Category: News

Dear friends and colleagues, 

We are excited to announce that from April 2021, we will be trading as Vale Community Impact, or, VCI.   

The change in name better reflects our core remit that we are “In the Vale for the Vale”, offering many more services than Independent Advice from a Centre in Wantage! 

We will continue to deliver our well- established services within our communities with a new name and logo. 

Our address, phone number and Charity Number etc will remain the same. 

Please ensure our email address, as shown below, are on your safe senders list.  If you have wantageadvice.org.uk bookmarked in your browser, this will no longer work.  From late April, our website will be www.vci.org.uk  

Faringdon Town Council have been informed that members of the public were unable to join the online meeting of the planning and highways committee last night (28th April). We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience. We have had technical issues with MS Teams this week and will be investigating this further. Please join us for our town meeting non Wednesday 5th May. We have set up audio dial in to try and ensure this does not happen again. Thank you.

Annual Town Meeting 5th May 2021

We are happy to inform you that more stalls are coming back to Faringdon, in the Market Place this Saturday 17th of April as lockdown restrictions are being gradually lifted.

The Saturday market will be held weekly.

Join us this Saturday for a fabulous selection of fresh, local food, including veg, fruit, bread, coffee, accessories and more.

Community bus timetable will recommence the full pre-COVID timetable with effect from Tuesday 4th May 2021

Please visit Faringdon Community Bus website for more information

We are delighted to bring you the following important service updates:

• 30 libraries to reopen for public access and browsing from 12 April
• A further 9 libraries to reopen from 19 April
• All library loans due for return/renewal by 10 May

Libraries will reopen on limited opening hours temporarily, and safety measures will remain in place for the protection of customers, volunteers and staff. See our website for details https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-culture/libraries/find-library
Libraries to reopen from 12 April
Oxfordshire County Library, Abingdon, Banbury, Berinsfield, Bicester, Blackbird Leys, Botley, Carterton, Charlbury, Chinnor, Chipping Norton, Cowley, Didcot, Eynsham, Faringdon, Goring, Headington, Henley, Kennington, Kidlington, Sonning Common, Summertown, Thame, Wallingford, Wantage, Watlington, Wheatley, Witney, Woodcote, Wychwood.

Libraries to reopen from 19 April

Adderbury, Benson, Deddington, Grove, Littlemore, North Leigh, Stonesfield. Burford and Old Marston will also reopen but operating on a Click & Collect service only due to limited space for social distancing. See below for details.
This leaves the following libraries closed until further notice:
• Bampton and Hook Norton – closed pending ongoing building works.
• Barton – closed pending the reopening of the Neighbourhood Centre.
• Woodgreen – closed pending the reopening of the Leisure Centre.
• Woodstock – closed pending reopening of the Oxfordshire Museum.
Click & Collect will continue to operate at our larger libraries, in addition to Burford and Old Marston. Please follow this link for more details about this service: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/libraryclickandcollect

All library loans due for return/renewal by 10 May

Since the November lockdown, all loans have been extended on a rolling basis. This will end on 10 May, at which point all loans will be due for return or renewal. You can safely return items by dropping them off in our returns boxes at the doors of any library during opening hours.
Please also note that loans from libraries which are not currently able to open are being extended further.
No library customers will be penalised as a result of having to self-isolate, or being unable to travel to return library loans. If there are exceptional circumstances that prevent you from returning or renewing your loans, please contact your nearest open library.
To check your current loans please login to your online library account via our website or the Library App (search Oxfordshire Libraries in the Apple App Store or Google Play).
We cannot wait to welcome you back to our libraries! Thank you for your patience and support over the past year.
Please stay connected with us on Facebook – OxfordshireLibraries and Twitter @oxonlibraries
You are receiving this email as you have used Oxfordshire Libraries within the past 3 years. If you have moved away from Oxfordshire, or wish us to close your account for any other reason, please contact your library: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-culture/libraries/find-library

The White Horse Rotary Group is organising a virtual balloon race to raise money for Oxfordshire Mind and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. 

Balloons are £3 each and the race will run across the Easter weekend. It is a great activities for all ages and you can even design a Easter themed balloon. 

To purchase your balloons please visit :

www.balloonrace.com/whrg 

Census day is almost here – stand up and be counted 

Households across Oxfordshire are being asked to take part in Census 2021, a national survey that takes place once every ten years. 

Census day is on March 21, and households have started receiving letters with online codes explaining how they can complete their forms. If you don’t get one in the next week, or need some more help or information, please visit census.gov.uk or call the census contact centre on 0800 141 2021. 

Residents can also request a paper questionnaire if they would prefer to complete their census that way. 

The census is run by the Office for National Statistics and provides the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales. Information from it helps decide how services for residents like transport, education and health are planned and funded across the district. 

Charities and voluntary organisations often use information from the census as evidence to get funding. It helps local businesses to understand their customers and, for example, decide where to open new shops. Plus, those doing research, like university students and people looking into their family history, use census data. It provides important information on population diversity, allowing organisations to know whether they are meeting their responsibilities and triggering action where necessary. 

Local census support centres will be open while the census is happening and will offer help for people not confident online, who don’t have a computer or need help completing on paper. 

It is an offence to supply false information or to not complete the census, and residents could be fined up to £1,000. Some questions are clearly labelled as voluntary. It is not an offence if people do not answer these. 

For more help or information, please visit census.gov.uk or call the census contact centre on 0800 141 2021. 

Over the next few months Vale of White Horse District Council will be looking at how some money that’s coming in from new housing developments can be used to help provide leisure facilities for local residents. The funding (Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy) could be used to enhance existing facilities or build new ones to meet the demands of the increasing population.

In this feedback form we are asking how you think existing leisure facilities could cope with increased use from residents in new housing developments.

Click on the link below to start the survey:

Survey link

Faringdon Town Council is working with Oxfordshire Adult Learning (Abingdon and Witney College) to build a Adult Learning Hub in Faringdon. We will providing a free six week online Knowing Me course aimed to develop self confidence and self-esteem. Please email adele@faringdontowncouncil.gov.uk if you wish to take part or for more information.