THE

HOOK NORTON

NEWSLETTER

June 2001 Series 26 No 3

Page 2


   


ON THIS PAGE
SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
CARWASHING
HOOK NORTON CRICKET CLUB
HARRIERS
FLORA LONDON MARATHON
JUNIOR TENNIS COACHING




SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
Since our last bulletin, funding continues to grow apace. In December last year we had £3,700. The figure has now reached £156,000. A large chunk of this (£85,000) has come from Cherwell District Council, but that still leaves £70,000 which has come from our Bond Scheme, the individual sports clubs, sponsorship and other activities. Thank you very much everyone, and thank you to all those who have worked and continue to work so hard to ensure that we can fund this project.
We are submitting our application to SportEngland on 21 May for the major grant that we hope to get, and we will then have to wait 16 weeks before we get the preliminary “nod”: you have to be very patient in this business.
Other fundraising will continue and as part of this we have some events coming up so that people can have fun and raise money at the same time. In fact there is a whole range of entertainment planned for this year.
Another great success - we have just received an Awards For All grant of £2271 for junior tennis development. Well done Tennis Club and thanks to Cherwell District Council Sports Development for their advice.
On Saturday 23rd June a Family Treasure Hunt and BBQ will start from the Sports and Social Club at 2.30pm, which will take some people to parts of the village they have not walked before. The BBQ - and refreshments (!) will be back at the Club: a great way to pass the time on a long summer evening. Family tickets £10, or £3 per person (tickets include the BBQ).
Saturday 1st July will see a Children`s summer disco at the Sports and Social from 6 - 7.30 pm for the 5-7 year olds and from 7.30 - 9pm for the 8-11 year olds. Tickets will be £2 per child with refreshments on sale.
Another event planned for July is a “ Sport for All ” come and try it day. Lots of activity for all the family. Watch the village notice boards.
On 29 June there will be a Safari Supper held at many and varied homes throughout the village. Tickets are £15 per person and include a three course meal and wine. Details and tickets can be obtained from Deborah Weaver, Tim Lunel or Rebecca Watts.
We are currently waiting for results on a planning application before the Council for the multi-use games area and the extra tennis court. This application includes the erection of floodlights so that both these facilities can be used throughout the year. An objection to lights has been made and if this is upheld by the District Council, it is extremely doubtful whether spending money on either of these valuable additions to the community will be worthwhile. This would certainly be a major blow to the Tennis Club, but also to all the other potential users of the games area, such as the nine teams in the football club (who would use it for training purposes in the winter) and the teenagers of the village who would be able to use it as an informal kickabout and sports area .
The issue of floodlighting can be an emotive one, and we are keen to ensure that if we are given permission to do it, its impact will be kept to a minimum. This can be done by ensuring that the lights are not on continuously, are switched off at a particular time in the evening and the lighting specification is such that there is as little light spillage as possible: this can be achieved by modern forms of lighting. Hopefully the issue will have been resolved by the time the next newsletter is published, and we will be able to see the way ahead again.
By the way, we should congratulate the Football Club 1 st XI which is on course to win the Oxford Senior League Premier Division for the second year running. Next season they will be playing a higher standard of football in the Hellenic League First Division-a great achievement for the club and also for the community which should take great pride in them.
Some people seem to think that there is something secret about this Project which saddens us because we have tried to be as transparent as possible. Unfortunately we cannot mailshot every house in the village on a regular basis, much as we would like to. There is simply too much to do and too little time to do it in. So all we can do is to continue to say please contact Mike Barlow at 21 Rectory Road or Chris Rothwell at Willow Green Cottage, Bell Hill if you want to know anything or have any views to express. So far we have not received any negative phone calls.



CARWASHING

THANK YOU TO EVERY ONE THAT HAS HELPED TO RAISE £2,140 TOWARDS THE NEW SPORTS AND RECREATION FACILITIES BY SUPPORTING THE CAR WASHING SCHEME


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HOOK NORTON CRICKET CLUB
The sunshine is here (or was at the time of writing in mid-May!) so why not come up to the Sports and Social Club and join in the cricket. The Wednesday evening side in particular is always eager to welcome new players: 20-overs-a-side after a day at work/school is an ideal way to break up the week. If weekends are better for you then we run “friendlies” on Sunday afternoons. The first XI league side, after gaining promotion to the Oxfordshire first division had a slight hiccough in the first game of the season. But we soon put that right, posting 268 runs off our 45 overs under a blazing hot sun, with Simon Richards and Melvyn Riley putting on 124, the most stylish opening partnership I've seen in the Oxfordshire league.
The Junior cricket for boys and girls is in full swing with sessions on Monday night for U11's, Tuesday night and Sunday mornings U14's and 5-10 year olds on a Thursday evening. Something for all age groups, we hope you'll agree.
Alternatively just come and prop up the bar and enjoy a relaxing drink up at the ground. We hope to see you up there. Please contact Tim Lunel or Colin Scarrett



HARRIERS
Spring is Marathon time. We had members taking part in Paris, London, Stratford-upon- Avon and Blackpool. One lady has taken part in a marathon walk in London.
Last Tuesday it was Silverstone 10K, starting and finishing in the pits! The weekend 20th May was a very busy weekend. We had one lady in 100K race at Moreton in Marsh, several in the 10K at Oxford, at least two of us in the 'Race for Life', for ladies' cancers at Stratford upon Avon and also the Fire Service Sprint Triathlon at Banbury. Come and join us one Tuesday evening at the Sports and Social Club, we meet at 7 o'clock.




FLORA LONDON MARATHON - 22nd April 2001
Melvyn Riley ran the Marathon in 4 hours 24 minutes, in memory of Harry Bartlett and to help raise much needed funds for CLIC - Cancer & Leukaemia in Children, raising an amazing total of over £3,000 with donations still coming in! CLIC is a charity close to our hearts as they provide the funds for nurses to make home visits to give medication, transfusions and much needed help and support to all the family. Without Liz, the CLIC nurse from the John Radcliffe Hospital, we wouldn't have been able to spend our last few
precious weeks and days at home with Harry. Thank you Melvyn, what a brilliant achievement, we are so proud of you and we know that Harry would have been really impressed!



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JUNIOR TENNIS COACHING
The Easter Course proved to be a tremendous success with 55 children enjoying coaching and fun games with coaches, Karen Taylor and Jenny Edwards.

The first summer courses started the week beginning 23 April and will run for a five-week period. Due to the huge demand for coaching a 5th session has been established on Wednesday after school. After the Whitsun Half Term, coaching will recommence during the week of 11 June on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Events for the summer include a FUN AFTERNOON on SUNDAY 1ST JULY and a SUMMER HOLIDAY CLUB. For further details or to enrol please contact Rebecca Watts.