Junior
wardens from Wood Farm and Barton
held a successful litter pick on 25 July through Magdalen woods and
around the shops in Wood Farm. Altogether they collected around
8 large bags of rubbish. The
junior
wardens also undertake weeding and
replanting flower displays and also keep an eye out for
any problems on the estate such as
graffitti and incidents of ani-social behaviour which they report to the
street wardens.
To help thank them for their work
on the litter pick, a number of treats have recently been arranged for
them. This has been made possible from donations from Barton and Wood
Farm community centres, funding from the Neighbourhood Action Groups and
generous discounts from Cogges
Farm and Oxford City Council.
Trips have included a visit to
Shotover for a nature ramble, a skate at Oxford's ice rink and a visit
to Cogges Manor Farm museum in Witney.
On Tuesday 19 August, a Family Fun
Day is planned on the
football field at Wood Farm
from 3pm to 6pm. This is a community event and will be attended by the
junior
wardens in Wood Farm and Barton,
their families, and representatives from Oxford City Council, the police
and the fire brigade. The afternoon will consist of sporting events and
be finished off with a barbeque.
Teresa Slatford, senior street
warden, says " we are very proud of all our junior wardens and the
fantastic work that they have done in the community.
"It is a pleasure to be involved
in these activities, the junior warden scheme is so popular that we now
have approximately 40 junior wardens between Woodfarm and Barton, and
this number is growing."
Councillor Saj Malik, Executive
Board Member for Safer Communities says, "Our
junior
wardens contribute a lot of time and
effort to the areas they live in and we are very proud of them.
"The fact that local organisations
are happy to show their appreciation for them is a great testament to
the positive work they do on our estates."
The
junior
warden scheme is for young people
aged between 8 and 13, it operates on the
Wood Farm, Barton, Sandhills and
Holloway estates, where street
wardens patrol
. For anyone who is interested
in finding out more,
call 01865 764535 or speak to a
street
warden.
The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals is pleased to announce the appointment of
Professor Alastair Buchan FMedSci, as a University-nominated
Non-executive Director of the Trust Board.
Professor Buchan, who completed part of his training in Oxford, is a
distinguished neurologist and stroke specialist. He is currently
Director of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (a research
partnership between the University of Oxford and the Oxford Radcliffe
Hospitals, funded by the National Institute for Health Research). He is
also Head of the John Radcliffe Division of the University's Nuffield
Department of Medicine. In October 2008, Professor Buchan will take up
the post of Head of the Medical Sciences Division of the University of
Oxford.
Professor Buchan joined the University of Oxford in 2005 from the
University of Calgary, where he was Head of the Calgary Stroke
Programme. With Professor Peter Rothwell and Professor Peter Jezzard, he
leads the Oxford Acute Stroke Programme, which is bringing together
different strands of research from across the University to develop a
research-driven care programme for stroke patients.
Sir William Stubbs, Chairman of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, said "We
are delighted that Professor Buchan is joining us as a Non-executive
Director. Professor Buchan is an internationally renowned academic
consultant, whose clinical and research expertise is making a huge
difference to the treatment and care of stroke patients in Oxfordshire
and far beyond.
"Through his leadership, Professor Buchan has already made a
considerable contribution to patient care and to research within the
Trust, and I know that he will be an invaluable member of the Board. His
support will be particularly important as we strengthen our partnership
with the University of Oxford and move towards becoming a Foundation
Trust."
Professor Buchan's term as Non-executive Director will run from 1
October 2008 to 30 September 2012. He will receive remuneration of
£6,005 per annum, which is the current rate for NHS Trust
Non-executives.
All Non-executive appointments are made by the Appointments Commission
on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.
However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is
a requirement for an appointee's political activity to be made public.
Professor Buchan has not declared any political activity in the last
five years nor does he hold any other ministerial posts. Professor
Buchan's appointment has been made in accordance with the Commission for
Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice.
Eleven people have been arrested and five charged in one week in
connection with a number of offences as part of a concerted effort by
Oxford police’s Auto-crime Team.
These relate to the following incidents:
• Between 5.30pm on Sunday (10/08) and 9am Monday, a blue Rover
Metro was stolen from Awgar Stone Road in Headington. At 1.10pm on
Monday, the police received calls from members of the public that a
Metro had crashed through a gate on Blackberry Lane in Greater Leys.
Officers arrived quickly on the scene and arrested three youths nearby,
who were all charged on Tuesday.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with aggravated taking without consent of
a motor vehicle, driving while disqualified and driving without
insurance. He appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and was
bailed until his next appearance. An 18-year-old woman was charged with
aggravated taking without consent of a motor vehicle and possession of a
Class C drug. She appeared in court at the same time and was remanded
into custody until her next appearance.
A 15-year-old girl was also charged with aggravated taking without
consent of a motor vehicle and has been released on bail.
• On Sunday between 11.45pm and midnight, the window was smashed
on a VW Polo on Divinity Road and there was an attempt to steal the
car’s stereo. Following calls from witnesses, police arrested two men on
Monday. A 34-year-old man and a 28-year-old man were both charged the
same day with theft from a motor vehicle and pleaded guilty at Oxford
Magistrates’ Court. They were both bailed pending sentencing. The
28-year-old was also charged with an attempted theft of a vehicle in St
Mary’s Road on Sunday.
• On Monday at 2pm, two boys – aged 14 and 15 – were arrested after
running off from a stolen car found on London Road, Headington. They
were arrested again last night to be questioned about a burglary at
Didcot Football Club, where food was stolen, and a number of other
offences in Didcot including thefts from vehicles.
• On Sunday at 11.45pm, there was an attempt to steal a blue Vauxhall
Nova in Frys Hill, Greater Leys, and four boys – two aged 16 and two
aged 17 – were arrested soon after in the area. All except one of the
17-year-olds were all also arrested and questioned in connection with an
attempted theft of a car in Cheney Lane on Saturday at 2.40am.
PC Steve Martin of the Auto-crime Team said: “A lot of petty vehicle
crime is committed by teenagers and historically we see an increase over
the summer holidays.
“We are using covert tactics to help us catch these criminals. While I
cannot disclose what tools we are employing, we are using the
intelligence we have gathered to deploy them in a way that is getting
results.
“My message for offenders in Oxford is that we are after you. 11 arrests
is just the start and we are expecting more in the coming weeks.
“I would also like to reassure residents who think that criminals who
commit this sort of crime stand little chance of getting caught because
of the lack of evidence. We have a hardcore of prolific criminals who
are committing the bulk of vehicle crime and while we may not detect
every crime we will catch these people; if we continue with this level
of success that will be sooner rather than later.”
A busy summer is already well underway for the neighbourhood policing
team. We have been extremely busy working on the neighbourhood
priorities along with other issues that arise.
1 – Speeding We have conducted speeding surveys on some of our roads
where it was perceived that there was a problem. The results were very
positive in terms of recording very little speeding. We have conducted
these at various times of the day to provide as accurate an overview as
possible. We are waiting for our final covert survey to be done which
will give us the final set of results for the area.
2 – Anti-social Behaviour – We have conducted a further operation on the
area which we are running regularly at weekends over the summer months.
This is again using a high visibility approach to the problem of
anti-social behaviour focusing on areas such as Bury Knowle Park, London
Road and around our licensed premises. Our Pubwatch group continues to
thrive and we are working closely with our licensees to keep
disturbances to a minimum. This work will continue in earnest over the
summer months with the assistance of the Park Rangers.
3 – Cycling on the pavement – Further surveys have now been completed in
relation to this priority. One of the areas where we have seen regular
offending was Headington Carfax. The majority of people stated that they
felt the road there was not safe to cycle on which was why they were
using the paths – The NAG has moved on to the analysis of the problem
and the team will be dealing with these offences when they come across
them on their patrols.
We are continuing to build links with Oxford Brookes University and will
be involved in their ‘Fresher’s Fair’ when the new students start. We
will be working with our crime reduction department in order to provide
advice to students on protecting their property. We will also be working
alongside the union staff in order to assist with potential anti-social
behaviour problems following events in the evenings.
Our work with the John Radcliffe Hospital is also proving very positive.
We had a good response to our crime reduction day where we post-coded
bikes and gave advice to staff, visitors and local residents. We will
plan another of these initiatives in the near future.
We currently have a bid in for an office in the heart of the area - this
will really allow us to base ourselves in the ‘thick of things’ and I
hope to have some positive news on this in the near future.
Please contact us with any information or issues that you feel the team
should be aware of either by telephone on 08458 505 505, by email to
HeadingtonNorth@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk
Please note that the team are not
always on duty however we will respond to your non-urgent enquiries as
soon as possible.
12 August -
When the Consumer Prices Index is published on 12 August, it is expected
to continue to rise, building on the increases observed in June, (up to
3.8 from 3.3 per cent in May) and over the past few months. One of the
largest upward pressures has consistently come from food, with prices
accelerating rapidly over the past year. With this in mind NS&I is
urging people to save a few extra pounds by growing their own
vegetables.
12/08/08 - Inflation hits 4.4 per cent
As sponsors
of the Royal Horticultural Society's 'Grow Your Own Veg' campaign, NS&I
highlights that by making your own lunch everyday from vegetables you
have grown yourself, replacing a daily visit to the sandwich shop, you
could save nearly £1,000 a year and over £35,000 during your working
lifetime.
Tim Mack,
Head of Communications and Marketing at NS&I, explains: "A meal of
freshly harvested vegetables from your plot is very rewarding; somehow
the produce seems to taste even better than usual. Not only that but by
growing your own you can save on your grocery shopping, leaving a little
extra money to set aside. Even small amounts of money saved regularly
can add up, allowing you to enjoy the bounty of your savings efforts,
using the funds for a holiday, a family day out, a new gadget, or to
simply ensure you have enough set aside to cope in an emergency."
Important
lessons can be learnt from the techniques needed to grow vegetables
which can be transferred to how people should 'grow' their savings.
Careful planning and nurturing are essential for both. As
vegetable-growing requires both short and long term 'investments', so do
savings - and each can provide a different yield for early harvest or
long-term benefits. Most importantly for both, investing just a little
time and effort will reap benefits in the future.
Families from across Oxford are
invited to watch the film in the park at Bury Knowle Park this weekend.
The Simpsons Movie will be screened
in the park from 9.30pm on Saturday 2 August. If you want to watch the film
just turn-up on the evening with your blanket - it’s free for all to watch.
People are encourage to enjoy the
Summer weather by coming to the park early as there will be a BBQ, drinks
and popcorn available to buy, and children's entertainment before the film
between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.
Oxford Film and Video Makers (OFVM)
will also be running a special workshop throughout the day called, ‘Have I
Got Views For You’. These workshops will give young people the opportunity
to grab a camera and check out what people have to say about Bury Knowle
Park. They can then edit their footage and see it screened before the main
feature film in the evening. It's free and all you need to do is turn-up
between 10am and 4pm.
On Friday, and also in August, the Council have
agreed on a trial basis to allow the road closure for Headington Farmers’
Market to run to 1:30 pm. Whether the stallholders will stay any later than
normal will depend on how much demand there is; but we hope to give a chance
for those who work nearby to come in their lunch hour. If you know anybody
who might want this opportunity, please let them know. Although I asked for
the extended closure a while back, I only learned that it had been granted
on Monday, so have not had a chance to make it more widely known.
My personal hope for the July market is that we will succeed in placing a
smile on the face of Jack, who brings us our fish up from the South coast
each month. The summer is a difficult time for him, because he needs to keep
his wares cool in foam cases, and although of course he will show the
contents on request, people are often shy about asking. He told me last
month that his turnover had been much higher before we changed the lay-out
of the market, though I am not convinced this is a case of cause and effect.
In the past I have advocated his lobster, which he himself will prepare so
that all you have to do is eat it. I know it is expensive, but I see it as
an alternative to eating out – it is cheaper than a restaurant, there is
hardly any more work involved, and you don’t have to pay restaurant prices
for the Alsatian Gewürztraminer (for example) that you drink with it.
and you will also find other interesting seafood recipes from that programme
– there was a crab recipe for the more adventurous (I tend to take the easy
route and buy Jack’s ready-prepared crab).
For an inexpensive, simple and healthy meal, you won’t do better than Jack’s
fresh mackerel. Let’s make sure that we use, and don’t lose, Headington’s
only retail outlet for fresh sea-food – and remember that you can freeze
pretty much everything he sells.
Katie Napper will again be selling, among other fruit, her excellent
cherries. She tells me that the paler variety (which in my opinion tastes
even better) is little used commercially nowadays, because bruises which are
not seen on dark cherries can be seen on the pale ones. Also on offer will
be raspberries and strawberries, and probably blackcurrants and redcurrants.
To make the strawberries different, I recommend serving with mint (Robert
Powell will have some to sell), and sprinkling with sugar into which you
have grated the zest of a lemon.
Julian Harvard, whose flower stall pleased so many people, will be back in
September, and may be able to come on Friday – at the moment I am not sure.
But there is bad news on the honey front – Geoffrey Burroughs from Charlbury
has had such a poor crop this year that he needs all he has for his shop
contracts, and won’t be able to sell at our market. Other local honey
suppliers have the same problem, so I can’t find a direct substitute. In the
longer run, I am hoping to add a goat’s cheese supplier. But with all our
usual suppliers, and some good seasonal vegetables (look out for green
cauliflower) there should be plenty of inspiring choice. Fill up those
freezers with farmers’ market meat, fish and soft fruit – they use less
electricity when they are full.
I believe Duncan Paget will have more broad beans: based on a Sophie Grigson
recipe, I recommend cooking Rook’s Nest Farm minced beef with ground
cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and chillie flakes, softening it in a little water
for half an hour and adding an equal weight of cooked broad beans. I know
polenta is rather North Oxford, but I think it goes well with this dish.
5th,6th
& 7th September 2008
