South Oxfordshire
This year’s Litter Pick is being arranged for Saturday 16th March. If you can spare us an hour or two please come along to the Village Hall at about 9.30 where there will be a cup of tea and biscuits awaiting you before setting out to help clean up our parish.
Mike Brown
Community First Responders are local volunteers trained and equipped by the ambulance service to attend certain types of 999 emergency calls within their local community. They carry a medical kit that includes an oxygen cylinder and masks, airways, a defibrillator and other first aid equipment. CFRs are trained in life support to help patients with chest pain, in cardiac arrest, breathing problems, severe bleeding, diabetic emergencies and unconscious casualties; all incidents where seconds count.
Unfortunately, the team for various different reasons has seen their numbers fall and now would appreciate some additional volunteers to help cover the village and surrounding areas.
Studies have shown that the early response to medical emergencies such as cardiac problems greatly enhance the patients chances of recovery. For example, following a cardiac arrest (where the heart stops beating) a person’s chance of survival decreases by 10% for every minute they wait for help to arrive.
Following a ‘999’ call, the CFR is contacted by mobile phone with details of the call and at the same time an ambulance is dispatched. The CFR will deliver immediate medical support then hand over to the ambulance crew on arrival and continue to assist as necessary.
CFRs receive 2 days of initial training, have monthly training update opportunities and are re-assessed every 6 months.
Community First Responders are a vital, lifesaving link in OUR local community.
Upton formed a CFR team back in 2009 initially with nine trained volunteers providing cover when available and although we formed to cover Upton we have been asked to provide occasional support to the surrounding villages of West Hagbourne, Blewbury, Chilton and Harwell. The team to date has been involved in over 90 calls in the local area.
CFRs are volunteers and the equipment is provided by the South Central Ambulance League of Friends, the team has raised funds to cover the cost of the equipment and has managed to fund a second kit for the village.
If you would like to make a donation to support the work of the CFRs or are interested in becoming a CFR and provide lifesaving cover to the village then more information can be found using the following link –
http://www.southcentralambulance.nhs.uk/get-involved/howdoivolunteer.ashx
If you would like more information about Community Responding, please contact
Ian Jones on 07791 561998 or ian.jones@scas.nhs.uk or please give me a call on 850031.
Thank you for your time and interest and I hope that you are able to help.
Mike Weston – Upton CFR team
Many thanks to everyone who came carol singing, rang handbells and donated to our house-to-house collection. We raised the respectable sum of £138.19, which has now been given to Didcot TRAIN Youth Project to support the work of this excellent local charity. Thank you so much for supporting this event.
Sarah Tenant-Flowers
Are you missing out on the annual office Christmas party because you work from home in Upton? Don’t worry! Anyone who lives and works in the village and would like to meet up for a Christmas meal in the George & Dragon is welcome to join us for lunch on Tuesday 18th December at 1.00pm. We had a great time last year and would love to see as many Uptonians as possible at this event. We will need to confirm numbers and orders in advance, so please contact Paul Batho by Friday 14th December at the latest.
Paul Batho (Tel: 851251 or email pbatho@aol.com)
All villagers are warmly invited to come carol singing round Upton’s streets on Friday 21st December. We will meet at the Village Hall at 6.30pm and finish up there again at around 8pm for a welcome glass of mulled wine, mince pies and more seasonal music performed by the village handbell ringers led by Daphne Simpson. Word sheets will be provided, but please bring torches and lanterns. We will be collecting again for local charity, Didcot TRAIN Youth Project (Registered Charity No 1094601) which gives support to homeless and disaffected young people in Didcot, providing alternative activities to vandalism, drugs and alcohol. If you’d prefer to listen rather than sing, please get your pennies and pounds (but no missiles please!) ready for this excellent local cause. Give me a call or drop me a line if you would like to take part. The more the merrier!
Sarah Tenant-Flowers (Tel: 850488 or email singscape@aol.com)
After a few teething issues, the new play area is now fully functional and appears to have gone down a storm with local children.
With this fantastic facility however, comes responsibility and the Parish Council now has a duty to ensure it is regularly inspected and maintained to ensure the safety of our children. With this in mind we’re seeking volunteers to join an inspection rota. Inspections will be weekly, so it is envisaged that each volunteer will only need to perform an inspection every 2-3 months.
If you would like to join the rota and help ensure our play area remains safe, please contact Bob Lott on 851222.
Upton Parish Council
Upton Parish Council will be shortly looking for someone able to take responsibility for all administrative aspects of the Council and to act as Responsible Financial Officer.
Duties include production of agendas and minutes for all meetings, carrying out all the Council’s decisions, advising the Council on procedural matters, producing brief monthly updates for the Upton News and village web site.
Parish Council financial work includes dealing with the payment of bills, managing the accounts and annual audit, budget preparations and dealing with VAT issues relating to Parish Projects. Training is available. Good communication with the Chairman is essential.
The post is part time, averaging 18 hours per month with hours to suit. The Clerk works from home and attends Parish Council meetings which are usually held at 8pm on the third Tuesday of alternate months.
The salary is from £1925 pa, (based on 216 hours pa) according to experience.
The ideal candidate will have good organisational and computer skills, including Excel spreadsheets. Broadband internet connection essential.
For an informal discussion or to make an application, please contact the present Clerk, Clare Lightfoot email Lthimbles@aol.com or telephone 01235 850486.
4th September 2012
ST MARY’S FETE & FUN DOG SHOW will be held on Sat 1 Sept starting at 2.00 p.m. at the Upton Recreation Ground
1.45 p.m. Official opening of New Playground
Blewbury Band, Children’s Sports, Cakes, Plants, Preserves, Produce, Books, White Elephant, Toys, Teas, Ices, Raffle, Tombola, Skittles, Face Painting, Handicrafts etc
Fun Dog Show – entries from 2.00 p.m. judging from 2.30 New classes: Best child handler, Best veteran dog
Donations for the stalls would be very welcome
Drop off points: Books – Derek & Charmian, Pippins, Fieldside, 850163
Tombola prizes – Clare,Thimbles,Newman’s Close, 850486
Lucky Dip prizes – Karen, Fernwood, High St, 851072
Cakes, scones, small cakes, tray bakes} please bring on fete day
Display of Vintage Vehicles
Plants, white elephant (NO JUMBLE) and other donations can be brought to the hall on
Friday 31st August from 4.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m. or on Fete day from 10.00 a.m.
Offers of help would be gratefully received, contact Jessie 851206 or Clare 850486
Dog Show enquiries to Gloria 850683
St. Mary’s Fete
We will be running our usual Ice Cream Stall at St Mary’s Church Fete, which is at Upton Recreation Ground, from 2.00 to 4.30 pm on Saturday 1st September. And we have a second stall this year – a game that needs a steady hand: if you are not careful you could have a really smashing time.
Summer Cream Tea Afternoon
We will be holding a Cream Tea Afternoon at 4 Westbrook Green, Blewbury, on Friday 7th September, 2.30 to 4.30 pm. We hope members of the community can come to this event, which we are holding to thank the local community for their support of the two Methodist Churches. The members of the Spring Line Church want the proceeds from this event to go to Blewbury School.
Nordic Walking Free Taster Event – Saturday 15th September
We are trying to start a Nordic Walking group in the area as a social way of getting exercise and making use of our network of footpaths and tracks.
Nordic Walking is a wonderful way of getting fit as it uses up to 90% of the muscles of the body. It can be done socially as opposed to the somewhat solitary experience of a gymnasium and can be tailored to suit all fitness levels. After the modest costs of training and the purchase of the special poles it is then free. You will find lots more information on Nordic Walking including its history on the web.
We have arranged for Hendriette Thorn, who is the Get Oxfordshire Active Co-ordinator for South and Vale, to run a taster session here in Upton for anyone who might be interested in trying Nordic Walking. It will be held on the recreation ground at Upton next to the Village Hall and will start at 10.a.m. and run for approximately an hour.
If you would like to take part in this taster session or would like further information please contact me either by telephone on 01235 850989 or by e-mail to mike@manorlawns.co.uk. I need to be able to book you in to ensure that we have enough poles available on the day.
Mike Collins