Shop News November 2004

If you picked up a newsletter from the shop last month some of what follows will be familiar to you as I have repeated articles to ensure everyone sees them.

There have been interesting times at the shop lately as Deborah Saxby, who works there during the day and at other times, has unfortunately been rather unwell. Deborah is now at home and hopefully she is on the mend. As one of our two paid staff she is vital to the shop’s continued success and her absence has left a big gap. Thankfully our noble and energetic band of volunteers has rallied round magnificently so that we have managed to stay open almost full time. The sincere thanks of all the committee members must go to each of them for their support. Our apologies if you have been caught out by the occasional closures but the committee and volunteers have moved heaven and earth to avoid shutting the doors any more than is absolutely necessary.

Needless to say we are always on the lookout for more volunteers. If you can help in any way for any length of time we can use you! Please pop into the shop to find out or call the committee members on the following numbers: Chris Blount: 878271, Deborah Rose: 878538, Sheila Tremlett: 878394, Andy Crick: 878148

Sadly the Post Office closed rather suddenly in September, despite the best efforts of postmaster Ann Proctor to pass on the business to keep it open. The shop committee has been in touch with the Post Office and we hope to be able to reopen a post office in the village as soon as possible. Ann has very helpfully offered any help we need to get this arranged and we will make sure that we give regular updates about our progress. It is likely to be several months before we are able to reopen the service but bear with us as we work to reopen this vital village service.

To reopen the Post Office we will need a new Sub-Postmaster. This is a fairly important role for which the Post Office offers an annual payment. On top of this will be an income from trade in the shop so the role would offer an interesting prospect for the right person. If you are interested in becoming a Sub-Postmaster and you would like to find out more, call any of the shop committee members on the numbers given above for further details. It may be useful to note that you would be directly contracted to the Post Office, although we would hope to tie in the new service with the general work of the shop.

Potters Hill Farm Bed and Breakfast

Potters Hill Farm is a Friendly, established Bed & Breakfast, one mile west of Leafield, offering comfortable rooms within our sympathetically converted coach house adjacent to the house, set in 15 acres of parkland. Open all year round. AA inspected 4 Diamonds. Tel. 01993-878018

Following lobbying by Leafield Parish Council, the County Council has agreed to subsidise a Saturday bus service from Leafield to Witney on the expectation that the service will be provided by voluntary drivers. There are several options for obtaining a bus, which will hopefully be available for other village groups but what is needed urgently are volunteers for a committee to run the service and volunteers to drive the minibus. If you can help out in either capacity please contact me urgently on 878148 or at andy@fantasycabinet.co.uk. Funding for the bus service is available from 12^th December so there is quite a tight deadline. If we manage to set up this service it will benefit numerous people, including older residents and young people in particular. I hope to set up a meeting to establish a new committee in November and this will be advertised in the shop.

In addition to the Saturday service the Charlbury Taxibus will continue to be funded and the direction it travels in will change. This means that on weekday mornings the bus will link up with route 69 at Finstock, allowing people to get into Witney every day. The return journey will mean a round trip via Charlbury but that can be when the shops have closed!

Leafield Picture Framing Service

Complete picture framing service

Mount cutting

Wash lining

Tapestry stretching

Door to door delivery and collection

Home consultation if required

Please telephone 01993-878357 or call Tony Croft at Cotswold View, Ascott Road, Leafield for a free estimate or further details

The stable will soon be celebrating its first birthday. The stable was born out of suggestions from families with children in the village who were not church goers but were keen to have a regular Sunday morning service in the village but wanted somewhere warm, with toilets that was child friendly. Ruth & Tony Leeming started the Stable in the village Hall in October 2003 and under their excellent stewardship it has evolved. Over 50 people have attended the Stable during its first year- some only once or twice others are regulars. Ruth and Tony have now moved to pastures new but they left us a wonderful legacy that we intend to continue. The Stable is now organised and run by members of Leafield Church with support from the Benefice Clergy.

So what is the Stable and how is it different? It is an easy to follow service with no jargon and easy to sing well known hymns old and new. Most of the service is on the service sheet and there are no hymn books either as we use an Overhead projector. Children are welcome at any age and there are activities to involve the children and a toddler corner with toys and books for the little ones.

When? 10.30am every Sunday, except the first Sunday in the month, when we join the regular family Service in Church

The Summer was quiet with many people busy and away but we look forward to welcoming each and every one of you over the coming weeks and months when there will be the occasional visiting speakers to add to the excitement.

The youth club has been a roaring success since it opened in September with over half the eligible children in the village attending. The helpers have ensured that the children have all had a great time every Friday. The Youth Club is open every Friday at the Village Hall and costs £1.00 per session. The evening is divided into two sessions: 6.00–7.30 for Primary School & 7.30–9.00 for Secondary School age children. Entrance/exit is via the first door on the patio, We keep the front Hall door locked so that members stay inside during sessions and we operate a no smoking policy.

The committee have a varied wealth of talents and experience and are very keen for all the young people in the village to have a club. HOWEVER WE NEED MORE HELPERS OR WE WILL CLOSE AT CHRISTMAS! Everyone in the village is welcome to drop in, see us, and if you can help with one/both sessions OCCASIONALLY then add your name to our rota, which will always be on the wall. Alternatively, if you can donate games, craft, sports or other suitable items and IDEAS these would be much appreciated. If the Youth Club closes these items will be donated to other village organisations. Many Thanks Julie King 07889 152 536 julieking@handbag.com

The reports listed below include a URN number. If you call the Police about any matters referred to here it would be helpful if you could quote this reference number to them. This will help them to locate earlier records.

Recently a number of incidents have occurred in the Bletchingdon & Kirtlington areas. In Bletchingdon 2 men gained entry to a house by telling the occupant that they were checking for vermin, they stole cash. They were described as male, Caucasian, approx. 20 yrs old and wearing dark clothing.

In Kirtlington, 2 men pushed their way passed the occupant gaining entry to the property. They carried out a search and made off with a handbag. They were described as male and Caucasian. One intruder was described as being of solidly build, 25-35yrs and wearing a navy blue baseball cap with either navy blue or light-blue piping on it. There is no description of the second intruder. Subsequently a further incident occurred in Bletchingdon involving an attempted break in via a downstairs window.

The Police consider that these incidents are connected. As the people involved in these incidents are usually mobile any local suspicious sightings should be reported to the Police on 0845-8-505-505 quoting URN196-14-10-04. Past experience has shown that the darker evenings and the approach to the Christmas season heralds an increase in the class of incidents described above.

SuperCars of Leafield

Private Hire Taxi Service

Book Now: 07711 937703

Evenings and Weekends

Quotes given for any UK destination

Can accommodate up to 6 passengers at a time

Any students from the village who are going to start college this year are entitled to apply for a grant from the above charity towards the costs of books or equipment. The resources of the charity are limited and grants made are dependant on the number of applications received. Anybody requiring a grant should apply to the secretary of the charity stating the name of their college, the course being taken and brief reasons why the grant would be of assistance. Applications should be made by Christmas and will be considered during January 2005. Applications to: Mike Brooks, Lady Reade Charity, 18, Jubilee Lane, Milton under Wychwood, OX7 6EW.

The Village Hall now has a newly constituted committee. There has been a good response to the call for volunteers and most of the village groups have also agreed to send representatives to meetings, so a HUGE THANK YOU to all concerned. There is much work to be done and those of you who use the Hall will, we hope, see the difference over time. Look out for new booking forms available in the shop soon.

Repairs to the drainpipes have been finished and covers fitted to prevent future damage. The Fire doors are due to be repaired soon and the damaged panes of glass will be replaced at the same time. The flue protectors are also to be installed soon after which the boiler will be reinstated and we will once again have hot water. All of this work costs money and whilst the Parish Council have been very generous in their support the Hall must be made to pay its own way. We are keen to hear from anyone considering using the Hall or with ideas for increasing it’s usage – particularly during the day.

All bookings should continue to be made through the shop where the diary is kept. This system works well as long as everyone uses it and we would ask any key holders not to use the hall without first clearing it through the shop.

Mr & Mrs Ferris, who stepped into the breach when no one could be found to clean the Hall, have done a wonderful job this past year or two but have decided it is time to pass the broom to younger hands. We wish to thank them publicly for all they have done. We are also delighted to be able to say that someone else has come forward to assume the cleaner’s role and that the broom will change hands on the 20^th of October.

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Leafield Village and Shop News

November 2004