Lockdown news
From the Vale
Vale Town and parish update – none available as yet.
A new community lottery is coming to the Vale of White Horse
Local charities and good causes in the Vale of White Horse will soon be able to get a funding boost from a brand-new community lottery being launched by the district council this summer. The forthcoming new White Horse Community Lottery will allow players to choose which local charity their money benefits. Similar community lotteries elsewhere ... You can see details on our website by clicking this link
From OCC
Your Oxfordshire: We want your views. See: Your Oxfordshire: We want your views (mailchi.mp)
This includes a reminder about the Census, to be completed on 21 March by every household. For more help or information, please visit Census 2021 or call the census contact centre on 0800 141 2021.
Should we be worried about the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine? A number of countries have said they will temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, adding to a list of countries concerned about the jab. A comprehensive Q & A response is attached here: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/178a7ac2-a965-4c62-a994-5213760ad037/The_Oxford_AstraZeneca_vaccine.pdf
(This is from earlier in the week, and the situation seems to settling down today, in favour of the vaccine.)
Ox-Cam Arc Leadership sets bold agenda to put the environment at heart of every decision
New Environment Principles set out clear ambition to protect, restore, enhance and create new nature areas and natural capital assets across the Arc region. Read the story on Oxfordshire County Council's website here
More information from the government here: Oxford-Cambridge Arc - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Jubilee Field Spring Tidy
10.00 am at the Village Hall tomorrow, please.
Uffington Parish Council – extra meeting
A Planning Committee meeting will be held at 6.00pm on Monday 29 March by Zoom, to consider two planning applications which require a response before the next monthly meeting on 12 April. The agenda for the meeting is on the Parish Council notice board and on the website – the latter contains a link to the Zoom meeting.
Virtual Lent Lunch
If you come to the back door at Norton House, Broad Street, Uffington, on Wednesday 31st March between 12 and 2 pm, bringing a mug or small flask, you will receive a helping of homemade soup and a portion of bread and cheese in return for a donation to Christian Aid. By that date the "Rule of 6" for outdoor meetings should apply, so if the weather is fine you will be able to sit, socially distanced, in our garden, or take your lunch home.
During Lent it has been the custom in our villages to organise simple weekly lunches in support of Christian Aid, but this has obviously not been possible this year. We hope you will give generously when you support this one effort at fund raising for the charity.
Carl and Fenella 01367 820230
From the Friends of Tom Brown's School Museum
The Friends will be presenting a Zoom talk on Tuesday 6 April by Titanic Honour and Glory Ltd who provide a revealing insight into the unforgettable story of the tragic liner. See attached:
https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/images/958c0471-31e9-4b27-b05d-0a71c4643a2c.jpg
From David Johnston MP
Grove Station survey. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey on Grove Station. I was delighted with the number of responses - 2620 in just 2 weeks. I wanted to let you know the results of the survey, which you may have already seen on social media or the local news, and are attached: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/7cff14a4-811a-4053-9441-a02a0753f9ae/Grove_Station_Survey_Results.pdf
The Peter O'Sullevan Lambourn Open Day Goes Online
For more information see attached: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/0232e8a8-50f3-47ff-a8a3-933e04d3fa71/Lambourn_virtual_Open_Day_2021.pdf
And to donate visit www.lambournopenday.com
OCC BROADBAND UPDATE
Uffington Parish Council, along with about 60 similar schemes in Oxfordshire, is leading a project to upgrade their broadband infrastructure to FTTP (fibre to premises) to deliver ultrafast broadband, which is the next big push. Properties with below 100M/bs, which is almost all premises in Uffington, are eligible for Gov funded vouchers worth £1,500 for each domestic premises and £3,500 for each business premises. County Council has limited additional funding of up to £7,000 per premises to support community schemes where suppliers are upgrading the infrastructure.
County Council officers are particularly keen to focus on the 1.8% premises with sub-superfast connections (many in isolated rural settings) and are making special efforts to connect communities with suppliers. In addition to Openreach (the main suppliers under Government's Building Digital UK (BDUK) programme) there are a number of smaller operators, such as Airband, working to sign up enough customers to connect to their systems but they all seem to rely on an active promoter from the community to help achieve the required number. I live outside Kingston Lisle and we few outliers were signed up with Airband, expecting connection in first quarter of this year, but they attracted too few customers for a viable scheme, and withdrew at end February. County Council immediately made sure of a successful transfer to the Openreach scheme, promoted and collected by very active residents in Sparsholt, who signed up 60 customers to get Openreach to install later this month.
In addition, County Council is about to launch FTTP to libraries, schools, GP practices, community centres and museums as well as County corporate buildings, and officers are planning to upgrade about 3,000 premises local to these target sites. Later on BDUK will start the major £5bn Outside-In national programme, and County officers are working on identifying where this funding will be used in Oxfordshire.
More later!
Cllr Yvonne Constance
From the Police
Restart and Relaunch for Community Speedwatch in 2021. Speeding traffic is a regular and emotive concern for communities across Thames Valley and a pilot scheme being announced today is set to help tackle the problem. As the restrictions are being lifted, local community groups will be able to resume their speedwatch activities as soon as possible but this is only the first step in a revolution in roads safety across Thames Valley.
At the same time, a pilot scheme will be launched to trial a new system, supporting and training volunteers, as well as capturing the data for community speedwatch in order to better analyse data for potential police activity. PC Lee Turnham, Thames Valley Police Community Speedwatch Co-ordinator, said: "Speedwatch has proven in the past to be a deterrent. People drive slower through areas as a result of community speed watch initiatives. The new platform will hopefully provide a community-led approach to reducing excess speed, allowing activity to be community driven.
Further information on the Community Speedwatch scheme can be found at: https://www.thamesvalley-pcc.gov.uk/get-involved/speedwatch/.
DPD Scam
A Woolstone resident has reported that the DPD scam is around again. Emails or hand delivered notes claim that you have missed a delivery and ask you to reschedule for a small fee, thereby obtaining your bank details or a credit card.
More information here: DPD (UK) - Phishing
From the Churches of Uffington Benefice
Please find attached the Weekly Sheet for Sunday 21st March: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/6a1d282c-3d3f-44a0-b4d4-59a04f6968cf/wsh_2021_03_21.pdf
Please see the Uffington web site for resources and links for the livestream and Zoom services: https://www.uffingtonbenefice.com/home
Village news 12 March 2021 Vale Town and parish update – 11 March 2021
See attached here: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/91547ac1-919d-4d25-b76e-de918c14d402/District_Council_update_11_March_2021.pdf
Jubilee Field Spring Tidy
Don't forget the Spring Tidy scheduled for Saturday and Sunday 20 / 21 March. Please gather at the Village Hall at 10.00 am on Saturday, equipped with gardening tools. This work will be conducted in the open air under the current Covid 19 regulations, particularly on social distancing.
Elm Tree Surgery - Covid Vaccination Programme Update: 8 March 2021
For Elm Tree Surgery patients their Covid vaccinations now, and in the future, are likely to continue to be offered at the STEAM Museum in Swindon; more information attached: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/bbff5a16-7e7a-43a6-8e82-d7c0cb96321f/Elm_Tree_Surgery_Covid_Vaccination_Programme_Update_8.3.21.pdf
Wanted – Volunteers for an urgent public health clinical trial for Covid-19 treatments. More information attached: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/images/87a4af3c-428a-42fe-a57a-e750e1c10d19.png
From the Police
Dog Theft Survey
Neighbourhood Watch Network is supporting Sussex's Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, who, in partnership with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), has created an online survey designed to understand the public's perception of dog theft, enforcement, and the prosecution of offenders. The survey includes a question seeking views on whether dogs should be treated in law merely as property when they are stolen. Having a common understanding of how the public feels about this issue will help inform discussions that PCCs and NWN will have nationally, as well as allow police forces to better understand the public's views.
Neighbourhood Watch Network have just been approached to help support this campaign so apologies for the short notice as the survey closes on Friday12th March. Please, if you can, and haven't already, take a couple of minutes to complete the survey as your support and views are really valuable to us.
Link to survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/dogtheft
(The deadline is today, but this is included as there are many dog owners in our villages; there has been some media interest in this recently, and some may be interested).
From the Churches of Uffington Benefice
Please find attached the Weekly Sheet for Sunday 14th March: https://mcusercontent.com/c90a1a7b6d1f693a28c947f92/files/2ce6d146-cfc4-4af1-8e83-5d0bd0ed417d/wsh_2021_03_14.pdf
Please see the Uffington web site for resources and links for the livestream and Zoom services: https://www.uffingtonbenefice.com/home
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