1 BLEDINGTON FOXHOLES AND FOSCOT NEWS August 2020 No 438 The Clouds of Lockdown are Lifting and the Sun is Shining and Smiling as we come out of staying at home for weeks. Our thanks to all those who have helped so loyally and so willingly. 2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AUGUST 2020 Mondays and Fridays; Post Office, Oddington Vill. Hall (p 2) 10.30 to 12.00 Monday 3 Foxholes/Foscot Grey Waste Collection Day (p 17) 6.00am Monday 3 Villager Bus Services re-start with reduced timetable (p 12) Tuesday 4 Bledington CDC Recycling Day (p 17) 7.00am Monday 10 Foxholes/Foscot Green Waste Collection Day (p 17) 6.00am Saturday 15 Old Vicarage Garden Open Day (p 5) 2.00pm Monday 17 Foxholes/Foscot Grey Waste Collection Day (p 17) 6.00am Tuesday 18 Bledington CDC Recycling Day (p 17) 7.00am Sunday 23 BLEDINGTON NEWS COPY DEADLINE (p 2) 12.00noon Monday 24 Foxholes/Foscot Green Waste Collection Day (p 17) 6.00am No short walk or long walk in August 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 May we, on behalf of ourselves and ALL residents in Bledington, Foscot and Foxholes thank all the helpers who so willingly put their name forward and provided practical and neighbourly support to those who needed it in the last few months. So many people helped those in total lockdown by giving help for shopping, medicines, gardening, car trips etc., or just a phone call. We thank them all on your behalf, the community spirit shown to everyone in the last weeks has been wonderful to see. We have more comprehensively listed from Cotswold District Council’s website the list of items that should and should not be put into the various containers for waste collection. See page 17. We hope this is helpful. Villager Bus services start again on 3 August. Timetables will be available for all routes on the new Villager Bus website. Face masks are required if travelling on a Villager Bus. As they are short of drivers some services may have to be cancelled at short notice - details of services to and from Bledington and the new Villager Bus website are on page 14. WE WELCOME NEWS CONTRIBUTIONS TO BLEDINGTON, FOXHOLES AND FOSCOT NEWS Please send your news contributions for the September 2020 Issue at any time. Deadline for receipt is 12.00 Noon Sunday 23 August 2020. 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. 4 BLEDINGTON COMMUNITY SHOP AND CAFÉ—AUGUST UPDATE Jo Shaw, Bledington Shop Manager The shop continues to be really well supported by our customers, coming from near and far. Still the fruit and vegetables remain strong sellers with the strawberries being a firm favourite; they are now closely followed by the amazing cherries. They look so good, these are my new passion! Sadly, Asparagus is now over, but we have had several weeks selling huge amounts, and the quality this year has been fantastic. I have just had a lovely week’s holiday, and am very grateful to all the volunteers who worked so hard to keep the shop running so smoothly in my absence; I had a great break knowing the shop was being so well looked after. With the holiday cottages and B&B’s opening up and now welcoming guests into the area, we have started doing Welcome Hampers and would be very happy to offer this service to anyone interested. Please contact me on: [email protected] We have started to fire up the coffee machine, and although we are all feeling a little rusty in our Barista skills, we are enjoying getting back to serving coffee. It is still a small offering from the café, and although still a Take-out service, they can be consumed outside on the picnic tables, with the correct social distancing. I am sure you are aware, as of 24 July customers are required to wear a mask when in the Shop building, unless you have a legitimate reason not to do so. We have supplies of masks if customers do not have any and appreciate everyone’s assistance in upholding this new legislation. Please let me know ( [email protected] ) if you need confirmation of any exemptions. During these strange and uncertain times, we hope we can still offer everyone a safe and welcoming environment to do your shopping. Let’s hope the sun continues to shine through August, and we all look forward to welcoming you to the shop. Community Shop Open Every Day 9.00am to 2.00pm Tel: 01608 65 99 77 Email: [email protected] Send your shopping list in advance for collection If you are housebound we can deliver to you 5 COME OUT OF HIBERNATION MEET YOUR FRIENDS IN THE GARDEN OF THE OLD VICARAGE, BLEDINGTON ON SATURDAY 15th AUGUST 2020 from 2.00 until 6.00 in aid of ST LEONARD’S CHURCH, BLEDINGTON GARDEN ENTRY £5.00 (Under 16s free) Teas and Cakes if the weather is good. Enter the Flower and Vegetable Competition Bring your best flower (1 to 3 stems), your best vegetable (1 to 3 examples) and best Pot Plant and win a prize if it is the Best in the Village. Under 16s bring something you made or a picture you drew during ‘Lockdown’ and show us. Prizes will be awarded. Competition Entries between 11.00 and 12.00 in the morning. Because of lockdown I now understand why our pet dog tries to run out of the house when the front door is opened. Why was six scared of seven? Because seven ‘ate’ nine. 6 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. Care Line/Emergency Telephone - Sue Windsor 658525. Medical Equipment – e.g. Zimmer frames, wheel chairs, crutches etc, available on short term loan. Contact 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. Contact 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). BLEDINGTON CARE COMMITTEE A PLEA FOR VOLUNTEER DRIVERS Sue Windsor Tel: 658525 With life coming out of Lockdown I am expecting demands for transport to doctors and hospitals to increase, so we are urgently looking for people who would be prepared to be a volunteer driver. We particularly need those of you who are under 70. If you are able to help I would love to hear from you. Can a kangaroo jump higher than Bledington Village Hall? It certainly can, the Hall is too old to jump. What starts with E, ends in E and only one letter? Envelope. 7 BLEDINGTON VILLAGE HALL Jenny Beacham Many people are, understandably, wondering when the Village Hall will re -open. We are taking advice from Gloucestershire Rural Community Council who, in turn are sending directives out from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as well as ACRE – Action with Communities in Rural England. It is very much a decision of the Trustees/ Management Committee. The feelings of Bledington’s committee have not changed. Based on August being school holidays when no Toddlers, Brownies or Guides take place and other bookings in August have been cancelled, the Hall will remain closed. Indeed, Girlguiding has stated this week that groups of no more than 15 may meet outside only. This leaves regular events such as Rendezvous and Table Tennis. I have included below excerpts from the guidance for your information. The Committee is well prepared for re-opening having obtained supplies of hand sanitiser and printed the necessary signage so, rest assured, that as soon as we feel able, the Hall will be back to the ‘new normal’. There will, of course, be a full clean of the Hall before this happens. Risk assessments for Covid-19 are in process and you will be required to give name and addresses for Track and Trace. Be prepared also for distancing measures in the entrance where it is too narrow for social distancing! Excerpts from guidance Rules: Users should continue to socially distance from those they do not live with wherever possible. Users of community facilities should limit their social interactions to 2 households (including support bubbles) in any location; Premises or locations which are COVID-19 secure will be able to hold more than 30 people, subject to their own capacity limits, although any individual groups should not interact with anyone outside of the group they are attending the venue with – so in a group no larger than 2 households or 6 people if outdoors.