Thames Valley Police - Bike Thefts

We have received increased reports of bike thefts in the Abingdon area.  Please consider the following crime prevention advice that may help keep your bike safe and secure:

1.    Always lock your bike even if you are leaving it just for a couple of minutes!

2.    Chain your bike to a non-moveable item like a bike rack

3.    Use a good quality chain or D-Lock

4.    Lock your bike in a well-lit area

5.    Lock any quick release wheels

6.    Remove any lights from your bike and take them with you

7.    Have your bike postcode marked so that if it is stolen it can be identified and returned to you

8.    Even lock your bike at home when it is in a shed or garage

If you would like any further advice on bike marking and security please contact you neighbourhood policing team by emailing AbingdonTownNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk or calling 101.

If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area or have any information relating bike thefts please call the Police via the 24 hour non-emergency telephone number 101.

Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online by visiting www.crimestoppers-uk.org.  No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

Stonehill Community Gardens - August News

We had a wonderful event last Wednesday despite the weather, with over 30 visitors.  A huge thanks to members of DAMASCUS, Styleacre, Archway Foundation, Abingdon Carbon Cutters and more for showing your support.  We sold over £100 worth of our veg and honey, herb plants and pick your own bags, we enjoyed fantastic good produced by all of us from the garden, had music from Hannah, fascinating talks on our bees by David Busby, garden tours, tumble winners and we launched our Crowdfunder Campaign!!

Crowdfunder Campaign - Now live, there are lots of exciting perks to entice you to support us, and great gift ideas from workshop places to afternoon tea and seed pack.  You can support us from as little as £3, and if you don't want a perk, there is a donation button where you can donate anything from £1 upwards.  Visit our campaign page now.

Corporate Volunteering - If you're looking for something local and different for your corporate volunteering hours, we have the following activities available this Autumn on a first come first serve basis:

⦁     Polytunnel Construction

⦁     Woodland Walk Creation

⦁     Raised Bd Construction

We need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.  Contact us here to enquire.

Compost Toilet officially opened!! - A massive thanks to Graham and other volunteers for completing the Compost Toilet ready for our Harvest Meal event.  It is a pleasure to use, and needs no power or external water to operate.  Thank you to Oxford Wood Recycling for supplying the sawdust!  There are many other ways in which you can support us at the garden and away from the garden, so do get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.  If you haven't been to the garden for a while or have never been, come and see how much its grown - we're calling it the 'vegetable jungle'.  We're there on Wednesdays 10am - 4pm.

Plastic Bags can now be used to line Food Waste Bins

Residents in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse can now use plastic bags to line their food waste bins and caddies.

Food waste is collected every week and taken to Agrivert’s anaerobic digestion plant near Wallingford to be recycled into gas for electricity and fertiliser for local farmland.

The processing plant is now able to accept thin plastic bags, such as carrier bags, bread bags, paper wrappings, or normal pedal bin liners. Residents can also continue to use compostable bags or newspapers to line their caddies and bins, or put food straight in without any liner.

Any bags used as liners will be removed at the processing plant and sent to an Energy Recovery Facility to be turned into energy.

Cllr Tony Harbour, Cabinet Member for Waste at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We know that compostable bags can be expensive and easily tear, so it’s great news that the processing plant can now take plastic bags.

“We are very grateful to our residents for their efforts in recycling – which have helped our district to achieve the highest recycling rates in the country. We are always looking for opportunities to work with our partners to improve services for our residents and this is a good example of this.”

Cllr Charlotte Dickson, Cabinet Member for Waste, said: “We want to make recycling as easy as possible for our residents, so we very much welcome the extra option of using plastic bags as caddy liners.

“We are one of the top recyclers in the country, but we still throw away a significant amount of food waste, with a recent review showing that around 30 per cent of the waste put out in the grey rubbish bins was food waste that could have been recycled. We would like to encourage everyone to use their food waste bins and thank all those that already do – it makes a real difference.”

All cooked and uncooked food can be put into food waste bins. Residents are advised that plastic retail packaging, or anything other than food waste, should not be put in. For example, bacon should be removed from its plastic packet and fruit taken out of punnets.

During 2016/17, 10,024 tonnes of food waste was collected and sent for recycling in South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.

For further information about food waste recycling and other household waste and recycling collections, see the councils’ websites:

www.southoxon.gov.uk/waste andwww.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/waste or call 03000 610610.

Stonehill Community Gardens - July News

The event is FREE and will be a celebration of everything we have achieved this year.  Don't forget to bring your plants for our plant swap!!

The Garden in July - The garden is teeming with flowers and life and vegetables bursting at the seams!  We'll be enjoying a lot of it at our Harvest Meal event on Wednesday - join us from 4pm to 8pm to celebrate the year, all we have achieved and all we have to look forward to.  Here is a picture of just some of the marrow and squash picked this week!  We will have produce for sale at our event, so bring your shopping bags and come ready to fill them with edible goodies.  Stonehill honey will also be on sale.

Corporate Volunteering - We have our first group of corporate volunteers coming in August.  If you have Corporate Volunteering hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us - we need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.

Crowdfunder Campaign - We will be launching our crowdfunder campaign at our event - we're counting on your support to get us through the next couple of months whilst we wait to hear on funding applications in progress.  There will be many exciting ways in which to support us, with lots of goodies on offer.  There are many other ways in which you can support us, at the garden and away from the garden, so do get in touch if you would like to be involved in a small or a big way.

We hope to you on Wednesday to enjoy some food together.

Farewell

We were sorry to see long standing residents Mary and Tony de Vere moving away in May. They had been involved in many activities in Abingdon, including Mary being a Governor of Thameside School and serving on the committee of Preston Road Community Centrefor over 20 years. Both had been District Councillors in the past. We wish them well and welcome the new residents to Mill Road.

Stonehill Community Gardens - June News

The latest update and events at Stonehill:

Hugelkultur (hill culture) now built in the garden - picture above of Stage 1 of the construction process.  We are now picking harvests each week, and these are available to buy by donation.  Pop down on a Wednesday and see what's available - our honey is also sold each week - beautiful taste and great for hayfever sufferers.

Save the Date!!!

Wednesday 2nd August 4pm - 8pm

August Harvest Meal Fundraising Event

. Various stalls and local organisations

.  Tasty Garden Produce Meal

.  Raffle and cake stall

.  Live Music

.  Herb plants for sale

.  Plant swap

.  Launch of Crownfunder Campaign

.  Bird box kits

This free event will be a celebration of everything we have achieved this year, and a change to support us going forward in various ways.  We will prepare a delicious meal from our garden produce and enjoy live music.  If you would like a stall at the event, please contact us.  Please share this event info with anyone - it is on Facebook.

Demain Film - The film showing was really successful.  45 people came and got inspired by the amazing projects going on around the world (we enjoyed cake too)!!!  Thank you to Abingdon Carbon Cutters for organising.  Highlights included the edible projects all over Detroit and a Permaculture Farm in France.  If you get the chance to see this film, we would thoroughly recommend it.  As well as good and growing projects, it looked at democratic systems, alternative economies, waste, education and more.

25th June - Roundwood Timber Building (postponed until later in the year)

Join the waiting list now by contacting us.

If you have Corporate Volunteering hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us.  We need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors within nature and learn new skills.  Contact us to enquire.

We hope to see you at the garden soon - open every Wednesday 10am - 4pm.

From Richard, Rachel and the Stonehill team.

Plant Swap 2017

For all Tithe Farm and Ladygrove gardeners!! For the 3rd year running there will be another Plant Swap this Saturday 20th May on the driveway at 39 Masefield Crescent between 3pm and 5pm, come rain or shine.  Bring along your extra plants, surplus seedlings or spare cuttings and be ready to 'swap' - all for FREE!!

Accounts 2016 / 2017

The TFLRA accounts for 2016 / 2017 have been inspected by an independent examiner and are available for viewing for anyone who wishes to.

Neighbourhood Watch - Policing Update May 2017

Anti-social behaviour (ASB)

The Neighbourhood Team have been receiving reports of ASB in the park at the end of Chilton Close.  In particular, one group of young people were gaining access to a private garden, throwing things into this area and intimidating the resident who lives there.  The members of the group have all been successfully identified by the team, and have been visited at home and spoken to along with their parents.  A young male will be issued a Youth Restorative Disposal (YRD) after committing Arson at the same park.  The YRD acts as warning and is an agreement between the offender and the victim that they will not behave like this again, and often includes a recompense for the crime.  If the agreement is broken by the offender and the behaviour continues then they can be arrested.  A YRD is considered the first level of intervention from the Police towards a child who starts to commit crime.

Shoplifting

PCSOs Ali Blood and Susie Shepherd have increased their high visibility patrols in the town centre shops after a rise in reports of shoplifting.  Several potential offenders have been deterred after being stop checked by the PCSOs, after attempting to conceal items.  Offenders brought to justice

• A male was arrested after interfering with a vehicle which was parked on Victoria Road, Abingdon on Wednesday 19th April.  Enquiries and ongoing at this time and the male has been released under investigation.

• On Sunday 7th May, two males were arrested for possession with intent to supply drugs, after a report of drug dealing on Thornhill Walk, Abingdon.  Both males have been released under investigation whilst further enquiries are completed. If you see any suspicious behaviour that you wish to report, please phone 101 or 999 in an emergency.

• A male, aged 31 from Abingdon, has been arrested and charged with exposure.  The male was arrested following a report he had indecently exposed himself on Tuesday (9/5) on the Ock Valley River Walk.

Neighbourhood Policing / Scam Events

Over the last month, PCSOs Susie Shepherd and Ali Blood have spent time speaking to several groups about neighbourhood policing and scams.  The PCSOs were invited to the Trinity Evergreen club, the North Abingdon WI and the Abingdon Macular Group.  If you would like the neighbourhood team to come and speak to a group you are part of, please contact them on the below email address or call 101.

Future Events

Abingdon neighbourhood team will be on duty at the annual ‘Fun in the Park’ event on Saturday 3rd June between 11.00am - 3.00pm in the Abbey Gardens.  Officers from the Special Constabulary will be in attendance at ‘Music in the Park’ on the same day, between 5.00pm - 10.00pm.

Contact us if you want any advice or would like to contact the neighbourhood team you can call us on the police non-emergency number 101 or if it is an emergency then dial 999. You can also contact us via email: AbingdonTownNHPT@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk.  Please note this email address cannot be used to contact Thames Valley Police to report crimes or for any urgent matters.  To view information on your neighbourhood team visit the Thames Valley Police website at: www.thamesvalley.police.uk

Receive free local crime alerts and crime prevention advice by registering at www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk today.  This allows anyone who signs up to choose what updates they receive and how they would like to receive it.  The Thames Valley Police Twitter account is kept up to date with what we are up to; please follow us @TVPSouthandVale

Stonehill Community Garden - May News

Welcome to our Spring Newsletter!!  The garden has really been taking shape over the last few Wednesdays, thank you to all our fantastic volunteers for their involvement and hard work.

Planting Plan - We currently have a central path up the centre of the garden, with beds of varying shapes on either side of the path.  Longer term, the central path will be paved for accessibility, with raised beds on either side of the path.  For this season we have created beds in the ground to enable us to plant as much as possible.  The fruit cage will remain and we will try various experimental growing method: growing in straw bales, mushroom growing, Hugelkultur raised bed, trialling bio-dynamic planting times.  We are currently fund raising for the costs involved in making our garden accessible, and consulting people with different access needs.

Please feel free to give us feedback on any of our plans.

Crops growing this year - globe artichoke, asparagus, runner beans, french beans, broad beans, beetroot, broccoli, savoy cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, gooseberries, kale, onion, peas, potatoes, radish, raspberries, rhubarb, salad leaves, sorrel, squash, strawberries, sweetcorn, turnips, edible and non-edible flowers.

Plant Donations Needed - Do you have any spare of the following?  Rhubarb, gooseberry bushes, jostaberry bushes, loganberry bushes, globe artichokes, asparagus, strawberries.  Please let us know if you do, and / or feel free to bring any down on a Wednesday 10am - 4pm.

Events over Spring

• 17th May - Demain Film Screening - 6pm open garden, 7pm film showing, 9pm film discussion, 10pm finish.  A film showing community initiatives that are helping change the world.  £3 donation - no need to book.  Refreshments available.

• 31st May - Family Day - 11am - 2pm.  Pizza, (self-watering) poly tunnel building, meet the chickens.  FREE to attend and take part (pizzas small charge).

• 10th June - Introduction to Permaculture Course - 10am - 4pm.  £10.  BOOK!!

• 25th June - Roundwood Timber Building - 10am - 4pm.  £30 per person including pizza lunch.  BOOK.

Abingdon Green Gym Visit and How Your Team Can Contribute - We had a visit from Abingdon Green Gym on Saturday 22nd April and they worked like demons!!  We were so impressed by their achievements in 3 hours, and their willingness to help.  Thank you so much.

If you have a Corporate Volunteer hours to use up this summer, consider coming to Stonehill to help us - we need people power and you get to enjoy a day outdoors, within nature and learning new skills.  Contact us here to enquire.

We hope to see you at the garden soon - we are open every Wednesday 10am - 4pm.