Hello Everyone.  I hope you are all coping ok in this, the third week of lockdown.  In many ways, we in Great Coxwell are very lucky to be locked down in such a lovely village, with a great community spirit, and beautiful countryside right on our doorstep.  Whilst we might not have a pub or a shop, we are a strong, caring community which is in some ways being re-enforced by the challenges we are currently facing.   I am confident that by sticking together and looking out for each other, we will all get through this.

One example of our great community spirit is Graham MacDonald, who runs a chocolatier business in Oxford. (Graham’s house is just behind the War Memorial)  He has kindly donated chocolate Easter eggs for every household in the village.  Indeed, we think we have enough so that each child in the village also gets their own Easter egg.  (Brilliant. – Well done Graham!).  The Easter bunnies, Mike and Pauline Durham, together with Robbie (my better half!) and me, will be distributing the eggs between 10-12am on Sunday (Easter Sunday) morning, so look out for them on your doorstep.  Disappointingly, Mike said he wasn’t prepared to wear a bunny outfit for the occasion!

It was great to hear the 8pm applause across the village for the NHS last night.  Our next=door neighbour, Sean O’Kelly, runs Cambridgeshire NHS Hospitals Trust and has been working day and night for many weeks, saving many lives in the process.  Three cheers for Sean and all his colleagues.

So far, the prescription collections appear to be going well, and our volunteers have been out and about, looking after their designated households.  Thanks to Debbie Best, who read last week’s newsletter and made contact, stepping forward to fill a gap in our support network.

At the bottom of this newsletter is a message from the Vale of the White Horse District Council, thanking all volunteers across the District for our support.  Please have a look.

That’s all from me this week.  Remember to stay at home, support the NHS and save lives.

Mandy

THANK YOU!

Hello everyone
 
We just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how much what you’re doing is appreciated and to show you a little video we’ve made to say thank you. You’re doing an incredible job and as you’ll see from the video, our staff and councillors all think so too.
 
At a time our communities were most in need, you were the people who stood up and did what needed to be done to support them. When we look back on this time, we hope you’ll do so with pride in the absolutely crucial role you’ll have played in keeping our country going.  Thank you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PcgotRHFao 

We’ll be sharing this on social media shortly as we believe everyone needs to know what a great job you’re all doing.
 
THANKYOU ?
 
Michelle Wells 
COVID-19 Community Support Programme Manager 
South Oxfordshire & Vale of White Horse District Councils
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Hi everyone, another week almost done, keep cheerful and keep reading!

I have a few books I am happy to lend if anyone is interested, they are not for the telephone box yet.

A Travellers Tale   by  John Simpson
The Kindness of strangers  by  Kate Adie
Reporting Royalty  by  Jennie Bond
Writing Home  by  Alan Bennett  A collection of writings including The Lady in the Van
Coming Up Trumps  by  Jean Trumpington    A remarkable lady with a great sense of humour 
The Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina  Lamb
Three Cups of Tea  by  Greg Morterson and David Oliver  Relin
Two books about girls endeavoring to get an education where it is forbidden, very inspiring.
Georgiana Duchess of Devonshite  by  Amanda Foreman 
Catherine the Great  by  Simon Dixon
Married to a Bedouin  by  Marguerite   van  Geldermalsen who went to Petra and fell in love.
Nights of Rain and Stars  by Maeve Binchy
Over the Hills and Far Away  by  Candida Lycett Green    Travels with a friend and 2 horses
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady  by  Edith Holden
Life and Traditions in the Lake District    by  William Rollinson

Hope some of these may be of interest, if so contact  me on 240444 or email. I will put book in front porch for collection.

Enjoy the lovely weather and stay safe 

Betty

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Here is a link to a briefing sent by the CEO at OCC, Yvonne Rees to all County Councillors and is the “FIRST” whole system stakeholder update.

Judy

The document contains details of how to get advice and help, so it is worth downloading a copy for reference.
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Dear everyone, as promised please now find below information relating to the Councillor Priority Fund which is now live, please circulate and publicise.
 
Last financial year my Priority Fund helped across the whole of the Faringdon Division.  This is the third financial year that this particular fund has run and I hope that the fund will help more than ever.
 
The 2020/21 Councillor Priority Fund (CPF) is now live and each councillor has been given £15k to allocate to local causes. To help support the inspiring local response to the current crises across the county, CPF can be used towards projects to support the immediate Covid-19 response and help communities through the recovery. We will prioritise those applications for processing.  
 
Please direct interested parties to our public website, where they can find further information and the application form. For the time being all applications must be sent electronically to the Councillor Priority Fund email address ([email protected]). Electronic signatures on the forms will be accepted. Please do not send paper application forms to the office as staff are currently working from home and we are unable to process them. We know that little pots of money can go a long way. To help the team easily identify COVID-19 bids, please ensure applications are clearly marked as supporting a COVID-19 project.
Non COVID-19 related applications may take longer to process and we thank you for your patience.
 
I look forward to hearing from you, keep well and safe,
 
Judy

Online services available during Holy Week and Easter

This week is Holy Week and in the run up to Easter and at Easter itself various services are being streamed live from the Bishop of Oxford.  They are also available to view later if you are unable to take part at the time of broadcasting.

We are now at the end of Week 2 of the National Lock Down, and the Volunteer Support Group has been in operation for a week.  My thanks to Mike and Pauline Durham, Lauren Gilmour and all the Volunteers for helping our community.  By now, volunteers should have been in contact with their households.  Please let me know directly if you have any problems getting the support you need in these most difficult of times.

Here is a Summary of our first week in operation.
 
The Prescription Pick up has also been operating for a week and prescriptions have been successfully collected and delivered from both Faringdon and Shrivenham medical centres by Jonny Farrow. (Many thanks Jonny – Great stuff..)  Remember routine collection days are Wednesdays for Faringdon and Thursdays for Shrivenham.  Please order your prescriptions allowing time for them to be prepared by the surgery and for collection.  Once you have ordered your prescription and given permission for the Support Group to collect, please let me know and I will co-ordinate collections with Jonny.  Urgent prescriptions will be collected as needed.  Again, please let me know.
 
Shopping – Not surprisingly, given the demand, all supermarket on-line shopping has struggled to cope, and it has proved very difficult to obtain a delivery slot.  However, my experience is that things are improving, and my advice is to keep trying as more delivery slots are becoming available as things settle down.  Some local farm shops and butchers have risen to the challenge and are available to deliver locally: 
 
Butchers
Pat Thomas’s – Faringdon.  Tel  01367 240551 
Helen Browning Farm Shop– Bishopstone.
 
Milk/Eggs etc
Helen Browning’s On-line Shop.  Bishopstone  www.helenbrownings.co.uk
Bloomfields – Highworth/Shrivenham  www.bloomfieldsfinefood.co.uk
 
Veg
Coleshill Organics – Collection only.  No pre-ordering.  Turn up and buy what they have in stock.
Hinton Waldrist – Collection only.  No pre-ordering.  Turn up and buy what they have in stock.
 
Amazon Pantry
Amazon.co.uk.  Many durables/drinks can be obtained this way - Allow time for delivery.  By the way, Amazon on-line sales include some over-the-counter medications such as Nurofen, Lemsip, Strepsils and Voltarol.
 
I hope this helps.  As always, if you are stuck, speak to your volunteer.  If they can’t help, please come back to me. We are still looking for additional volunteers, so if anyone else finds themselves available, please make contact.
 
Stay safe,
Mandy

NRS HealthCare is asking people to return health care equipment they no longer need.
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Attached the digital version of "Healthy Times" Spring 2020.

Hi all see below for information on a food delivery option.

Price List
Order Form

Hello,
 
Thank you for your enquiry into home delivery from Bloomfields Fine Food.
 
Please see attached our price list. All products subject to availability and minimum order for delivery is £20 in certain areas.
 
Please complete the attached order form and reply by email. We can then call you to confirm availability, take payment by card and arrange delivery, so please include a phone number.
 
We will do our very best to fulfil your orders, but please be aware that this a trial for us. We are a small local business doing our best to provide a service at this time. We have received a high volume of emails regarding this service and will get back to all customers as soon as possible.
 
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.
 
Many Thanks
Tim & Sue
 
Bloomfields fine food
01793 782 953
www.bloomfieldsfinefood.co.uk
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