness of the link between blood pressure and strokes by providing information and advice on stroke related health issues.
RUBBISH & RECYCLING Glass will be collected on Tuesday, May 1, as well as paper, cans and plastics. The following week’s rubbish collection (after the May Day holiday) will be on Wednesday, 9th May, instead of on the Tuesday.
DIARY DATES.
Thurs 26th April Parent Workshops The Haddenham Children?s Centre sessions, for parents of children aged 2-5, continue at the Scout and Guide Centre, Banks Park, (8-9.30pm). This time there?s a talk entitled ?Transition to School? – about school readiness and what your child is expected to do/know when entering school, with an opportunity to discuss any questions or concerns with staff from local schools. The third talk in the series is on Thursday, May 3rd, at the Scout and Guide Centre, and is on the subject of ?Paediatric First Aid? . As part of this talk you will also receive a Home Safety Starter Kit.
For more details of these and the other two talks in the series, or to book a place contact the Family Support Workers at Haddenham Children’s Centre – Kim (07867 553378) or Sam (07825 431062).
Sat 28th Haddenham Horticultural Society – Spring Show If you plan to enter spring flowers, floral arrangements or indoor plants for Haddenham Horticultural Society?s Mini Spring Show on Saturday, don?t forget to send your entry forms to the Show Committee, c/o 13 Gibson Lane, by Thursday, 26th April. Copies of the schedule (along with the application form) are available by calling Gay Jordan on 291490. You can view the exhibits from 10am until 11.20am, when the trophies will be presented and the raffle draw will take place.
Sat 28th Plant Sale etc At the Horticultural Society?s main fund-raiser of the year, which runs alongside the mini show at Haddenham Village Hall on Saturday from 9am, you can buy plants, books and jigsaws, home-made comestibles and produce, and white elephants. If you have labelled plants, raffle prizes or other items to donate, please take them to the hall from 8am onwards or deliver them in advance to 98 Churchway or 13 Gibson Lane.
Sun 29th Haddenham Puddleducks The pre-school, which began life as Haddenham Playgroup in 1966, is having a party – a (slightly belated) celebration of its 45th birthday – instead of its annual Spring Fair. The event is on Sunday (11.30am-1.30pm), at the Village Hall and you are invited to come and join the party. It starts with a chance for the children to meet Bob the Builder and continues with a children’s entertainer, balloon modelling, a bouncy castle, face painting, kids? crafts, party bag tombola and more. The grand finale is a show with Mr Tumbler. Entry is free and everyone is welcome. Refreshments and party lunch boxes will be available.
Sun 29th Choral Evensong As is usual when there is a fifth Sunday in the month, the Haddenham Benefice will be holding a Choral Evensong at 6.30pm on Sunday. It will be held, this time, at St Nicholas Church, Kingsey.
MAY
Tues 1st Tea Dance. Newcomers are welcome at the next tea dance on Tuesday (2-4pm) at Haddenham Village Hall. Dancing to live keyboard music includes ballroom, Latin and sequence. Entry is
AS the Thame Loyalty Card scheme continues to expand, the participating businesses have been competing with one another to attract the most new members.
During January, Gary Newbrook, who runs CAAOS, the computer shop in Cornmarket, Thame, managed to enrol the most new card holders from amongst his customers.
The Mayor of Thame, David Bretherton, took time out from his busy schedule – including helping to organise the royal visit next Wednesday (May 2) – to present Gary with a bottle of Champagne, just before the start of Tuesday’s Annual Town Meeting.
The Champagne was donated by Sean Fitzgerald, the Manager of Waitrose, Thame, who are promoting the scheme. Loyalty cards are available to buy for a life-time’s membership, for just
CHINNOR RFC have a very important play off this Saturday, at their Kingsey Road ground, where they will be playing Tonbridge Juddians, to win promotion to National 2 South, the fouth tier of Rugby in England.
And they want as many people as possible to go along to Kingsey Road on Saturday and cheer the local boys on to victory.
Chinnor have arrived at the edge of this pinnacle by finishing second in their league, the run up to which included a 20 match winning streak, scoring over 1000 points over 26 matches, and winning the Oxfordshire Senior Rugby Cup for the third year in a row. Their second team too reached their season zenith when they beat Henley 13-10 in the final!
Chinnor RFC Spokesman, Jamie Hazeldine, told ThameNews.Net: “If we are succesful, this will be a fantastic achievement for both the club and Thame as a whole, as we will get extra exposure at a higher level, with more people coming to watch our matches.
“As with the football club, cricket club and hockey club, Thame is blessed with some great facilities and sports teams and I think it is important that we can celebrate these as much as possible.”
SELF-portraits by pupils of St Joseph?s School in Thame have been used as part of Face Britain, a national project involving young people across the UK, to celebrate the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee and attempt to break a world record.
Every child at St Joseph?s created a self-portrait which was then brought together with thousands of children?s pictures from across the country. The resulting images of the Queen were projected onto Buckingham Palace for three nights.
?I loved the idea of all my friends being on display together. It was fun to create my own portrait but even more exciting to be part of the final portrait of the Queen,? said Esther Heywood, age 7.
Visit St Joseph?s School on their Open Afternoon on Wednesday, May 9, from 1.30pm-2.45pm.
SOURCE; Contributed
THE identity of the royal visitor to Thame, to attend the RAF Halton Freedom Parade, has been revealed.
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall will attend base’s Inaugural Freedom Parade through Thame on Wednesday, May 2. As their Honorary Air Commodore, The Duchess will receive the Freedom Scroll on behalf of RAF Halton.
Recently, on the seventh anniversary of her marriage to The Prince of Wales, The Duchess was appointed by The Queen to be a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), for personal services.
The town council says: “RAF Halton, by marching through the streets of Thame with bayonets fixed, colours flying, drums beating and band playing, will demonstrate their right to bear arms in Thame. The parade will also allow them to thank the people of Thame for the support they show to themselves and the Armed Forces in general, at a time when they are deployed on operations across the globe.”
BECAUSE of high demand for funds made available recently to help Thame shopkeepers spruce up their frontages, more money has now been made available.
Shopkeepers in Thame, chinnor and Wheatley are being encouraged to help brighten up their surroundings and make a real difference to the local shopping area, by taking advantage of this follow-on shop front improvement scheme, being funded by South Oxfordshire District Council’s Economic Development team.
The scheme is open to all freehold owners, lease holders (with at least five years on their lease) and tenants of premises in Thame with commercial shop fronts. These include:
shops ? including hairdressers, beauty salons, funeral directors, laundrettes, dry cleaners etc
financial and professional services ? banks, building societies and estate agents
restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways.
Funding is available for work ranging from entirely new shop fronts and large scale replacement and repair work, to painting, signage, displays or lighting.
Since large parts of Thame town centre are in a conservation area, this can add significantly to the costs. The grant will therefore help to reduce the impact and improve the appearance of the town centre.
Trudy Godfrey, Shared Economic Development Team Leader at SODC, said: “Shop fronts are the most noticeable part of a building and make a big impact on a town centre. They contribute to people?s first impressions and can dramatically affect a town?s image.”
Last year ten businesses in Thame took advantage of the first round of funding, including Mary Brooks, Austins and Eclipse Hair Design.
Applications must be received by June 30, 2012, and work completed by September 30,2012.
The scheme is being administered by 21st Century Thame, a partnership of representatives from Thame Town Council, businesses and community groups, South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council and is being funded by South Oxfordshire District Council.
The scheme can provide up to 50 per cent of the total expenditure on the project, with each project required to match the funding by 50 per cent. A maximum of