A few recent press releases that may be of interest:

The White Horse Community Lottery is ready to help good causes - link
Abbey Meadow outdoor pool ready to reopen - link

Hopefully everyone will have seen that our defibrillator has been installed outside the Parish Reading Room.  It’s registered and has been deemed ‘Rescue Ready' by the ambulance service and is also registered with the HeartSafe charity website.  
 
In case of emergency, dial 999 and they will provide the unlock code and support.
 
Mandy Burns kindly sent me the link to a useful video clip showing how to use a defibrillator: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45114982
 
A really useful app for your smart phone is ’Save a Life’ - this shows the location of defibrillators in the South Central Ambulance Service Area.  (If you download the app and open it up, you’ll see the location and some details of our machine on the display.)

Save a Life - Apple App Store
Save a Life - Google Play

Thanks to everyone for their support of this important project.

Dear town and parish council colleagues
 
We’ve now had notification that from Saturday 26 June at 12.30pm, Oxfordshire’s four symptom-free community testing sites will be closing – this includes the testing centre at The Beacon in Wantage.
 
The symptom-free testing sites were opened to respond to a need to encourage as many symptom-free people as possible to get tested using rapid lateral flow devices (LFDs) to help stop the spread of the virus at the height of the pandemic.
 
Over time, a number of alternative options for accessing LFD tests have been developed and made available to the public. These include:
workplace testing, secondary school and college testing, collecting home test kits from pharmacies or our symptomatic testing sites or jumping online to request a home delivery.

This has made it much easier for people to choose how and when they get tested.
 
Very few people are now visiting the symptom-free sites for in-person testing and are opting to use the wider range of alternative options to do their bit. With one in three people with COVID-19 not having any symptoms – twice-weekly testing will remain crucial to help us find these cases and prevent the spread of infection. This applies even if people have been vaccinated. All the symptom-free testing information is available on the county council’s website.
 
We’re aiming to re-open The Beacon to the public on 6 September, and we’ll be sharing this news with the public on Monday.

There will be a service of Holy Communion tomorrow,  Sunday, 13th, here at St Giles at 10.30.   As Maureen is away the service will be taken by Revd Dick Whittington, who helped us out several times during the vacancy.

I have been asked about Covid measures so will repeat them here.  We have done a Risk Assessment which is up in the church porch.   As usual social distancing will be observed at the service, with just alternate rows of pews being used. and you will be shown to a seat.  Masks will be worn and we will only be able still to hum the hymns.  Communion is by wafer only at present and it is brought to you in your pew by the vicar.

We hope you will join us.  If possible, please let me know if you are going to come.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Pat
Churchwarden

01367 241632
[email protected]

​This was posted on the Faringdon Facebook page yesterday - maybe worth letting the villagers all know:
 
I don’t often post so this is an exceptional moment. Last night while walking our dog the Catalytic Converter from the car was stolen - apparently it takes only a couple of minutes and the cost to replace is over £1000.   We were parked at Tythe Barn in Great Coxwell - exactly not where you would  expect such an incident to take place.  The car involved is nothing special - just a hybrid Toyota, apparently hybrids are high on the list of the scummy thieves who would do such a thing. The net result is there is two week wait for a new catalytic converter as well as massive amount of inconvenience caused.
 
So beware people you can get a catalytic converter lock to protect it and I would recommend highly you did such a thing. The cost to replace is a couple hundred pounds my partner spent all day sorting out insurance, Police, garages as well as numerous other people.
 
Just be aware!!!
​

Faringdon’s very own local cycle club is once again running its flagship annual sportive.  Great route, brilliant company and fantastic refreshments.  What more could you want on FollyFest weekend?
 
Great Coxwell has plenty of current and lapsed Farcycles participants - so if you’ve not yet registered, go on dust off your bike and register.  Here are the details: le-tour-2021.html
 
Ian Mason
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Thanks to everyone who has helped, funded and supported the ‘defibrillator project’.  Particular thanks go to the Parish Council for their support; to Pam Holley for helping with the fund-raiser; to the team of ’custodians' who will ensure that the machine is maintained and always ready for use, and to Howell and Collins Electricians for their prompt friendly and efficient installation of the device’s cabinet.
 
The defibrillator arrived yesterday and was activated and installed today.  A message has been sent to the ambulance service with details of the machine to register it with them. 
 
The ambulance service will provide the cabinet unlock code if someone calls 999.  The machine is really compact, lightweight and totally intuitive to use, with spoken and ‘pictogram' instructions for users. There is absolutely no need for operators to have any prior training in its use.  
 
Here’s some information about the device for those of you who are interested.
(Link updated)

Ian & Karen Mason

Scottish and Southern Electricity are carrying out some repair work and the electricity will be off on the morning of the 28th June 2021.

If you are directly affected you should receive a letter.

This Fund was set up in 2017 and it seems appropriate now to reprint the information that was put in the Newsletter at that time.
 
"The Village Community Fund
The group came about because of the great success of the Artweeks cafe and plant sale. In previous years the Artweeks group consisted mainly of village artists but as the years have gone on the demographic has changed and now less than 10% of the artists come from the village. So, where in the past the decision as to who benefitted from the proceeds of the Artweeks Cafe and plant sale was made by the artists, now we need people who know the village and its needs to make that decision.
 
The group consists of Pam Smith, Pauline Durham, Sylvia Athawes, Annabelle Zinovieff and Steve McNally. The people in the group have been chosen to reflect different groups in the village in the hope that all interested parties have a voice.
 
Our aim is to decide year on year where the money goes from the profit from Artweeks. This is kept flexible. One year all the money might go to one needy cause only. It is the group’s decision. Key to the decision is that money is to be spent in the village.
 
Our aspirations are that the Village Fund will enable more to happen in the village, more people to get involved and the assets the village will be improved or added to. If you have an idea, want some money to start up a village project, a sports group, a social group or can think of something the village needs, please get in touch with any of the group named above."
​

FUNDRAISING TARGET MET!  DEFIBRILLATOR ORDERED!!
 
Thanks to twenty-seven donations from our kind supporters, the target for the Parish defibrillator was exceeded within just a few days - with over £2600 raised.   We were lucky enough to secure a generous grant from the supplier, London Hearts, and therefore the machine cost nearly £400 less than anticipated - £1211.   We need to reserve £500 for maintenance and replacement consumables, but that leaves enough money to arrange for CPR/First Aid training for parishioners if we wish, and a healthy balance to be donated to the Parish Community Fund.  
 
The machine has been ordered and will be with us shortly.  
 
Thanks you all again for your help and generous support.
 
Kind regards
 
Ian & Karen
​