Healthwatch Oxfordshire is your voice on health and social care
Whether it is improving services today, or helping to shape them for tomorrow, Healthwatch Oxfordshire is all about enabling local voices to influence the delivery and design of local health and social care in our county. Not just for the people who use them now, but for anyone who might need to in future.
Healthwatch Oxfordshire was set up on April 1 2013, as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The organisation sits alongside 151 other local Healthwatch across the country.
Healthwatch Oxfordshire hears what children, young people and adults have to say about health and social care services, whether that is praise, criticism or ideas for improvement. We strengthen the collective voice of patients and the public, so that service providers and commissioners listen to what they have to say. We then hold them to account on how they use the information we provide to shape, inform and influence service delivery and design.
In order to ensure that we have the best possible evidence and the widest possible views to influence the delivery and design of health and social care services, we need as many people as possible to speak out about their experiences, so that we can speak up on their behalf.
Healthwatch is independent, and we are accountable to the people of Oxfordshire, so please tell us how you would like to be treated and cared for, and what is important to you when using health and social care services, and we can make a difference together.
To find out more about Healthwatch Oxfordshire, please visit our website, www.healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk
Contact us on 01865 520 520 or email hello@healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk
You can also follow us on Twitter @HealthwatchOxon and find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/HealthwatchOxfordshire
Didcot & District U3A December Meeting
DIDCOT & DISTRICT UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 2pm at Didcot Civil Hall. Visitors are welcome to come to a meeting as a taster before joining.
At our meeting on 15th December 2015 is the Christmas Entertainment
It’s never too late to expand your horizons…………..
The University of the Third Age offers the opportunity to share your knowledge, experience and talents with others and learn from them in friendly surroundings. Why not come along to the next meeting of the Didcot & District U3A and find out what we are all about. A member of our committee will be on hand to make you welcome.
Tel: 07802 237963
Email: didcotdistrictU3A@virginmedia.com
Website: http:/u3asites.org.uk/didcot
Friends of St. Marys Quiz Night
For the second year the Friends of St Mary’s held a quiz night in the village hall in October and it was once again a resounding success with over 60 people in attendance. Carl Pettman was a splendid question master, delivering the questions set by Alan Davies with aplomb and a little magic, and a mountain of pizzas, delivered for the interval, soon disappeared along with the wonderful salads prepared by Jessie and her army of helpers.
Competition amongst the eight teams was intense but in the end the combined wisdom of Chillup outshone that of runners-up Grand Union by just one point and they were declared Brains of Upton for 2015!
Not only was it a fun evening, it also raised £357 for the Friends scheme. Our sincere thanks to all who worked so hard to make the evening a success.
The final Friends event for 2015 will be Carols and Readings on a Christmas theme to be held in St Mary’s at 4.00 on Saturday 12 December. This will be followed by mulled wind and mince pies – it should be a great start to the Christmas season, especially for those of us who don’t really get going until a couple of weeks before! Last year the church was packed, and we look forward to seeing a big gathering of Friends of St Mary’s once again this time.
Proposed Outreach Post Office for Upton
Blewbury Post Office is considering the viability of running an outreach post office at Upton Village Hall for four hours once a week and is seeking your views on this.
We need to know whether you would use such a service, and if so, how often, as Post Office Limited will not sanction the expenditure unless they feel it is worth their while. The previous post office facility was closed through lack of demand so we need to prove the case for a new facility.
Services that could be offered include:
Cash withdrawals and deposits
Bank cheques and pay bills, including Council tax
Draw pensions
Accept letters and parcels, including Parcel Force and online returns
Sell stamps/stamp books
Sell Gift Cards
Top-up mobile telephones
Sell Health Lottery tickets
Sell pre-ordered Euros and other currencies
Change facility, withdraw and pay in
The Village Hall Management Committee is keen for the Hall to be used during the day and is supporting this idea; it could be combined with the serving of refreshments and also, taking a leaf out of the very successful “Tea with Technology” sessions at Aston Village Hall, where local residents are given help and advice on their laptops, tablets and mobile phones – for free!
Please complete the questionnaire attached to this item and email it to clerk@uptonparishcouncil.co.uk
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR OUTREACH POST OFFICE IN UPTON
1. Which Post Office do you currently use:
Blewbury / Didcot / East Hagbourne / Other
- How do you get there? Car Bus Other (specify)
- Would you use a weekly PO facility in Upton Village Hall?
- What day and time would you prefer:
Morning Afternoon
Day of Week Don’t mind
- Which of the following services might you use and how often?
Often Occasionally Never
Cash withdrawal
Pensions
Banking
Foreign Currency
Pay bills
Post and parcels
Phone top-up
Lottery
Buy stamps
Change facility
Christmas at Cornerstone
Christmas at Cornerstone always means a wonderful show for families and, this year, we are thrilled to present The Snow Dragon, a magical and enchanting fairy tale from Tall Stories, the team who brought you The Gruffalo and Room on a Broom. Performances start on Saturday 19 and run until Thursday 24 December. It’s the perfect run-up to the Christmas festivities for everyone from 3 to 103! (Full details of dates and times on our website – see below.)
We’re very excited about Brit-Award winning vocalists Blake, who are bringing their long-awaited debut Christmas show ‘Christmas Classics‘ to Cornerstone on Thursday 10 December. This two hour stage spectacular will feature festive songs in beautiful trio harmony, video projections and the group’s famous, fast-paced comedy banter.
If you can’t wait to get into the Christmas spirit why not come along to our Felt Making: Christmas Decorations special family workshop on Saturday 5 December? Great fun for families, you’ll learn how to make felt from scratch and then design your own decoration to take home and hang on the Christmas tree. Something to treasure for years to come. For ages from 5 and up.
Stephen K Amos: The Laughter Master is back on tour and returns to Didcot with his new show, fresh from sell-out tours of Australia and New Zealand. Catch him here at Cornerstone on Saturday 5 December.
Stringfever wowed audiences at Cornerstone last year and we’re delighted that they’re returning on Sunday 6 December. The world’s first genetically modified string quartet combine exceptional musical skill with a real talent for involving and engaging audiences. Expect a musical and visual extravaganza, offering an evening’s entertainment like you’ve never seen before!
Cornerstone will close its doors for Christmas on Thursday 24 December, re-opening on Tuesday 5 January 2016.
The New Year means the launch of the Spring season and, just to whet your appetite with a teaser or two…we’ll welcome ten top folk musicians, including Eliza Carthy, in Songs of Separation on Friday 22 January. If you love folk music you’ll kick yourself if you miss this. The undisputed masters of off-the-cuff comedy, The Noise Next Door, take audience suggestions and transform them into fantastically funny scenes and songs in the blink of an eye. Catch their show Noise In The Hood, on Saturday 23 January. Funky Monkey and the Juicy Fruits, on Sunday 31 January, is one of our Top Fun Sunday performances, with lots of fun on offer for families and children. Robert Strange: Collecting Art will open in the Cornerstone gallery on Tuesday 12 January.
Full details of our Autumn and Spring season programmes can be found on the Cornerstone website at http://www.cornerstone-arts.org, where online booking is also available. Bookings can also be made in person through the Box Office, or by telephone on 01235 515144 (closed Monday).
The team at Cornerstone wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and Happy New Year.
Ash Dieback Disease
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A Dicken’s Reading
Back by popular demand!
A Reading of another of Dickens’s Christmas Books “The Cricket on the Hearth”
Friday 27 November at 7.30 pm in Upton Village Hall
Last year, we read “A Christmas Carol”; this year we are attempting another of the Christmas Books, originally even more popular. It is a story suitable for all ages, with love and pathos and magic and disguise and deception – but of course a Happy Ending. It will go down very well with a warm drink and a mince pie or two. Do join the readers in establishing an annual tradition, and have a very enjoyable time, too.
Tickets £5 from Malcolm Wright (850705) or Hatty Burrow (851449)
(Children under 16 free)
Ticket price includes a mulled drink and mince pies, but not the Raffle
Any profit goes to Friends of St Mary’s
November Events at Earth Trust
Please find below a listing of our November events at Earth Trust. As always, more information can be found on our website www.earthtrust.org.uk. All events take place at the Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, OX14 4QZ unless otherwise stated.
Potions and Pumpkins – Sunday 1st November, 10am-2pm
Drop in to the Earth Trust Centre to taste our scarily delicious pumpkin soup by the fire and make some Halloween potions. £4 suggested donation per child, accompanying adult(s) free. No need to book.
Heritage Experiences – Sunday 8th November, 11am-3pm
For the last 18 months Earth Trust volunteers have been learning traditional skills such as green woodworking, blacksmithing, basket weaving and hedgelaying – come along and see what they have been doing and have a go yourself! Free.
Star Walk – Friday 13th November, 6pm-8pm
Join the Earth Trust for a starlit countryside walk with Dr Russell Layberry from Oxford University. Appropriate for older children and adults. £5 adult, £2 child; booking essential: 01865 407792 or admin@earthtrust.org.uk
Lucy Benyon
Communications Officer
Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire, OX14 4QZ
Direct Line: 01865 409406
Office No.: 01865 407792
November Meeting of Didcot U3A
DIDCOT & DISTRICT UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 2pm at Didcot Civil Hall. Visitors are welcome to come to a meeting as a taster before joining.
At our meeting on 17th November 2015 Corry Starling, the miller, will talk about “Mapledurham Watermill’’
It’s never too late to expand your horizons…………..
The University of the Third Age offers the opportunity to share your knowledge, experience and talents with others and learn from them in friendly surroundings. Why not come along to the next meeting of the Didcot & District U3A and find out what we are all about. A member of our committee will be on hand to make you welcome.
Tel: 07802 237963
Email: didcotdistrictU3A@virginmedia.com
Cornerstone – What’s on in November
Hello from Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot!
Our November programme is packed with a great variety of events, classes and workshops. Popular Top Fun Sundays continue through November, offering family friendly entertainment and facilities. A range of activities begins at 11am and there’s a super children’s show at 2pm. On Sunday 15 November we have highly skilled theatre from one of the leading UK children’s theatre companies with Puss in Boots. This story, brought vividly to life by Patrick Lynch from CBeebies, has a host of puppets, a working windmill, hidden trapdoors and lots more. It’s the cat’s whiskers.
Recently named as one of the Top Nashville Artists, by ‘The Alternate Root’, Wild Ponies offer dead right honest songwriting. Headed up by Doug and Telisha Williams their most recent album,Things That Used To Shine, spent over twenty weeks in the top forty. Come along and be captivated by their magnetic and stunning stage presence on Thursday 12 November.
There’s stand-up comedy from James Acaster on Friday 20 November. You’ll have seen him on Nevermind the Buzzcocks, Mock the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and heard James Acaster’s Findings on BBC Radio 4. He was also a Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show Nominee in 2014, 2013 and 2012.
Disco Pigs, on Saturday 28 November, is an electrifying, high octane, roller-coaster ride piece of theatre. Born seconds apart Darren and Sinead, aka Pig and Runt, live in a fantasy world of their own, fuelled by disco beats and cheap booze. Reality violently collides with fantasy as they go for a 17th birthday binge, and their world begins to crumble.
Are you finding your feet twitching to join in while watching Strictly Come Dancing? Why not give our Argentine Tango classes a try? Both beginners and improvers are catered for, and you can book for a block of five weekly classes (starting on 6 November) at a new cheaper rate, or just drop in and give it a go. There’s also a Practica session for more experienced dancers after the class finishes.
Do you love to knit, or have always wanted to learn? We have just the thing for you on Saturday 14 November with Knitting for Beginners: Make a Bag in the morning and Knitting, Colours and Patterns in the afternoon! The beginners workshop will include learning how to cast on and off and the basic stitches you need to begin knitting your own bag. In the afternoon you’ll learn the techniques involved with knitting with several different coloured yarns including Fairisle and Intarsia techniques.
Details of our full autumn programme can be found on our website at http://www.cornerstone-arts.org, where online booking is available. Bookings can also be made through the Box Office by telephone on 01235 515144 or in person. Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. Cornerstone is closed on Monday.