Upton Village

South Oxfordshire

Blewbury Post Office During Lockdown

The Post Office is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday mornings, 9.00am to 11.30am, the post is collected at that time. The refit has been delayed, it may happen in May or June, who knows?

We are experiencing high volumes of returns, we don’t have enough space to store them until collection time, so we are limiting the number we can take. We have Kitty’s eggs on sale, when closed, they will be on my doorstep, (Tadcombe, Besselslea) £1.50 for 6! Emergency gas/electric/phone top ups, cash etc, please ring my mobile 07825154842

Karen (Maggie and Carl in splendid isolation!)

 

Church Events During Lockdown

Upton Parish Church is part of the Churn Benefice. During the current lockdown our buildings must remain closed but the Church continues to be alive and active.

You can contact the Benefice clergy: –

Jason  01235 850267 office@churnchurches.co.uk

Louise          07837 009730 revlouiseb@aol.com

John  01235 512987 jphclarke@gmail.com

The Benefice Administrator, Dawn Saunders, is working from home with full access to Benefice emails during her normal office hours and can be contacted on the office email address office@churnchurches.co.uk

Provisional bookings for weddings, baptisms etc. may be made online by contacting the office via email.

The Churn newsletter and readings along with information about Benefice activities for the current week will be distributed by email. Please contact Dawn if you would like to receive them.

Online Services

Our regular worship continues online – Sunday mornings at 10.30am, login or connect from 10.00am to chat before the service and get ready. You can join in using a computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or landline.

A short evening prayer service is also held on weekdays at 8.00pm.

Please see the Benefice website www.churnchurches.co.uk or the Churn, if you receive it, for the service access codes or telephone number to call and full details of how to join each week.

Ascension Day – Online Benefice Service

On Thursday 21st May at 8.00pm there will be an online Ascension Day Service, see the website or the Churn, if you receive it, for the service access code and details of how to join.

Short Daily Reflection and Prayer

During weekdays Fr Jason is writing a short reflection and prayer, if you would like to receive it please contact Dawn

Children’s Worship Online

Revd Louise is organising occasional online children’s worship. The next one ‘Growing with Jesus’ is on Wednesday 6th May at 4.00pm. Children are encouraged to show a growing plant, or perhaps the plan of a secret garden. Please contact Louise if you would like further information or would like to join the group.

CYGnet Youth Group

All young people of secondary school age are welcome to join the CYGnet Youth Group who are now meeting online usually on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. For more information please contact Leslie – 07709 602923.

Mother’s Union

The Churn Mothers’ Union is working to raise funds for AFIA – a programme that offers holidays away for families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them. To raise the money, the MU is doing a ‘sponsored card’ event. MU members will make and send 100 cards in May to people who are helping out during the crisis or have been affected.
Could you sponsor us for 5 or 10p per card (£5 or £10 total)? Cash can be given in a sealed envelope, or cheque to “The Churn MU” and delivered to Revd Louise Butler, Penridge, Church Road, Blewbury, OX11 9PY. Bank transfers can also be made, please contact Louise for account details.

 

Bulky waste collection

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have reopened their paid-for bulky waste collection service for large household items. More information on the respective web sites.

Blewbury Post Office

This coming week , starting 20th April, Blewbury Post Office will be opening Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am to 11.30am, for essential transactions only, cash deposits & withdrawals, bill payments, gas, electric & phone top ups, business posting, stamps.
No home shopping returns or eBay please this week.
Thank you.
Karen

Upton Parish Council and UVHAT Need Your Help

It has been wonderful to witness the village coming together during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly whilst we are in the “lock-down” phase. It is a great reminder why Upton is such a lovely place to live. From the great WhatsApp help group set up by Sarah Carter which is helping get supplies and prescriptions to those who are vulnerable or can’t get out to the wonderful applause from doorsteps in thanks for NHS and health workers who continuing to work so hard, some of course who live in the village.

Following a meeting between Upton Parish Council and UVHAT (Upton Village Hall Amenities Trust) we wondered if there is more we can do in the future as we move through different phases which might be useful to villagers. For example a food bank, a session from experts on how to navigate Government financial support you may require, setting up a temporary crèche facility in the hall to help mums and dads. Obviously anything we come up with will have to work in line with Government guidance at that time however I think we all recognise it will take the country some time to get back to a “new normal”.

So if you are interested in joining a small steering group to brainstorm some ideas which we can then get the village’s view on what may or may not be useful please contact Jacqui.reid@hotmail.co.uk and she will set up a conference call.

Thank you.

Upton Parish Council and UVHAT Trustees

 

Post Office to Close for Refurbishment

Please note that the Post Office will be closed from Friday 10th April until 2.30pm on Tuesday 28th April. We are having a bit of a revamp as part of the Village Hall refurbishment.

Royal Mail usually put the cost of postage up at the beginning of their financial year, and as usual, it will be at the end of March or beginning of April, so buy 1st and 2nd class stamps before then, as they just revalue themselves!

We are looking to take on another part time counter clerk, (1 or 1½ days a week) full training will be given, if you are interested please pop in for a chat, or ring 851777. I would just like an extra day in the garden!

Karen and Maggie

Skittles Evening

Friends of St. Marys will be holding a skittles evening in the Village Hall on Saturday 22nd February, be there at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. This Fun Evening is open to all and includes a Fish and Chip Supper (Chicken alternative on request) and of course some scrumptious puds to finish .Tea and coffee will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your own drinks too. Brighten up a winter evening with friends and neighbours.

There will be prizes for the highest score in female and gents and under 16 categories.

Tickets priced £10 available  from  Paul 851251, Jessie 851206,  Gloria 850683, Celia  850684. Please let us know you’re coming in advance as the food order has to go in a week before.

Oh and there is sure to be a Raffle, donations for which would be much appreciated.

Jessie West

Charmian Whitmell (1938 – 2019)

Charmian passed away peacefully after a short illness on 3rd November. A Thanksgiving Service was held at St. Michael’s Church, Blewbury on 19th November.

Charmian and Derek Whitmell moved to Blewbury in 1965 as a young married couple with their baby Clare, who was their first child. They stayed there for 23 years, increasing their family with three more children (Nick, Andy and Anne) and then moved to Upton in 1988 where they have lived for the last 31 years. Charmian split her loyalties between the two villages. She sang in the St Michael’s Church Choir for 42 years right up until her short terminal illness prevented her from continuing a few weeks ago. In her earlier days in Blewbury her excellent soprano voice was put to good use in five community operas in St Michael’s Church. She also served as a foundation governor at Blewbury School for many years, was involved in the Churn Benefice Pastoral Care team, helped as a volunteer training young people at Style Acre Café, and in her Grahame Close years utilised her nursing skills to offer treatment for minor injuries for the children of the Close from her kitchen work-surface and washing machine. In Upton, she was known best for the annual play-readings and her support behind the book stall at the annual fete.

Charmian was originally an Essex girl, living in Brentwood and Wickford, before going off first to boarding school in Eastbourne after her parents divorced, and then later to train as a registered sick children’s nurse (RSCN) at the Children’s Hospital at Great Ormond Street in London. She remained there working as a staff nurse before moving to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, where she obtained her SRN qualification and met and married Derek. Years later after her children had all started school she returned to nursing ,working at Didcot Hospital for 16 years, and then at Winterbrook Nursing Home in Wallingford until her retirement in 1995. After her retirement she worked for 15 years as a volunteer at Basildon Park, where among other things she helped with the arrangements for the filming of Pride and Prejudice. One task she seemed to particularly enjoyed seems to have been showing Colin Firth around the National Trust property, and was quoted in the Oxford Mail as having said that he was just as gorgeous in real life as he was in the films!

Charmian was very well liked by a wide range of people, and was well known as a very caring, thoughtful, funny, gentle and sociable woman. She had a very deep Christian faith and her commitment to expressing that through her life and work was unstinting. She contributed a great deal to the wider community of Blewbury and Upton and will be sorely missed by many.

Derek and her family want to thank all the many people who have sent cards and letters of condolence to them in the period since her death.

Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Thank you so much to all the Poppy Appeal collectors and all who contributed to this year’s Poppy Appeal. We have raised £638.96 for the Royal British Legion.

Helen Weston ( Poppy Appeal Organiser for Upton.)

Carol Singing in Upton

We will be carol singing door-to-door in Upton on Tuesday 17th December, from 6pm – this will be festive, friendly and fun! We will be singing hopefully recognisable traditional carols – if you would like to take part in singing please email me at: john_haworth@hotmail.com. I suggest a get-together to agree and run through the music on Sunday 8th December at 5pm. Please also let me know if you particularly would like a visit from the carol singers on the 17th, so we can plan which houses we visit! Mince pies or mulled wine for particularly excellent singing will be appreciated!!

John Haworth