Monthly Archives: January 2025

Silver Eco Award for St Michael’s Church

24/01/2025

Improving the environmental footprint of historic buildings is not straightforward, as many Blewbury residents will be well aware! So, we’re delighted that St Michael’s Church Blewbury has received a Silver Award from A Rocha UK’s Eco Church scheme.

The scheme looks at many areas – how the building and lands are managed, and the impact the church’s activities have on the community and the environment through worship, teaching and encouraging sustainable lifestyle choices. Our picture shows Penny Brassell (with Rev John Clarke behind) proudly holding up the certificate.

Also, on toilet news: following a generous donation from a member of our congregation, we have twinned the Benefice Centre toilet with one in Malawi. This helps fund ‘a project in a community that helps families to build their own basic toilet, access clean water and learn about hygiene – a vital combination that saves lives.’ https://toilettwinning.org

Penny Brassell

Parish Clerk vacancy

11/01/2025

Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer for Blewbury Parish Council

Blewbury Parish Council is looking for a clerk and RFO. This part-time position will take between 65 and 75 hours per calendar month, working from home apart from monthly council meetings on the second Wednesday of each month, the annual parish meeting and finance (& other) committee meetings. These are all generally held in the evening.

The clerk provides administrative and clerical support, as well as managing the council’s finances. Local government experience would be an advantage but is not essential – training and personal development is actively encouraged.

We’re looking for a proactive self-starter who can demonstrate a calm, organised approach to work, and show attention to detail. You should have good communication skills, and we’d expect you to be used to working in Word and Excel. The council uses Scribe to process financial information – prior experience of this not essential.

Salary will be at the appropriate point on the scale LC2 SPC18–28 – between £15.84 and £19.66/hour – depending on experience. There is an allowance of £26/month for working from home, plus pension contributions.

Please contact the clerk at blewburypc@gmail.com for a full job description and application form. The deadline for applications is 31^st January 2025.

New Year Update from Olly Glover MP

23/01/2025

My warmest wishes for the new year. It was wonderful to join in local social and festive occasions such as the switching on of Christmas lights.

Before parliament ended, I was able to address ministers about important matters. These included: how local communities can benefit from clean energy schemes, the need for improvements in services provided by coroners following the sudden deaths of those with epilepsy, and the need to address electoral reform. Some responses were more helpful than others!

I was able to speak in debates about the problems faced by those with disabilities, shared concerns raised by poor estate management, and championed the BBC (which I am sure many of us watched and listened to over Christmas).

The Transport Select committee meet to hold the Department of Transport to account. Two key areas discussed have been rail services and infrastructure, and the backlog of driving tests, which so many constituents have aired concerns about.

Flooding remains a significant concern. I chaired a meeting with Thames Water and the local councils to facilitate working together. I will continue to provide updates about this vital piece of work as we need to see real improvements.

My team provides support for all our constituents. Please contact me if I can help, or if you would like me to attend a local event or meet with a local organisation. My parliamentary email address is olly.glover.mp@parliament.uk

If you use social media, you can follow me for more regular updates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OllyGloverLD/ and Bluesky – as I have moved away from X/Twitter: @ollyglover.bsky.social

I look forward to meeting as many as of you as possible in 2025.

Olly

A Taste of Honey

31/01/2025

A Taste of Honey: all about bees and bee keeping, including honey tasting

Monday 10^th March, 8.00pm Melland Room, tickets £6 including a drink of your choice

Yvonne Parkes, Trustee and Membership Secretary of the Oxfordshire Beekeeping Association, will be talking to us about different types of bees in the UK and why they are so important to our eco system. We’ll learn how we can help our pollinators and enjoy a taste test comparing shop-bought and bee-keeper honeys. Tickets on the door.

BVS Comedy Night

BVS Comedy Night – Saturday 8th March

Next up, the legendary Blewbury Comedy Night returns to the Village Hall on Saturday 8th March. Paddy Lenox is back to compere, bringing three top comedians to entertain us. Whether you’ve been before or are a newcomer, please support this acclaimed event (over 18s only). All profits will go to the Parish Council for maintenance of the village playgrounds. Tickets are £18 – the box office will open at 09:00 on Monday 3rd February at: https://buytickets.at/blewburyvillagesociety/1531443 or scan the QR code.

Blewbury Climate Action

Our climate is now more than 1.5C warmer than at any time since the pre-industrial age.

The new USA president has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris Climate agreement and declared a national climate emergency, promising to fill up oil reserves. In his inaugural address, he vowed to “drill, baby, drill” for more fossil fuels, and pledged to “unlock” oil, gas and other natural resources from Alaska.

There is not much we can do about Mr Trump’s threats (he does not believe that it is mankind that is changing our climate), but I suggest a good approach would be to support organisations that take actions to publicise and to limit climate degradation. They range from local religious organisations to Greenpeace (who advise the British government), to 350.org, to Carbon Brief (news briefings on global climate news via a daily email update: info2(at)carbonbrief.org ) And there are lots of things we can do to reduce our own use of fossil fuels.

Simple ways to make a difference:

reduce your home heating to 18C – saves 10% of your energy use!
wash clothes at a lower temperature
cycle, carpool or walk if your journey is short – 40% of car energy is for trips less than 8 km
switch off lights and appliances if you are not using them – many appliances use nearly as much energy on standby as they do when you are actually using them
have your boiler serviced regularly – 10-15% of energy can be saved.
Dry your washing on a clothes line – it’s free!

Science Museum Group: On-line Climate Talks

Tuesday 28 January 2025, 19.30 – 20.45. CHINA’s ROAD TO NET ZERO

Recommended for age 14+ Search online for Science Museum Group Climate Talks China’s Road to net zero and book on line

China is the planet’s number one emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest user of coal (50% of the total) but also the biggest producer of solar energy and biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs)

Blewshed news

New Projects: BlewShed members are now busy making new benches for the expanded workspace where it will be possible to take on a wider variety of projects very soon.

Community Projects: Christmas Eve saw the unveiling and handing over of the new Santa’s Sleigh to Blewbury Village Society for them to return it to Santa. Both the ‘reindeer’ and Santa’s sleigh handling team were very happy with their lighter weight, slimmed down model with its much-improved handling. It is now back at the North Pole for storage until Santa needs it again later this year.

While the BlewShed elves were working on the sleigh, Dick Street noticed the oak gates to the old burial ground had fallen apart. Using some stout pieces of aged oak, Dick, with the help of member Patrick Keogh, repaired the rotted joints and damaged timber and rehung the gates in time for the new year.

Meetings: BlewShed enjoyed a fascinating presentation on amateur radio set up, training and operation by member Paul Sanders, assisted by fellow BlewShed ‘Ham’ radio operators. During the session the audience was able to hear Paul exchange messages with an amateur radio enthusiast in Pescara, Italy. Next meeting is Tuesday, 11th February, 7.30pm when we will discuss ‘The Future of BlewShed’. All welcome.

BlewShed products: We are out of trugs just now but supply will continue very soon as production re-starts.

BlewShed opening times and membership: Tuesday, Friday and Saturday afternoons 1.30-4.00 pm and Thursday afternoons 2.00-4pm for electronics, non-dusty work and a chat.

BlewShed annual membership subs are £25 for individuals, or £37.50 for a family. This includes expert advice from members and use of a very well-equipped metal-working, woodworking and electronics workshop. Everyone is welcome to club nights on the second Tuesday of the month, 7.30pm at BlewShed. We look forward to seeing you.

Mike Wrottesley, BlewShed secretary https://blewshed.home.blog/news/

Bell ringing news from Blewbury Tower

December is always very busy at St Michael’s with all of the wonderful Advent to Christmas services. We managed to ring throughout the festive season and hopefully brought some cheer to you whether or not you were in church.

As usual, and despite the inclement weather, we rang out 2024 and greeted 2025 by ringing all eight bells around midnight and followed this with cracking open a bottle or two in the ringing chamber! It was so nice to learn that some villagers opened their doors especially to hear us, thank you.

Thank you to all of you who helped to fund the magnificent Christmas tree on the tower by utilising the bellringers’ local Blewbury and Upton Christmas card delivery service. In collaboration with our friendly and supportive Post Office, we intend to offer this service again for Christmas 2025.

We now return to our regular rhythm of Friday night practice and Sunday morning service ringing. As a new year begins, we extend a welcome to anyone who might want to join our happy band. Do come along or get in touch with us if you think this might be for you, or if you may have been a bell ringer earlier in life. We are currently teaching one new ringer and have room for one or two more. Richard Loyd

Post Office News

Hello! I hope you are all well. February is here, with it comes half-term! So from Monday 17th to Friday 21^st February we will be operating our school holiday opening hours of 9am – 12pm Monday to Friday. We will also be open 9am – 12pm on Monday 24th of February as it is a school inset day. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

As always we have fresh eggs delivered every Wednesday and local honey on sale, as well as a variety of sweet treats, chocolate and cool drinks available. As well as sending parcels, you can also do banking at the post office, including cash withdrawals, cash deposits and cheque deposits.

We look forward to seeing you in the post office soon. Thanks so much. Sarah, Karen and Andrew

United Charities

CAN WE HELP YOU? OR CAN YOU HELP US?

At United Charities, we offer support to people of all ages living in Blewbury, the Astons and Upton, who may be struggling financially. If you need help with the weekly food shop, clothing, equipment, energy bills or other living costs, we can provide one off payments to help you, or someone you know in need.

There is a short application form to complete which can be picked up from the North Porch at St Michael’s Church, or requested by email to unitedcharities(at)outlook.com. We can help you fill in the form if needed. Please don’t be reluctant to ask for help, all applications are dealt with confidentially.

Last year we received a steady flow of requests for financial help from local people and as we enter 2025 there is, unfortunately, no sign of economic improvement on the horizon. This may mean we will not be able to help as many individuals as we would like, unless we can generate more funds. If anyone out there in the community feels able to help by donating any amount, small or large, we would be extremely grateful. You can do this through our Just Giving page www.justgiving.com/ucab

Thank you very much in advance, and if you have any questions, please do get in touch with us by email unitedcharities(at)outlook.com.

United Charities of the Ancient Parish of Blewbury Registered Charity No: 203538