News

The Tea Party is Virtual but the Benefits are Real!

Charlbury Refugee Action Group are planning a fundraising virtual Tea Party on Easter Sunday. And the cakes will taste great! (Because they are your favourites!)

We are inviting you, your family and friends to come together for a CRAG ‘tea and cake party’ and share a virtual tea together.In this strange time of isolation we were scratching our heads for how to raise funds to relieve the conditions that refugees in Greece are facing. They remain in cramped and extremely unhealthy conditions as coronavirus reaches the islands, and self-isolation is simply not a choice they have.

Please help us raise funds by joining our virtual Easter Tea Parties on Easter Day (Sunday April 12) from 2.30pm. 

We are asking for a £5.00 donation to join a virtual Tea Party, made payable to the CRAG account, sort code: 089299, a/c 65789036.

Once you've made your payment, just email hilaryjbarber@aol.com and your invitation will be sent.

Your invitation will include delicious cake recipes and details of an online Zoom room where on Easter Sunday we can all enjoy the cakes we have baked … in a virtual reality!

Just confirm your donation and an invitation will be sent to you.

Jon Carpenter · Mon 6 Apr, 22:42 · Link

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ

The answers to last week's quiz have been posted this morning, together with a new set of questions for Quiz 2. Access the quiz page via the Community Pages.

Brian Murray · Mon 6 Apr, 11:18 · Link

Latest planning applications to West Oxfordshire District Council

The following planning applications have recently been lodged. Click on the address to see full details at the WODC website.

• Milton Cottage The Playing Close Charlbury
  Conversion of existing outhouse and garage to create a one bedroom self contained living unit/study workspace. Works to include upgrade of garage (to allow replacement of roof, installation of flue and changes to fenestration/rooflight with alterations to entrance gates). Conversion of loft to main dwelling and erection of single storey extension and conservatory, both to rear elevation. (Part Retrospective).
  WODC reference: 20/00851/HHD - Wed 25 Mar 2020 - Under consideration
• Milton Cottage The Playing Close Charlbury
  Internal and external alterations to include conversion of loft with provision of rooflights and insertion of window in West elevation and erection of single storey extension and conservatory, both to rear elevation. (Part Retrospective).
  WODC reference: 20/00852/LBC - Wed 25 Mar 2020 - Under consideration

Mon 6 Apr, 06:15 · Link

The Bread shed

The Breadshed will be selling bread outside the Community Centre every Tuesday at 3pm and every Thursday at 2.30

All the bread is sourdough, he has white, cotswold crunch, 5 seed, and sometimes walnut or chia seed and spelt.  You can have half a loaf if you wish

Bread can be ordered by texting Deep on 7733 360623 

Patricia Freeman · Sun 5 Apr, 14:01 · Link

Further S3 and 7 Bus changes

Stagecoach has revised its times for buses to Oxford and Chipping Norton, as from April 5th. There are some significant changes to departure times, and also to the route, with more buses running through Charlbury to Chipping Norton than before.

In brief, services run Monday - Saturday, and the S3/no 7 buses leave The Bell for Oxford at 6.30, 8.03, 10.03, 12.03, 14.03, 16.18. 

Return Journeys now leave from Oxford Station, stop at Wychwood Close (not The Bell), and run on to Chipping Norton.  They leave Oxford Station at 9.45, 11.45, 13.45, 15.45, 17.45, 19.15, (arrive Wychwood Close at 10.49, 12.49, 14.49, 16.49, 18.49, 20.19). This last bus is a no 7 and runs via Summertown and Oxford Parkway. 

The new timetables are here: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/Oxford_Timetables/S3_current.pdf

also here: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/Oxford_Timetables/7_current.pdf

Christine Battersby · Sun 5 Apr, 11:25 · Link

The History of Charlbury in ......... a town Sports Day, 1885-style

THE ANNUAL ATHLETIC SPORTS 1885

Looking at the 1885 poster, can you imagine the scene? Perhaps you could draw or paint a picture of all the activity. You will need to make sure that the Bowling, Hammer Throwing and Rifle Shooting are not too near the Witney Town Band and the Dancing!  And how would you play Stone Picking?

The Annual Athletic Sports were invented in 1874 by the local gentry "to relieve the monotony of life in a very quiet place". They continued right up to 1906, in all sorts of flat and hilly fields, and included horse and donkey races. In 1885 the New Cricket Ground behind the White Hart Hotel was used. This was the field "known as Nine Acres" which was rented from the private owners. In those days Nine Acres really measured about nine acres, and was more sloping until it was levelled in 1951 for football pitches and tennis courts. 

Janet Jeffs

Judy Dod · Sat 4 Apr, 09:59 · Link

Give & Take scheme – access to food when times are hard

A ‘Give & Take’ table has been set up near the front door of the Community Centre. If you have any extra tins of food, packets of pasta, cartons of long-life milk, etc, that you could spare, please do put them in the collection box.

With schools and businesses closing, there are many people and households who will find it increasingly hard to manage. Please do give what you can.

Equally, if you know of someone who could use a bit extra now, please feel free to take something away or encourage them to pop in. Items will be available during the Centre’s opening times: 9.00 to 5.00 weekdays, 9.00 to 12 noon at weekends.

The scheme can also take specific item requests and deliver to someone’s home.

If you cannot come to the Community Centre but have items to give, you can email and the scheme will arrange someone to pick items up at your door: bglasgow@theridgegroup.com

Donations in cash or by cheque or digital transfer are also accepted towards keeping the scheme stocked up. St Mary’s Church is coordinating this, bank details as follows:

Account Name: Charlbury Parochial Church Council

Sort Code: 40-52-40

Account Number: 00032374

Reference: Give&Take

Please use the reference (Give&Take) on both cheques and electronic payments, so that track can be kept of the separate fund.

The scheme also has toilet rolls reserved for the elderly and especially vulnerable kindly donated by Cotswold Frames. Do come and get some, if you or someone you know need any. You can just take some or swap them for another item that others might need.

Meryl Smith · Fri 3 Apr, 09:13 · Link

COVID 19 Opening hour changes in ORH and Community

First Aid Unit Chipping Norton closed temporarily

Minor Injury Unit in Witney: Operating reduced hours but remain open seven days a week, 10am to 6.30pm.

Getting help: If you need medical help please contact NHS111, via phone: 111; or website: 111.nhs.uk They will assess your case and direct you to the most appropriate unit. People with injuries who have not called in advance will be seen and treated as necessary. However, if the condition or injury is not urgent, staff will ask patients to attend the following day with an appointment.

Please also note that in order to comply with social distancing policies, people are asked to attend units on their own if possible, or with one other person only if they require help or support.

Source: www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk 25.03.20

Oxford University Hospitals

John Radcliffe, Horton, Churchill and Nuffield Orthopaedic

Every hospital in England has been asked to suspend all elective (non-urgent) operations from 15 April 2020 for at least three months, with some other procedures likely to be rescheduled before then.

Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) will be:

• postponing all routine outpatient appointments for adults and children on all of their hospital sites - but are exploring the possibility of 'virtual clinics' and telephone consultations for outpatients

• postponing all routine inpatient elective (non-urgent) surgery for adults and children on all of their hospital sites

• maintaining as normal at present urgent and emergency cases and cancer treatments.

See the Oxford Kidney Unit website for links to information for renal dialysis and transplant patients.

OUH will contact patients as soon as they are able to reschedule both inpatient elective surgery and outpatient elective appointments - patients will be rescheduled according to clinical need and length of wait.

At this time OUH is unable to estimate when this will be the case, although it will be at least three months depending on national guidance from NHS England.

Source www.ouh.nhs.uk 24.03.2020

Deborah Hofman · Thu 2 Apr, 15:33 · Link

Second number for Coronavirus Helpline

There has been high demand for the volunteer scheme, which helps people who are housebound due to Coronavirus. We are so glad it is proving useful to people. We have heard that you have difficulty getting through sometimes, so we have set up a second telephone number, to be used if 811878 is engaged. This number is 01608 819253 and it is for Noah's Ark, where the Glasgow family have kindly offered to pass your requests on to Daniela Jenkins who organises the volunteer team.

You can also email Daniela directly with your requests: info@charlburycommunitycentre.org.uk

Tanya Stevenson · Tue 31 Mar, 11:01 · Link

A message from WODC about dog waste collections

Some of you may have noticed some overflowing dog bins.  Our teams are working hard to resolve this.  It would appear that not everyone is aware of how we dispose of our various waste collections as I know some people think they are 'protecting' our landfill sites by placing their dog waste from home in dog poo bins. 

The list below indicates what happens to each waste stream where, as you will see, dog waste goes to the same place as residual waste and litter from  street bins.  So, dog waste does not have to go in dog waste bins.  If these bins are full they can be put in the street litter bins or take it home.

Food - anaerobic digester at Cassington

Residual - incinerated at Ardley, transfer station at Dix Pit.

Recycling - taken to Downs Road transfer station for delivery to processor in Birmingham

Green - for composting at Showell Farm, Chipping Norton

Litter from bins - incinerated 

Dog waste - incinerated 

We do not landfill anything collected from households or street cleansing, the only items that may be landfilled are larger items collected from fly tip.

Liz Leffman · Tue 31 Mar, 10:20 · Link