1 BLEDINGTON FOXHOLES AND FOSCOT NEWS July 2021 No 448

The Old Vicarage Garden is open twice in July

National Garden Scheme on 4 July

An Evening of Wine and Roses on 23 July

Pages 8 & 9

2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY JULY 2021 Mondays and Fridays; Post Office, Oddington Vill. Hall (p 2) 10.30 to 12.00 Sunday 4 Service of farewell to Helkias Mapimhidze (p 23) 10.30am Sunday 4 Open Garden, National Gardens, Old Vicarage (p 8) 2.00pm Monday 5 Foxholes/Foscot WODC Grey Collection Day (p 21) 6.00am Monday 5 Bledington Parish Council Meeting Village Hall (p 13) 7.30pm Tuesday 6 Bledington CDC Recycling Day (p 21) 7.00am Wednesday 7 Village Hall AGM, Village Hall (p 14) 7.30pm Saturday 10 Gladiator Youth Event, Kingham Hill School (p 23) 2.00pm Saturday 10 Great Big Cake Sale, Village Green (p 7) 12.00noon Monday 12 Foxholes/Foscot WODC Green Collection Day (p 21) 6.00am Friday 16 Bledington Housing Association AGMs, V. Hall (p 15) 3.00pm Monday 19 Foxholes/Foscot WODC Grey Collection Day (p 21) 6.00am Tuesday 20 Bledington CDC Recycling Day (p 21) 7.00am Friday 23 BLEDINGTON NEWS COPY DEADLINE (p 3) 12.00noon Friday 23 Wine and Roses Evening, Old Vicarage (p 9) 5.30pm Monday 26 Foxholes/Foscot WODC Green Collection Day (p 21) 6.00am AUGUST 2021 Saturday 14 Summer Flower Show, Village Hall (p 10) 2.00pm

Bledington News is uploaded monthly to www.bledington.com See Bledington News in full Colour Bledington.com is Bledington’s website carrying full details of every aspect of Bledington.

POST OFFICE AT ODDINGTON Angie Price Angie Price has made arrangements to open her Post Office in Oddington Village Hall at 10.30am to 12.00noon every Monday and Friday for the foreseeable future. Entrance is through the back door of Oddington Village Hall, adjacent to the hall car park by the children’s playground.

3 FROM THE EDITORS Wendy and Sinclair Scott According to the current newspaper headlines July is likely to see us free of the obligation to wear face masks and to strictly keep 2 metres from our nearby friends and family. There is, we suspect some reticence to release ourselves from social distancing bearing in mind we have been observing caution for the last 16 months. However optimism has turned to reality before and we wait to see our hopes come to fruition; although 10,000+ new cases of Covid each day is hardly good news. However, holidays at home and particularly abroad are producing all sorts of problems but maybe we can look forward to arranging some time away in the Autumn. The Parish Council, in June, ditched their ZOOM meetings and started meeting again in the Village Hall. Our new District and County Councillors, enthusiastic from the May elections, arrived at the Village Hall and we have been in touch with both CDC Councillor David Cunningham and GCC Councillor Mark Mackenzie-Charrington and they have both suggested they could contribute to Bledington News as and when there is something to say. See page 15.

WE WELCOME NEWS CONTRIBUTIONS TO BLEDINGTON, FOXHOLES AND FOSCOT NEWS

Please send your news contributions for the next Issue at any time. Copy deadline is strictly 12.00 Noon 23rd of each month (January to November). Please send news contributions for Bledington News to the editors, Wendy and Sinclair Scott, by paper copy to 4 Old Forge Close, Bledington, Chipping Norton, OX7 6XW or email us at [email protected] Tel: 01608 658624. Bledington News is published in full colour at www.bledington.com Please ensure you have a prompt acknowledgement of your contribution sent by email; this makes it certain we have received it. News contributions may be subject to editorial adjustment and regrettably, if received after the deadline time, cannot be included.

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BLEDINGTON COMMUNITY SHOP AND CAFÉ - JULY UPDATE Steve Packman WHERE DID MAY GO? Wow time flies when your having fun they say; so May will go down as Fun with a capital F. I think we experienced a mixed bag of weather from some beautiful days to some wet and miserable days so knowing what stock to get in was like doing the lottery. The weather also played havoc with our Fresh Fruit and Veg supplier with Strawberries in particular being our biggest issue going from 100% available some days to 0% others so my apologises for that, we have since introduced Gooseberries, Cherries and Apricots amongst others to tempt you along with the Strawberries which are now 100% available. We were lucky enough to be blessed with some fantastic Bank Holiday weather for a change and we saw some fantastic sales figures over the 3 days so thank you all very much for supporting us. June so far has proved to be fantastic weather wise (although at the time of writing this the forecast looks to have changed) we have seen a rise in visitors to our village who are enjoying a well earned holiday who seemed to love our shop and our own Bledington Gin has been very popular to say the least. Please remember to say Hello when you pop in as its great meeting you all and putting names to faces and thank you to those who have and the welcome I have received is much appreciated.

Community Shop Open Monday to Saturday: 9.00am to 4.00pm Sunday: 9.00am to 1.00pm

Tel: 01608 65 99 77 Email: [email protected] Send your shopping list in advance for collection

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BLEDINGTON SCHOOL Jill Kewley, Headteacher A huge thank you to Jess May and a small cast from Longborough Festival Opera who visited our school to provide an outdoor risk assessed workshop. They then put on an amazing outdoor performance in our playground. Our pupils were enthralled by the story of Hansel and Gretel and spellbound by the singing and dancing (many of our school neighbours have said that they enjoyed listening from their gardens too). After such a long time it was exciting to welcome live theatre back into our school. It was such a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to enjoy engaging with the performance and experience drama, dance and operatic singing from talented young artists.

One of our pupils said “It was so good you could make a movie!” Thank you to Mr & Mrs Mackesy for introducing Longborough Festival Opera to Bledington Primary School. We hope to continue this relationship over the coming years.

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BLEDINGTON SCHOOL ASSOCIATION ‘100 CLUB’ WINNERS FOR JUNE 2021

The following numbers win £5 each in June’s draw:

74 Keiri Dainty 57 Not Allocated 55 Carla Humi 37 Dophie Baldwin Congratulations to all the winners! A HUGE Thank you to everyone that supports the 100 Club. This year it was the only big fundraiser for the School. Your support is greatly valued.

We had hoped to draw the two Big Prize-£75-draws in person at the School Play and Family BBQ. However, as the rules have changed, we will do both prize draws in the school office and report the winners in July.

Registered with: Cotswold District Council under Gambling Act 2005. Registration Number: 07/01271/GASSP

Promoter: Annie Hammerstein, Harwood House, The Green, Bledington, OX7 6XQ Tel: 01608 659819

ST LEONARD’S CHURCH – THE GREAT BIG CAKE SALE – SATURDAY 10 JULY 2021 Aloÿse Packe 658447 and Louise Ball 658464 We are planning to hold a GREAT BIG CAKE SALE on the Village Green on Saturday 10 July 2021 in aid of St Leonard’s. As you all know the church was closed for much of last year and we are not having a fête this year so we need to do some fund raising. Bledington is renowned for its cake baking so any of your fabulous creations would be much appreciated. Please encourage your friends and neighbours to come to the stall which will be on the Green from 12.00- 4.00pm. If you are able to bake a cake please could you let us know what you will be making so that we get a variety. It would be amazing if you could put it on a cardboard plate or base and wrap it so that it is ready for sale. Thank you and look forward to seeing you on 10 July.

I threw a boomerang a few years ago. Ever since I have lived in constant fear.

I entered 10 puns in a pun contest, hoping one would win - but no pun in ten did.

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8 Come and visit The Old Vicarage Garden

THE NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME on SUNDAY 4 JULY 2.00 to 6.00pm

SOPHIE PRINGLE Flora Pringle-Paterson 'Stuart and Flora (Hazel Grove) would like to say a big thank you to everyone for all their kindness and help after the sad loss of our dear wife and mother, Sophie Pringle. It's lovely for us to hear how well-known and appreciated she was in the village, particularly for her gardening.

THANK YOU Robin and Michael McCulloch We would like to thank all our friends and neighbours who supported us following the death of our daughter Emily. We were overwhelmed by the kindness from all those who stopped by, sent us a card and brought us food. We were very deeply touched and uplifted by the outpouring of concern and support. Although we knew it before, we saw again what a special village Bledington is and how fortunate we are to live here.

9 An EVENING of WINE

and ROSES In Aid of St Leonard’s Church, Bledington

At Old Vicarage

FRIDAY 23 JULY

from 5.30 until 8.00pm WINE, CANAPÉS and ROSES TICKETS £6.00

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THE BLEDINGTON GARDENING SOCIETY 68TH ANNUAL SUMMER FLOWER SHOW

SATURDAY 14 AUGUST 2021

Your schedule for the 2021 Summer Flower show was included in April’s Newsletter. I hope you will find something in it which will enable you to take part in the first show for 18 months. There are classes for vegetables, flowers, cooking and handicrafts so please try and showcase one or more of your talents in friendly competition. There are children’s classes too, and children may also enter any of the adult classes FREE.

I took the shell off my racing snail, thinking he would run faster. If anything it made him more sluggish.

Why should you never date a tennis player? Love means nothing to them.

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BLEDINGTON VILLAGE HALL Jenny Beacham The village hall is available for hire within the current guidelines. If you require information regarding this, please email or telephone for clarification. Since 21 June, rules regarding wedding receptions etc and funeral wakes have relaxed slightly. I have the updated guidelines if anyone needs them. The Village Hall committee has agreed that Rendezvous will return but it is currently not practicable. When it does return we will need a backup team as we are now very shorthanded. Please get in touch if you would be willing to go on a list to run the Friday coffee mornings if members of the committee are unavailable. You will therefore realise that despite our letterbox appeal for committee members in Bledington, Foscot and Foxholes, there has been no uptake. We do still need two members to comply with the constitution. However, if you would be happy to help out with any future events in aid of Village Hall funds but do not relish committee meetings, please get in touch! Please DO COME to the AGM on Wednesday 7 July at 7.30pm in the Hall.

BLEDINGTON CARE COMMITTEE Bledington Care Committee is made up of volunteers living in the village. Our aim is to assist the elderly, the disabled and those in distress in the village. This includes: Transport to Hospitals, Doctors, Dentists etc – for the elderly, disabled, those unable to use or without transport. Please ring Hazel Furneaux on 658547 or Pat Jenkin on 659215. Care Line/Emergency Telephone - Sue Windsor 658525. Medical Equipment – e.g. Zimmer frames, wheel chairs, crutches etc, available on short term loan. Sue Windsor 658525. Medical Prescriptions – most pharmacies now provide a delivery service for prescriptions for the elderly, but should this not be possible a member of the Care Committee will collect. Sue Windsor 658525. Occasional catering for funeral refreshments in the village hall - Sue Windsor 658525. Further information about the Bledington Care Committee can be found in the Bledington Directory (pages 15-16).

12 BLEDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL Notes by the Editors from the Minutes of the Bledington Parish Council meeting held on Monday 7 June 2021 at Bledington Village Hall. Present: Mr R Pearson (Chair), Mr N Jackson (Vice-chair), Mr B Ball, Mrs R Gaskell, Dr S Rawstorne, Mr A Tait with acting clerk Mrs H Pearson, Clerk Mrs C Allen, Councillors M Mackenzie-Charrington (GCC) and D Cunningham (CDC) and also one member of the public. Apologies from Mrs R Pawley. Matters Arising. Feastival. Mr Jackson to report back at the next meeting. Station Road Bridge. The Clerk to submit a form received from Oxfordshire CC. Reports from the newly elected County and District Councillors. CDC D Cunningham. CDC is looking to reduce their Carbon footprint by 10 per cent. He said that people can now apply for a 2nd garden waste bin licence and the Council will deliver one for £10. There are a limited number of licences available. Residents are encouraged to compost at home and the Council are recommending a website ‘Getcomposting’ whereby you can apply for subsidised composting bins. He reported CDC is currently short staffed in the planning department resulting in some delays with planning applications. A new procedure to reduce the number of applications that have to be determined at committee is introduced with an intermediate scrutiny panel to oversee applications called in by ward councillors. Cllr Cunningham will also look into new dog mess signs for the village. Mrs Gaskell will review the current signage in the village. GCC M Mackenzie-Charrington. 60% of GCC Budget goes on adult and children social care. GCC are repairing one thousand pot holes each week and are recruiting fifteen new crews to help. There is a £30,000 annual allowance available across the 20 parishes to help with highway related local issues. He is actively involved with flooding issues across the county. Free school meals are still taking place during holidays and GCC is providing free counselling support for teachers in education. Cheltenham Hospital Radiology Dept is to have an investment of 6.5M in new equipment to speed up assessment and treatment. Flooding. Mrs Gaskell said Thames Water has reported some infiltration into the sewer network from Icomb and from Bledington and CCTV is to discover where sewers should be lined. No root damage was found by the Green outside Chestnuts. The pumping station in Chapel Lane where flooding occurs is being looked at to find out if it can cope during high rainfall. Thames Water to do a house survey to discover where the rainwater goes from some village houses. The Environment Agency visit to instruct on clearing the Brook is being arranged. Continued on page 13

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Continued from page 12 The Draft Flood Response Action Plan prepared by Dr Rawstorne and Mrs J Wilson was discussed. There would need to be 2 or 3 flood wardens who are able to coordinate the actions in an emergency and a list of volunteers willing to help by communicating. Dr Rawstorne, Mr Ball and Mr Jackson will liaise with Mrs Wilson regarding the flood wardens in the first instance and report back at the next meeting. Mr Ball thought it was important that all Parish Councillors should act as wardens. Clerk. The Council agreed an interim arrangement for the appointed and acting Clerks to work together until a new Clerk is appointed. Clerk will speak to GAPTC to ascertain the correct salary scale and a detailed job description will also be made. CDC Cllr Cunningham is to forward contact details of the Clerk’s network which may be of help recruiting a new Clerk. Lorries through the village. A number of HGVs are travelling through the village due to a lack of alternative routes following weight restrictions at Burford and Adlestrop. This will be raised at the next meeting with GCC Cllr Mackenzie-Charrington. There was also concern about an increase in speeding vehicles through the village and hopefully the ‘Speedwatch’ group will resume soon but needed extra volunteers. Correspondence. Party on the Village Green. The Council was in full agreement. Gravestone application. Approved. Playground equipment. It was agreed to invite Mr Morley to the next meeting to explore the next steps. Tree planting in the village. Mrs Dickson was encouraged to discuss this further with Dr Rawstorne and the Flood Group. Risk Register. Dr Rawstorne reported that the gravestones had been inspected recently and three of the stones require some attention. Mr Pearson will follow this up. A recent inspection of the play area has taken place. The gate post into the play area has rotted and will need replacing over the coming months. A bench on the Green will need to be removed as soon as possible due to its poor condition. Items for future meetings. Mr Tait was concerned that the phone box is being used as an unofficial book exchange with books being stacked on top of the Defibrillator. Although the council were supportive of a book exchange there was some concern over access to the Defibrillator. Mr Tait will monitor the situation. Next meeting: Monday 5 July, 2021 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

14 AGM of BLEDINGTON & FOSCOT VILLAGE HALL WEDNESDAY 7 JULY 7.30pm In the VILLAGE HALL

AGENDA APOLOGIES MINUTES OF AGM 2019 MATTERS ARISING CHAIRMAN’S REPORT TREASURER’S REPORT, UP TO 31.12.20 ELECTION OF 2 COMMITTEE MEMBERS ANY OTHER BUSINESS BLEDINGTON VILLAGE HALL Nominations are invited to serve on the Village Hall committee. Names should be given to the secretary, Jenny Beacham by 4 July, in writing with a proposer and seconder. Please obtain the agreement of the nominee beforehand.

15 THE CHIPPY SHUTTLE Chris Gee We’ve been sorry to reduce our service around town this week due to a lack of volunteers. The Chippy Shuttle was unable to run a service on Tuesday afternoon 15 and on Friday 18 June. Please spread the word about our need for more volunteer drivers to join the team so we can return to a full service. It is a rewarding volunteering job and full training is given. Just one half day a week. Call Paul Branch on 07771 624578 or Keith Gowing on 01608 811617 for more details. Help us to get back to supporting the people of Chippy and surrounding Villages.

GREEN WASTE AND COMPOSTING CDC Cllr David Cunningham With grass-cutting season in full swing, our green bins can quickly get filled to the brim. Never fear, there are options! Additional green bins can be purchased from Cotswold District Council: New customers can buy up to two licences. If you do not already have a bin there is a £10 delivery charge. If you need two bins the delivery charge is still £10. If you are an existing customer you can buy an additional licence on top of your existing licence if you need it. If you want any extra bins there will be a £10 delivery charge. Once CDC reach the maximum number of licences, everyone else will be placed on a waiting list and contacted when there is capacity again. Composting garden waste is a great alternative to the collection service, and CDC recommend having a home composter. Discounted bins are available to buy from the ‘Get Composting’ website getcomposting.com Useful information on getting started can be found on the RHS page www.rhs.org.uk/advice

BLEDINGTON VILLAGE HOUSING ASSOCIATION Tony Windsor Following the relaxation of regulations on meetings, the Annual General Meetings for 2019 and 2020 of the Bledington Village Housing Association will be held in the Village Hall at 3.00pm Friday 16 July immediately following one another. Agendas will be sent to Members.

16 TREE SPACE Angela Dickson I propose as a village we challenge ourselves to plant 100 trees by the end of this year. Householders, gardeners, landowners and farmers: all of us pulling together to look for spaces to plant trees. Together, let’s see how many trees we can get into the ground in 2021. This planet’s biggest threat is the belief that someone else will save it. We need to reduce carbon emissions but we also need to capture it. As a group we can make a real difference. We can capture carbon, help prevent flooding and give wildlife a helping hand by planting trees. I know there will be some tree planting heroes out there! I will record who is planting a tree, what they are planting and where. We will be able to clearly see what has been achieved and know we are making a difference. The ball has already started rolling. The parish council has ordered 30 native saplings to plant in and around the village, in locations yet to be decided. By email, telephone or Facebook @bledingtontreespace, let me know if you have space for one or several trees. No matter how small, every tree counts. Householders – tell me who you are, what you are planting and where you intend to plant (a grid reference from Google Maps or ‘What Three Words’ will be helpful). Outside of your property - If you think there is a space, ideal for a native tree outside of your property, and you’re willing to maintain it, and the land belongs to the parish or Highways, let me know the Who, What and Where and I will make a list of proposals for either the council or Highways to consider. Landowners - you have the ability to really take this from a small project to something much bigger, with far reaching benefits for generations to come. Right. Loudhams planted 1500 saplings by the river near Cotswold Carriers. I hope Loudhams are the first of many tree planting heroes of Bledington. Continued on page 17

17 Continued from page 16 Native woods and trees are one of the best ways to tackle the climate crisis, so if you want to join in and help in any way from planting to finding tree spaces, please get in touch. Let me know any planting plans/ideas as soon as possible, ideally, by the end of August, ready for planting in the autumn. The Woodland Trust is a great resource and has free packs of trees for groups who are planting on land that can be accessed by the public. They also sell individual trees for less than £5 and have guidance on 100% funding schemes for larger plantations. The government is also paying landowners who create new woodland via carbon credits. Please get in touch. [email protected] 01608 658331 @Bledingtontreespace BURFORD AND KINGHAM ROTARY Ros Richardson, Vice-President Elect At our Club Assembly meeting at the end of May, we were delighted that Assistant District Governor Simon Hamilton could join us to hear our President Elect set out the plans for Rotary for the coming Rotary year July 2021 to July 2022. The Theme being Fun, Fellowship and Fundraising. Everyone is looking forward (fingers crossed) to being able to start meeting weekly at Burford Golf course from the beginning of July. We are planning a Black-Tie Handover Dinner at the end of July. We are looking to increase the social side of our Club and are keen to welcome new members. We are going to look at Fundraising, taking a slightly different approach by looking to collaborate with other local Rotaries and local fundraising organisations offering our help. We are hoping we can find ways to help with this type of project in the next few months. Do contact us if you think we can support your fundraising projects in any way. We are delighted to be able to provide tea over several weekends at Chastleton House throughout the summer. The Presidents Charity this year will be Bridewell Gardens. Mental Health Recovery based in North Leigh. More about this in future. As we come out of lockdown and the new Rotary year begins with lots of exciting things in the pipe line, do think about joining us. All you have to do is email our secretary, John Smith [email protected] We will be very pleased to hear from you. Our meetings will be held on Zoom until the end of June. Please contact John who will send you a link. However, if you feel that Zoom is not for you, then we can contact you when we start meeting normally again.

18 VILLAGER BUS SERVICES Timetables and information - www.villagerbus.co.uk Villager bus services are back with a full service. Masks must be worn and passenger numbers will be limited to maintain social distancing. Vaccination passports are not required. Services local to Bledington are below. Full timetables are available to see at the website above. For queries call 01608 811617 or 01658 659749.

V2 Bledington Green 09.24: Bledington School 09.25 Wednesday arrive Chipp. Norton Co-Op 9.50; Medical Centre 9.53 only Leave Co-op 11.30, Hlth. Centre 11.32 arr. Bledington 12.00

V6 Bledington School 09.39: Bledington Green 09.40 Thursday arrive Stow Square 9.49: Stow Tesco 9.53 Leave only Stow Tesco 11.04: Stow Square 11.08, arr. Bledington 11.19

V9 Bledington School 13.55: arrive Chipping Norton 14.09 Friday Leave Co-op Car Park 15.45 arr. Bledington 16.00. Goes on only to Westcote/Oddington - no return from Oddington.

Bledington Green 09.16: arr. Chipping Norton West Street V19 10.03, Health Centre/Aldi 10.06 (by request). Leave Aldi/ Monday to Health Centre 11.38, Co-op 11.40 arr. Bledington 12.27. Friday (This service travels to Milton-u-Wychwood, Shipton-u- Wychwood and Ascott-u-Wychwood).

V20 Bledington School 09.05 Arr. Witney 10.06. Leave Thursday Sainsbury’s 11.55; Market Sq. 12.00, arr. Bledington 13.02 only (This service travels to Kingham, Shipton-under-Wychwood).

V25 Bledington Green and School 08.56 arr. Witney 10.13am Wednesday dropping off at Hospital, Sainsbury’s and Buttercross. only Witney Buttercross 12.08pm, arrive Bledington 1.29pm (This service travels to Churchill, Shipton, Milton, Fulbrook, Burford, Bradwell, Filkins, Carterton, Minster Lovell).

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WEATHER RECORDS Robert Pearson 20 MAY TO 19 JUNE 2021 2021 2020 Total rainfall 57mm 63mm Wettest Day 17mm on 18/6/21 34mm Highest day temperature 27°C on 2 and 13/6/21 25°C Average maximum day temperature 20°C 21°C Lowest night temperature 3°C on 23/5/21 6°C Average lowest night temperature 10°C 10°C These figures show higher than average rainfall for the past month. This is a result of a wet finish to May (the month of May in fact had a total rainfall of 126mm). However the main feature of last month’s weather has been the three weeks of ‘Summer’ we have enjoyed from 30 May to 16 June following three weeks of changeable conditions. Will this 3 week dry - wet pattern continue.

COMMUNITY WELLBEING SERVICE Louise Fletcher, Project Manager All requests for help should be addressed to 07738 016 384 or by email [email protected] The service offers practical and financial help and advice to those who may need any help to stay safe and independent at home for as long as they wish or as long as they can.

GUIDED WALKS WITH THE COTSWOLD VOLUNTARY WARDENS Sheila Wasley The guided walks programme has restarted. Details of the walks available are on the website (below). Walkers must reserve their place through the booking system as numbers will be capped. https://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/visiting-and-exploring/guided-walks/

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COMMUNITY DEFIBRILLATORS In a life threatening emergency, where a defibrillator MAY be required you MUST CALL 999. Bledington Community Defibrillators are located at: 1. Bledington Village Hall on an outside wall. 2. Outside Bledington School, in the telephone box. The Village Hall defibrillator cabinet is locked; access code IN AN EMERGENCY C123X. The School telephone box CALL 999 defibrillator is unlocked no DO NOT CALL 111 key or access code required. If Ambulance Control think the use of a defibrillator is required they will ask you to take the nearest defibrillator to the patient. You will be given instructions on how to use the defibrillator. DO NOT DIAL 111 in a life threatening emergency. A defibrillator is used to shock the heart into re-starting if the heart has arrested or is not beating properly. Please report to Sinclair Scott 01608 658624 if you have deployed the defibrillator. Defibrillators are dangerous to use unless under instruction from a 999 call operative or qualified medical practitioner.

BLEDINGTON NEWS The Editors Bledington News is usually distributed free of charge to every household in Bledington, Foscot and Foxholes. We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions or contributions for news etc. for inclusion. [email protected] or call 01608 658624. Our printing costs are our only expense; they are around £2,000 annually. A huge thank you to those who have made donations towards the printing costs; if you wish to donate please contact our Treasurer, Michael Lear, Trinders, Main Street, Bledington Tel: 659371. Cheques should be made out to ‘Bledington News’.

21 WASTE AND RECYCLING COLLECTION DATES BLEDINGTON - COTSWOLD DC. WEEKLY: EVERY TUESDAY: Small grey food waste caddy. Uneaten or out-of-date food, eggs, egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, kitchen roll, paper tissues, small amounts of oil/fat, animal hair. NOT food packaging, animal faeces, pet litter/bedding/carcasses, cardboard, nappies.

FORTNIGHTLY: TUESDAYS 6 AND 20 JULY: Large green wheeled garden waste bins (licence required). Grass cuttings, leaves, bark, tree prunings and branches up 2” across, tree stumps up to 4” across, rabbit and guinea pig bedding, flowers, plants, weeds, fruit windfalls, cold wood ash. Grey wheeled bins for land fill waste. Cat/pet litter/bedding, nappies, light bulbs, crisp packets, plastic bags/wrapping. NOT fluorescent tubes. Blue bag for cardboard. Cardboard must fit into bag. Remove packaging tape. NOT card with glitter. White bags for tins, cans and rigid plastic. Plastic tubs and bottles, clean foil, aerosols, tetra paks. NOT crisp packets, plastic bags, clingfilm. Black boxes: 1. Glass bottles, jars. NOT broken glass, light bulbs. 2. Paper, catalogues, newspaper, magazines, plain wrapping paper. Also in Black boxes, wrap in separate carrier bags:- 1. Small electricals, batteries, e-readers, fairy lights, toys. 2. Shoes, clothing, hats, gloves, belts, scarves, textiles, handbags.

FOSCOT AND FOXHOLES - WEST OXON DC. FORTNIGHTLY GREEN WEEK: MONDAYS 12 AND 26 JULY: Grey food waste bins. Blue lid bins for recycling. Green lid bins for garden waste. FORTNIGHTLY GREY WEEK: MONDAYS 5 AND 19 JULY: Grey food waste bins. Grey lid bins for landfill waste.

RECYCLING CENTRES Fosse Cross, Cirencester waste centre (CDC) is open from 9.00am to 5.00pm (not Tuesdays) 18 miles from Bledington, signposted off A429 at Hare and Hounds, 6 miles north of Cirencester. All visits must be pre- booked on-line at https://forms.gloucestershire.gov.uk/HRC_CarBooking Dix Pit, Standlake waste centre (WODC) is open from 8.00am to 5.00pm every day. 20 miles from Foscot off the A415 south of Witney.

22 EVENLODE VALE CHURCHES ST LEONARD BLEDINGTON Helkias Mapimhidze The rumours of my departure from the benefice are not exaggerated. After four years of ministry in Evenlode Vale I have come to the end of my curacy. This means that I am moving on to the next stage of my ministry whose exact nature is still unclear. It certainly won’t be the army as I had previously envisaged. And this is a good juncture at which to express my gratitude for the friendship and support that my family and I have received during our time here. This is from people who indefatigably supported my application for the army. Or the anonymous benefactor that paid for our garden to be spruced up. Or the vegetables and pot roasts that we received from generous neighbours. Or tickets to the Gifford Circus for the whole family. Or those that have let our children swim in their pools. And many who paid our children for odd jobs. Truly, there have been innumerable other acts of kindness from friends and neighbours. And then there are friendships that we have made - some at the school gate, some at the pubs, many on the street and most through the churches in the benefice. We are most thankful for these. And in my development as a minister I am especially grateful to the churchwardens, but also the wisdom of more mature ministers, specifically Peter and Brione; Tony and Hazel and Stephen and Alison. Ministry in a seven parish benefice has been challenging but rewarding and it’s been a great pleasure to serve the parishes because we have received more than we have given. Indeed, we leave with six children, having arrived with five. But God willing, this is not goodbye, but see you later. With His blessings. Helkias, Juliette, Luke, Zephan, Josiah, Silas, Moses and Dora

Evenlode Vale Churches Website: www.evenlodevalechurches.org

23 CHURCH NEWS JULY 2021 Kirsten Turner Pastoral Visit by Bishop Robert & Farewell to our Curate. Please do join us for our United Service at 10.30am on Sunday 4 July at Holy Ascension, Oddington when all seven parishes combine to worship together. Bishop Robert will be making a pastoral visit to our benefice. It will also be our opportunity to say farewell to Helkias who has been curate with us for the last four years. Helkias will leave officially at the end of the month but this will be our opportunity to say goodbye as a benefice. Please do join us if you can. Drinks and nibbles will be available after the service outside in the churchyard. The reordered Church of Holy Ascension provides a spacious and welcoming venue for our benefice to join together with social distancing and following Church of England guidelines. Gladiator Youth Event on Saturday 10 July. The youth team in the North Cotswolds Gospel Partnership have combined to host a great event for all young people in secondary school years 7-13. On Saturday 10 July, 2.00pm to 5.45pm at Kingham Hill School, Chipping Norton, Warren ‘Ace’ Furman will be coming along with his company, Ace Active, who provide many Gladiator-style activities. There will also be a BBQ for the young people to enjoy as well as group competitions and prizes. Young people wishing to attend should email Joel Reed on [email protected] Licensing of Revd Oliver Strange. Our new Priest in Charge, Revd Oliver Strange will be licensed by the Bishop of Tewkesbury on Tuesday 31 August 2021 at 7.30pm at Holy Ascension Church, Oddington. The service will involve representatives from each of our parishes. If you would like to attend please speak to your churchwarden as numbers may be limited. More details next month. Central Prayer. Our next Central Prayer meeting will be on Saturday 10 July at 9.30am at Holy Ascension, Oddington. Prayer underpins everything that we do in the Evenlode Vale Churches. Please join with us as we pray for our parishes, and the wider community. Social distancing and mask wearing is required. All are welcome. Pastoral Care. As we approach the return of normality we are conscious that many people will still have high levels of anxiety. If you or anyone you know has any pastoral concerns please contact our Curate, Helkias Mapimhidze on 01608 658500 or 01451 831424.

24 CHURCH SERVICES (subject to Government permission for public worship) Sunday 4 July The Fifth Sunday after Trinity 10.30am United Communion Service with Pastoral Visit from Bishop Robert Holy Ascension, Oddington Sunday 11 July The Sixth Sunday after Trinity 9.30am Holy Communion (CW) St Mary, Adlestrop 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) St Mary, Icomb 9.30am Holy Communion (CW) St Paul, Broadwell 9.30am Morning Service (CW) St Mary, Westcote 11.00am Morning Prayer (BCP) St Edward, Evenlode 11.00am Morning Service with Baptism St Nicholas, Oddington 6.00pm Evening Prayer (BCP) St Leonard, Bledington Sunday 18 July The Seventh Sunday after Trinity 9.00am Holy Communion (BCP) St Leonard, Bledington 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP) St Mary, Icomb 9.30am Morning Service (CW) St Mary, Westcote 10.30am Morning Praise Holy Ascension, Oddington Sunday 25 July The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) St Mary, Adlestrop 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) St Mary, Icomb 10.30am Morning Prayer (CW) St Leonard, Bledington 11.00am Holy Communion (BCP) St Edward, Evenlode 6.00pm Evening Prayer (BCP) St Paul, Broadwell 6.00pm Holy Communion (CW) St Mary, Westcote

ST LEONARD, BLEDINGTON CHURCH ROTAS FLOWERS AND BRASS TO MAIN CLEANING ALTAR AND SIDE ALTAR JULY 2021 Week Commencing: Monday Week Ending: Saturday 5th Mrs Oldridge and Mrs Packe 3rd Mrs Brione Goodwin-Hudson 12th Mrs Oldridge and Mrs Packe 10th Mrs Fiona Milhench 19th Mrs Cooper and Mrs Jenkin 17th Mrs Jenny Beacham 26th Mrs Cooper and Mrs Jenkin 24th Mrs Diane Angwin 31st Mrs Louise Ball

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