Thame.net

Author: Sonja Francis

  • Swap Just One Car Trip & Help The Planet

    EVER wonder how life would be if we travelled in ways that benefited our health and our environment? We’d have safer roads, cleaner air and a better quality of life.
    Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity has just launched its brand new ‘Change Your World’ campaign and is asking you to swap just one car trip during the week 1st – 7th July, and choose something that’s better for the planet and you instead.

    And guess what? If we all give up one car journey that week we’ll reduce car traffic by 10%. Fancy giving it a go? Sign up now.

    Visit Web link
     to tell SUSTRANS you’ll swap and for the chance to win a bike worth

  • Chinnor Entertainment To Raise Money For Village Hall

    ON Saturday June 23, Chinnor Players are putting on a one-off show to raise funds for the rebuilding of Chinnor Village Hall.
    ‘An Evening with Chinnor Players’ is a collection of sketches, songs and dances and promises to be an entertaining evening with opportunities to laugh and sing along!
    It starts at 7.45pm at Chinnor Village Hall in Church Road. Tickets are available online – Contact: caroline@jwbs.co.uk
    or at the Spar shop in Chinnor and cost

  • Message For New Prime Minister

    OXFORDSHIRE County Council Leader, Keith Mitchell, has his own message for Gordon Brown as he prepares to take over as Prime Minister this week – ?stop ignoring the needs of the South East?.
    Councillor Mitchell said: “I congratulate Gordon Brown on becoming Prime Minister but I hope the new Premier will want to work with and not against local government.
    “Mr Brown says that his priorities are health, transport, housing and stronger communities. In Oxfordshire we can say ?Yes, Prime Minister? to all of that – provided that we get the infrastructure that is so vital to support sustainable growth.
    “That means the new Prime Minister should be telling his Health Secretary not to approve any changes to the NHS in Oxfordshire that will leave people with reduced services.
    He went on: “On housing, it is often thought that local authorities in the South East are opposed to new building. That is far from the truth. New homes, particularly affordable ones to help young people stay in their local areas as well as key sector workers, are badly needed.
    “However, simply building lots more homes will not improve affordability. This is because there is an existing national stock of some 22 million homes against a current national new build rate of some 150,000 per year.
    “Even doubling that build rate, if it were possible, would not have an impact on the value of the existing stock. Affordability means subsidy – either from development profits or from government funds – and the reality is it has to be some of both and the government?s contribution to affordability in the South East is just not enough.
    “In addition, we need investment from the Government in new roads, schools, hospitals, water supplies and public transport, to ensure the region does not simply grind to a halt.
    “Stronger communities is also an important issue for Oxfordshire and I will be using every opportunity to press the Government to free local government from some of the rigid constraints imposed on it so that we can develop services in line with the needs of our local residents. I hope that Mr Brown will pursue a localist agenda and realise that the best decisions for local communities are taken at a local level by locally elected representatives.”

    Councillor Mitchell said he also hoped that whoever replaces Mr Brown at 11 Downing Street will take a serious look at the Government grant system for supporting local government services.
    He added: ?The present system is a mess. It penalises Oxfordshire residents with low funding year after year while authorities in the North and Midlands benefit.
    “It is only our own good housekeeping and the millions of pounds we have generated from efficiency savings, that has allowed our front line services to be maintained and developed.”

  • Click On To A Chilterns Wood

    IMAGINE standing in the middle of a Chilterns wood, listening to the birds singing and watching badgers, all without walking out of your front doors.
    You can now experience a ?virtual? Chilterns wood in an exciting new section that has been developed on the website for the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Visit a woodland through the seasons, or travel back in time to meet the people who lived and worked in the woods over the centuries.

    Beautiful artist?s illustrations bring to life the woodlands from past history and reveal how local people relied on them to earn a living. Characters like William the pig herder and Jacob the sawyer are pictured hard at work. Via interactive ?hotspots? on the illustrations you can listen to audio clips of the characters talking about their daily lives and what the woods mean to them.

    On the wildlife pages you can learn about all the plants and animals that live in the woods and what you can see in each season. There are audio clips of bird song and information on which woods are good to visit at different times of year.
    There?s also a children?s competition with lots of woodland goody bags up for grabs.

    Log on to LINK

    and experience the wealth of wildlife and history in our local woods.
    This new section was funded by the Forestry Commission.

  • Heritage Search Has Just Got Better

    OXFORDSHIRE’s County Council?s online catalogue of local and family history resources has just got better.
    ‘Heritage Search’ now includes a database of 5,000 oral history recordings made since the 1960s by county council staff, volunteers and BBC radio. They cover a vast range of topics, from piecework at Cowley to wartime rationing, from horse trams to cinemas.

    A search for any person, place or topic will now bring up a list of relevant recordings in addition to the lists of images, related publications, documents and artefacts already available – enabling history sleuths to see what is available and where without having to make a special visit to Oxfordshire Studies in the Central Library, Oxford.

    Malcolm Graham, Head of Oxfordshire Studies, said: ?This will be a huge boon for local and family historians and will very much enhance public access to material that provides history first-hand, recalled by the people who were there.

    Visit LINK

  • Parental Support Wanted For Special Needs Families

    AS usual, it is all change in the way that services are delivered to children. You may have heard of Sure Start, but what about Every Child Matters, Children?s Centres, Extended Schools? The new initiatives continue but you don?t have to be an expert in all things educational to become a fantastic Independent Parental Supporter.
    Children don?t change; they still need to go to school and get the best education they can. Parents don?t change either; can you remember how you felt before parents? evening? Wondering what you would hear this time?

    Sometimes parents need support in sorting things out for their child, especially if their child has Special Educational Needs.

    As a Volunteer Independent Parental Supporter you can make a real difference; parents and schools will appreciate your supportive approach. You can help by going with a parent to a meeting, maybe taking notes or possibly by writing a letter or making a phone call.

    Free training is given for this rewarding and varied role, all expenses paid. How much time you give depends on you but you will be left in no doubt about the value of the support you offer.

    Interested? Contact Parent Partnership Service on 01865 810516 or e-mail: parentpartnership@oxfordshire.gov.uk

  • Boris Asks Green Belt Question In The House

    BORIS Johnson MP reccently asked a written question in the Commons of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the future of the Green Belt in Oxfordshire.
    Boris Johnson MP ? ?To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on building on the green belt in (a) England and (b) Oxfordshire?

    Yvette Cooper MP (Minister of State, Housing and Planning, Department for Communities and Local Government) ? ?National planning policies on green belts are set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2. Strict planning controls on green belt land are in place and there is a general presumption against inappropriate development within green belts. Decisions on individual planning applications for development in the green belt are a matter for the local planning authority. The designation and review of green belt boundaries in Oxfordshire, within the national policy framework set ut in Planning Policy Guidance note 2, is the responsibility of planning authorities, through the development plan process?.

    Illustration: Courtesy of CartoonStock

  • CPM Thame 10Km Road Race This Weekend

    THE twenty third CPM, Thame 10km road race takes place this Sunday, June 24, starting at 9.30am from Thame Leisure Centre.
    The charity run, organised by Thame Runners, has grown steadily in popularity with an estimated 800 entries expected. As in previous years, profits from the event are distributed to local charities.

    The installation of the new dry play area next to the Sports Centre has entailed significant soil mounds which will not be cleared and re-landscaped until September. Without a suitable and safe children?s course around the perimeter of the playing fields, the organisers regrettably have had to cancel the children?s fun run even for 2007 only.

    Another change for 2007 will be the temporary road closure of the ring road between the Risborough and Chinnor Road roundabouts for one hour from 9.30 am to 10.30 am on the Sunday. The behaviour of a few drivers who were not prepared to wait a few moments led to the organisers paying for the closure to ensure the safety of the runners.

    Entry forms for the Thame 10Km can be downloaded from the website www.thamerunners.co.uk

  • Thame Balloon Ride Winner Fit To Fly

    A THAME woman with an on-going health condition, feared that she would not be allowed by her doctor to take the balloon flight she won at Thame festival last weekend.
    But yesterday, Alison Gill, who lives in Rooks Lane, received the ‘all clear’ from her doctor to fly with the Thame-based company, The Altitude Balloon Company.
    Now, Alison says she “can’t wait to get on with it.”

    She told ThameNews.Net: “I was so happy when I got the call to say I had won. I bought the ticket from one of the Thame First people on their stand at the festival fete, and thought that would be the last I would hear of it. And then I won!”
    “It’s my friend, Osca’s birthday on Saturday, so it would be great for him to be able to watch me go up then. My mother hopes to come and see me off as well, but as my father is ill, she can’t leave him for too long.

    Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the weekend is not good but hopefully Alison will be able to take her balloon flight sometime before the autumn.

  • Help To Send Old Habits Up In Smoke

    SOLL Leisure is calling on all smokers to use the impending smoking ban on July 1 as an impetus to quit smoking, by running a ?Quit and Get Fit? campaign.
    The campaign aims to publicise how exercise can help in the cessation of smoking and to provide members of the community with additional support and advice to help them kick the habit for good.

    At SOLL Leisure?s nine SOLLutions gyms a ?cigarette amnesty? will be set up, where people can exchange any unfinished packets of cigarettes for a free day pass. Personal trainers will be on hand to put together exercise programmes for members of the community who are keen to kick the habit and staff from the gyms will be hitting the streets on Saturday 30th June with specially designed fliers containing top tips on how to quit.

    Smoking is the greatest single cause of illness and premature death in the UK and according to the group ?Action on Smoking and Health? (ASH) 300 people die in the UK every day as a result of smoking. Giving up is the biggest single thing someone can do to improve their health.

    Smoking is not only one of the main causes of heart and lung disease, but also increases the risk of other health-related problems such as high-blood pressure, numerous types of cancer, type-2 diabetes, reduced fertility, erectile-dysfunction and early menopause.

    Victoria Branch, Group Marketing Manager for SOLL Leisure says: “Research has shown that exercise while trying to quit smoking increases a person?s chance of success. Not only will it directly combat any weight gain that could result from nicotine withdrawal, it will also help to overcome cravings and improve your mood, while giving your overall health a boost!”

    Soll Leisure will be running ?Quit and Get Fit? in all of its gyms, including Thame Leisure Centre, throughout July.

    The benefits of giving up smoking include: