The Oxfordshire Theatre Company is coming to Upton Village Hall again on Saturday March 27th at 7.30 pm

^{Ticket price £8 and £6 from Jessie on 851206}

Loving April

Adapted by Giles Croft from the novel by Melvin Burgess

A moving story of love and intolerance

The touring theatre has been coming to our village hall for many years. Audiences have enjoyed, and appreciated the level of expertise, colour and exuberance they have brought with them.

The cost to our venue is £314 and the only reason they have been able to sustain this price is because of the subsidy they have received. Unfortunately, a large percentage of that subsidy is to be withdrawn. Sadly, this may be their last tour.

The project is still well ahead of schedule but it will not be complete until near to the end of February as time will be needed to dry out the building before some of the finishing work can be completed.

Meanwhile here are a couple of photos so that you can see the progress to date.

The managing architect has just reported that “works are proceeding well and currently on programme. Workmanship is good.”

Now we have to start paying the bills. In the last few weeks over 40 local residents have responded to requests for the money they promised last year. Over £6,600 has been contributed so far. A few more donations are expected.

Other promises include:

£50,000 from the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and the Waste Recycling Group through the Landfill Communities Fund. (This includes £5,500 contributed towards TOE’s expenses by the District Council).

£27,000 through Southern Oxfordshire LEADER, half from the European Union and half from DEFRA.

£8,750 from the County Council

.

£9,020 from the Parish Council.

B R Simpson.

50′S CLUB

Winners for August 2009

£10    Mr Yates        15

£7      Mr Hartley       21

£5      Mr Summers  31     

£4      Mr F Napper   34

Winners for September 2009

£15    Mrs G Churchman   150

£15    Mr G Collins             138

£10    Mr Beckles              143

£7      Mr Bunston                 2

£5      Mrs S Napper            69

£4      Mrs Bunston            39    

More good news! The South East England Development Agency has just awarded
the Parish Council £27,000 towards the cost of extending the hall. The Council’s application was successful largely because of the efforts made by so many people in the village, including those responsible for the preparation and execution of the Parish Plan, the provision of the wide range of organised social activities, and the many local fund raising events. The most recent event, the "Open Gardens" on 6th September, raised £298.
All of this means that the Village Hall Amenities Trust and the Parish Council will soon be able to let contracts for the work to commence. The Trust still needs to raise a few thousand pounds, but the end is in sight.
Brian Simpson

A Jumble Sale in aid of Village Hall funds is being held in the Methodist Church Hall

on March 14^th at 2pm

Please let Jessie or Clare have any items for sale,or bring to the Methodist Hall between

10am and 12noon on the day.

VILLAGE HALL EXTENSION

Promises amounting to £67,770 have now been received from various official bodies and £5,595 from people living in the village. A further £3,900 has been raised at events held in the village during the past twelve months and the Trust itself has built up some financial reserves in recent years.

The Trustees think, therefore, that they may soon be in a position to go ahead with the scheme to extend the hall – providing the building of the patio and the extension to the car park is deferred. Providing also, of course, that an affordable tender is forthcoming from a reputable building firm.

The Government has reduced the VAT payable in 2009 to 15%, and so completion of the work by the end of the year would save about £2,000.

Accordingly, the Trust has appointed a Managing Architect to oversee the invitation of tenders, the letting of the contract and the execution of the work.

It should be stressed that the work will only go ahead in the next few months if an affordable tender is received.

It is important that the fundraising should continue. Any money received that is not needed for the extension itself can be used for the patio and car park.

Brian Simpson

Unfortunately, we have learnt this month that applications for assistance from the Big Lottery Fund and WREN (Waste Recycling Environmental) have been rejected. The good news is that the Board of Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment Ltd have agreed to commit £50,000 to the project. This is a major step forward.

In addition we received two donations which were very much appreciated.

The 2^nd Upton and Blewbury Brownies (“The Tuesday Night Brownies) gave £145 which they had raised by holding a sponsored skip.

The 1^st Upton and Blewbury Girl Guides gave £150. The girls themselves organised a fund raising evening, inviting Brownies and parents. Amongst other things they served tea and cakes, arranged games, and ran stalls selling toiletries, etc.

We still have some way to go before we will have enough money to complete the scheme, but we are getting there!

Brian Simpson

The funds have benefited from two events during November.
- The 1st Upton and Blewbury Brownie Pack contributed £100 which they raised at a coffee evening for parents and friends.  This was remarkable effort.
- There was a net surplus from the pantomime Hansel and Gretel of £135.
Contributions this year now total £3606.  In addition 45 people have promised to contribute £5555 once we know that building can commence.

Brian Simpson.

As usual, there is bad news and good news.

The Bad News

In May we entered a competition being run by WREN, hoping that our scheme would be selected to win a contribution of £82,000. We succeeded in getting through the first round, when half of the competitors were eliminated, and were then placed in a group of four applicants competing for a prize in this part of the country. Unfortunately, we have since been eliminated at the semi-final stage.

The Better News

We are now submitting applications for the same amount under other schemes run by WREN and TOE. (These organisations administer the distribution of Landfill Tax funds to worthy causes such as ours.) We hope for decisions by the end of March.

The Good News

1. Two weeks ago the District Council awarded us a grant of up to £9,020. This is conditional on WREN and TOE approving our applications in full.

Councillors were impressed by the fact that 45 households in this village have promised to contribute a total of £5,555 when the scheme goes ahead. This demonstrates Upton’s commitment to the scheme in a remarkable way. It is very helpful to be able to refer to this when applying for grants.

2. We have recently received two cheques for £100 from former residents. Clearly they have happy memories of the years they spent living among us.

3 As stated elsewhere, “Memorable Meals” raised £477. This is the latest of a series of events this year, including the jumble sale and “Open Gardens”, through which a total of £3,427 has been raised.

Brian Simpson.