Matt Hancock praises Fareham health worker’s efforts

Fareham MP, Suella Braverman posted on her Facebook page a video of the Health Secretary praising and sending a big thank to local health workers for their work in beating the Covid virus.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock sends a big thank you to everyone in Fareham for making the vaccine roll-out a success so far.

Watch the video HERE…

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=434323671181562

Titchfield talk of Spring

As we are now  starting to enjoy Spring ,  Titchfield Gardeners’ Club are very pleased to have a Zoom talk on " Spring Flowering Perennials" given by RHS Gold award winner Rosy Hardy of Hardy's Cottage Plants.

The special Zoom talk will be on Wednesday 7th April at 7.30pm.

The talk is free to Members but open to non members for a small charge of £3.

Please contact Tina by e mailing tgc.meetings@gmail.com for the Zoom link if you wish to join us. All are welcome.

Sarah Green, Programme Organiser

Titchfield Gardeners' Club 

Brand new play area coming soon to Abbey Meadows

Fareham Borough Council has announced that a brand-new children’s play area is to be installed in Titchfield.

Located off Cartwright Drive, Titchfield, construction on the new Abbey Meadows play area will commence next month and will be completed in time for the school summer holidays in July.

Abbey Meadows was named in 2018 following a consultation with residents but work on preparing the site was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The natural style play area was hand-picked by children and families that took part in the consultation, as well children from Titchfield Primary School.

This new play area has been designed and will be installed by Eibe Play, who also designed and installed the Council’s two other destination play areas at Holly Hill and Daedalus Common. The design complements the surroundings, while taking inspiration from the nearby Titchfield Abbey.

Abbey Meadows play area will feature a range of equipment for children of all ages and abilities, including a multi-climbing unit themed around the Abbey which will be suitable for children with reduced mobility, meaning all children will be able play and have fun together.

The play area will also include exciting equipment such as:

• Smaller multi-climbing unit for toddlers

• Snake swing

• Cradle swing

• Mirror swing (where a parent and child can face each other on the same swing)

• Flat swings

• Inclusive mirage swing with a high back and support harness

• Basket (nest) swing

• Stand up see-saw

• Themed play panels

• Fixed musical instruments

• Rocking horses

• Plenty of seats and picnic tables

Executive Member for Leisure and Community, Cllr Sue Bell, said: “This play area will be a huge benefit for the local community and visitors to Titchfield. It is incredibly important that children of all abilities can play together, so the large multi-climbing unit allows children with reduced mobility to come and play with their friends.

“I would like to thank the residents of Titchfield and the Titchfield Village Trust who were involved in the consultation process and particularly the children from Titchfield Primary School who shared their ideas and helped us. I would also like to thank Eibe Play for coming up with this fantastic design.

“There is much work now to be done but the play equipment will be ready to go just in time for the summer school holidays.”

More information can be found here.  

Launch of the ‘Hook Lake Coastal Management Study’

Coastal Partners as part of Fareham Borough Council has secured £556,000 from Defra Grant in Aid to commence a two-year study focusing on the future management of Hook Lake (part of the Hook with Warsash Nature Reserve) and opportunities to create new habitat at the site.

The Solent coastline is facing significant pressure from rising sea levels, more frequent and bigger storms, and increased flood and erosion risk. As a result, important coastal habitats such as saltmarshes are slowly being lost as they are squeezed against existing sea defences.

Photo Phil Burner

Hook Lake has been chosen as a potential area to create new coastal habitat to offset these losses in the Hamble Estuary and the wider Solent. The creation of new compensatory habitat is a legal requirement and will help to offset habitat losses today and in the future from new defence schemes. This new habitat must be reinstated in order to enable future coastal defence schemes in our area to progress.

The Hook Lake Coastal Management Study will look to maximise the potential benefits for both local people and wildlife to ensure that Hook Lake remains a special place. Through the study we will explore the potential for creating new habitats, look at wider recreation opportunities and develop preliminary designs for a scheme.

Coastal Partners is a partnership between Fareham Borough Council, Gosport Borough Council, Havant Borough Council, and Portsmouth City Council. The partnership has coastal engineers from each authority working in one team to manage 162km of coastline across the Eastern Solent.

We will be working in partnership with key stakeholders including Hampshire County Council (who own and manage Hook Lake), the Environment Agency and the River Hamble Harbour Authority, alongside the community to deliver this coastal management study.

Councillor Simon Martin, Fareham Borough Council Executive Member for Planning and Development, said: I am delighted that the project team were able to secure funding for this important study. Creating new habitats here will enable other coastal defence projects in the Borough to progress in the future and at the same time allow continued enjoyment of this coastline for years to come”.

To stay up to date on the project, please visit our project webpages at https://coastalpartners.org.uk/project/hook-lake-coastal-management-study, where you can also sign up to receive updates to your inbox via our new ‘Fareham Coastal Projects e-Newsletter’.

Coastal Partners contact is coastal.team@havant.gov.uk

EASTER COMES EARLY TO TITCHFIELD

The clever crafty fairies have been at work again decorating the Post Box in Titchfield Square.

The pillar box outside of the One Stop shop has a colourful topping of crocheted Easter eggs, Easter bunnies and Easter chicks.

The box was first decorated by the ‘yarn bombers’ last year just before Christmas with snowmen and Christmas trees.

Then in February the team brought a smile to passers-by reminding them about Valentines day.

A huge Thank You to the clever people who are brightening up the Village during this time.

A new websiteE for the Titchfield Gardener’s Club

Over the past 12 months we have all come to rely more and more on technology for information and staying in touch.

Titchfield Gardeners Club have introduced ‘ZOOM’ meetings and lectures, a ‘TGC FACEBOOK’ page and we felt that the next step should be to update the ‘TGC Website’, we knew that the old website was not being used by our gardening community and we needed to change this.

We wanted to provide details of our club events, our shows, our talks and general gardening tips as well as an archive of events and photo’s. In designing the site we needed to ensure that it was easy to navigate and would offer both useful and up to date gardening information for members and the wider gardening community.

We would like everyone interested in gardening to visit the website and take a look around.

At the present time it is best to access the website via the link www.titchfieldgardeners.club

The Arts Society Solent

Still going!

The Arts Society Solent want to remind members and potential members that they have monthly talks, a virtal visit and a Special Interest Morning all now on Zoom which you are all welcome to join.

Please see our website - The Arts Society Solent - and contact us there.

https://theartssocietysolent.org.uk/Default.aspx

Solar panels for the Parish Rooms

Fareham Borough Council has approved the application to retile the roof and at the same time install 3 rows of solar panels on the south side of the roof. The decision was passed by a unanimous vote of the planning committee.

Titchfield Village Trust Chairman, Nick Girdler, said, “We will now be working in close contact with the FBC conservation officer to complete the work.

An impression of what the roof solar panels will look like

“I would like to thank all of you who submitted letters in support of the application which, along with the help of our local councillors, played a significant role in this positive result.

“All we have to do now is raise the remainder of the funding we require to get the work started.”

To support the work residents are urged to log onto the TVT website : www.TitchfieldVillageTrust.com where they will find buttons giving access to the TVT pages on the Fareham Local Lottery and Just Giving site.

Fundraising for the work has so far secured over a third of the money required towards the £100,000 target..

Please help in any way you can in completing this very important village project.

St Peter’s Church Electoral Roll

A revision of last yea’s roll is required; those already on the 2020 roll do not have to re-register but please let us know of any change of details.

Forms will be available from Sunday 14 March on the churcwebsite (stpetertitchfield.org.uk) or by telephoning the church office (01329 847003).

A GDPR Consent Form is available in the same way.

New members applying to join the Electoral Roll are asked to complete both forms. The GDPR consent form gives permission for St Peter’s to use your contact details to send you information about services, activities or events at church throughout the year.

Both completed forms should be returned by Sunday 28 March at the latest.

Either email your form to office@stpetertitchfield.org.uk or post it to the Electoral Roll Officer, Mr K. Miller, St Peter’s Church, Church Street, Titchfield, Fareham, PO14 4DU

Vaccination update from Dr Tom Bartram

Sovereign Health Network COVID-19 Vaccination Programme Update

Dr Tom Bartram writes…

I am writing with an update on our COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, as well as important information for those people who have been newly informed by NHS England this week that they should shield.

With help from an outstanding group of volunteers up at Fareham Community Hospital, we have given more than 90% of all people in the JCVI priority groups 1-4 their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, as well as 75% of people in priority group 5 (those aged between 65 and 70).

Remember that if you receive a letter from NHS England inviting you to book an appointment at a Mass Vaccination Centre, you can either take them up on that offer (there are sites in both Portsmouth and Southampton) or you can wait until you are invited by us. All our vaccinations take place at Fareham Community Centre, and as soon as we receive vaccine supplies we put on more appointments and send out more invitations.

We have now been given the go ahead to move into priority group 6 (people aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions). This group contains a large number of people and the order in which people are invited needs to be prioritised. Whilst the most important factor is increasing age, NHS England has developed a clinical risk assessment tool which is designed to identify people who are at higher risk of complications should they catch COVID-19. As a result of that, a further two million people across the country have been identified and asked to shield – if that is you, you will be receiving a letter or an email over the next few days.

Please be aware that if you are newly identified as being at higher risk, we will prioritise you for your COVID-19 vaccination. You do not need to take any action (such as calling the practice). NHS England is letting us know who you are, although you will hear a few days before we do, and as soon as we have your names we will be sending you an invite for our next vaccination clinic.

Please don’t phone the practice about your vaccine if you can avoid it – by keeping the phone lines free you will be helping us to continue to provide our usual primary care service for people who need our help on the day.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Dr Tom Bertram
Clinical Director, Sovereign Health Network
Highlands Practice, Jubilee and Whiteley Surgeries

Two Brothers at The Festival Theatre

Two brothers share a love of theatre, music and performance. This is their story

Will and his brother Pip form a ‘Pals Brigade’ with their local Music Hall troupe, to go to war. Full of optimism, the comrades bring their lust for life to the trenches. But even among the horrors they encounter, will soon face something far worse than the Western Front, for Will has brought and must face, his own demons…

Madman of Loos is part of Titchfield Festival Theatre’s New Play Season, written by Robert Hall.  Set in the trenches during World War One, the story centres on two principal characters, brothers Will and Pip. Both love drama and performance; Will is happy-go-lucky, whilst Pip has his feet on the ground. Together, they form an inseparable duo as they confront the horrors of conflict which lie ahead.

Robert Hall is director of the Madman of Loos and said, “I have always had an interest in military history. Around the time of the 100th anniversary of the First World War I came up with an idea for the play, after reading through family memorabilia about my great grand-father who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. All of the characters are based around people who I have known, including myself and my older brother who tragically died in 2013.

“The Madman of Loos is a nice, rounded story – with plenty of action. It shows how people coped with the trauma and suffering, supporting each other through the conflict.”

All of Titchfield Festival Theatre’s productions are to be streamed in the coming weeks. Further information for streaming can be found here. The show is being streamed every evening at 7.30pm  from Monday 15th to Sunday 21st February.

Video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA2tHje9CVI

NOTE: The site at St Margarets Lane has recently undergone extensive renovations including a refurbished bar, new seating and other facilities, as well as uniquely becoming the only ‘green’ fully sustainable theatre in Europe. The Oak Theatre is also home to a historic 1930’s theatre organ, which has performed at recent productions including Spamalot.

Tickets for streamed shows can be booked online via the website http://titchfieldfestivaltheatre.com

Village Trust AGM postponed

As Titchfield Village Trust has had to postpone their next A.G.M. (on Tuesday 2nd March) they thought it might be the time to list some of the things they’ve managed to achieve since their last meeting in March 2020.

 Chairman, Nick Girdler, listed the main achievements…

The fund raising thermometer

1.  We became a Charitable Incorporated Charity giving our Trustees (Officers) greater protection

2.  The merger of the Parish Room Charity and TVT is now complete and is reflected on the Charity Commission site.

3.  The new 68-year lease on the Parish Room is now signed and runs until 2088

4. We have applied for planning permission to re-tile the roof and complete some outside work to prevent water ingress. At the same time, we have applied to install flush fitting solar panels on the south side (Queens Head car park side) of the building.

5. We opened an account to hold the funds for this work and set up a committee to oversee the raising of these funds. We need to raise £100,000.  As such we have only been able to hold one meeting but I can tell you we currently have over £30,000 towards that total following applications to both statutory and voluntary bodies including a large grant from the Earl of Southampton Trust. So more than a quarter of the way there already and we haven’t had a ‘launch’ yet !

6.  We are in the process of making more applications and if successful will hopefully be able to begin work later this year.

7. We have joined the Fareham Lottery to raise more funds and would exhort you to buy tickets to support our effort to keep the Parish Room at the heart of the village.

8. We have opened a Just Giving Page for people to make one off contributions.

9. Our Treasurer, Digby Hands, is to retire but a past Chair of the Trust, Richard Ashton, will be taking his place. Many thanks to both for the work they have done for the Trust and the work still to come.

10. Digby also oversaw the regular users of the Parish Room and Suzy Jackson has agreed to take on that role. We’ve asked Suzy and Leslie Blackburn, who looks after the unregular (I’m making this up as I go along) users to join the committee so they can represent all our Parish Room customers.

11. £210 donated to Titchfield Primary School to purchase a computer as part of our small scale grants scheme

12. Our website www.TitchfieldVillageTrust.com  overseen by Chris Turner, is much improved and gives you access to both of our fund-raising sites.

The Trust hopes to be able to hold the postponed AGM at their next scheduled meeting on Tuesday 6th July in the Parish Room at 7.30.

There will be a reminder nearer the date.

Launch of oven valeting business

Former printer Richard ready to make his mark after launching oven valeting business Ovenu Fareham 

A former commercial printer who once produced thousands of Premier League football programmes has a new career goal – having launched oven valeting enterprise, Ovenu Fareham. 

At the age of 55, Richard Lawrence says he is tremendously excited to have finally achieved a long-held ambition of becoming his own boss.

He said: “It’s daunting to launch any business from scratch, let alone in the middle of a lockdown, but I’m very enthusiastic and committed to making it a real success.”

Richard Lawrence

The keen DIY enthusiast has completed Ovenu’s extensive training programme and has an encouraging level of client bookings over the coming weeks. Once established, he plans to grow the businesses by employing a subcontractor to operate a second van.

Richard spent more than 20 years in the commercial printing trade, progressing from the presses to managing a reprographics department. One of his tasks was the printing of programmes for a variety of Premiership clubs.

However, with the general decline of the print industry he was made redundant in 2017 and retrained as a financial services adviser, working for a major insurance provider.

He added: “For the last few years, I’ve worked from home, advising clients over the phone on health and life insurance policies, but the arrival of the pandemic made me realise it was time to take control of my career.

“I’m a people person so I’m really looking forward to connecting with my clients and delivering a tangible product – restoring ovens to showroom condition!”

Richard, who is originally from Aldershot, is married to teacher Helen, and they moved to Fareham in the mid-1990s. The couple have one son, who is at sixth form college.

Ovenu Fareham, which also covers Hill Head, Stubbington, Titchfield, Whitely, Portchester and Wickham, is accepting bookings at its discretion, with the strict stipulation that both parties observe the two-metre social distancing rule, along with guidelines on hygiene and cleanliness.

Rik Hellewell, founder and managing director of the Ovenu franchise, said: “Richard not only has the skills to run a successful business but he’s a very practical person who takes immense pride in his work.”

The Ovenu valeting process involves dismantling key components of an oven such as the door, interior panels, fan, and shelves and placing them into design-registered tank equipment, which uses safe, non-caustic and biodegradable products to clean the oven parts.

For a free quote call Richard on 01329 273073, email fareham@ovenu.co.uk or visit https://www.ovenu.co.uk/oven_cleaning/fareham/

Apple appeal - for a laptop charger

Laptop but no charging lead/connector!

A ‘Titchfield News ‘user is appealing for a charging cable for an old Apple MacBook.

It’s a 2009 model and her usband would love to be able to get it working for a school child to use but unfortunately the charging cable was not given with the MacBook.

If anyone has one or can loan one so that they can see if the MacBook they have is usable then they would be extremely grateful.

Unfortunately Apple change the charging leads constantly so the model we have been given is not suitable with the charging units available in newer models!

It looks like it could be one of two designs (See picture).

If you have either version please contact Phil at phil.burner@gmail.com and he’ll pass your info onto the MacBook owner.

Latest Parish Magazine "Titchfield News' out soon

The Parish magazine, Titchfield News, contains information about Church and village news and events and articles about village life.

It has been published bi-monthly since June 2020 and copies of previous issues are available at: http://www.stpetertitchfield.org.uk/titchfield-news .

There is a facility for online copies to be read aloud. Please see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETOohmYui3Q

The February issue of Titchfield News is being delivered to all subscribers at the start of February. If you normally buy a copy in church, this won’t be possible as the church is currently closed but we will gladly deliver a copy to you as soon after the start of February as we can.

Simply e mail magazine@stpetertitchfield.org.uk , heading your e mail ‘Magazine delivery’ and giving your address if you would like a magazine delivered.

The person delivering your magazine won’t be able to accept a cash payment, so please pay for your magazine (80p) when the church re-opens.

From April 2021, Titchfield News will cost:

• £1.00 per individual copy

• £5.00 annual subscription (6 copies)

If you don’t have a subscription and would like one, please contact Gerry Pontefract by text message on: 07818568034 and she will see if there is a distributor for your area.

We do hope you enjoy reading Titchfield News.

EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON TRUST COME TO THE RESCUE OF LOCAL SCHOOL CHILDREN DURING LOCKDOWN

The Earl of Southampton Trust, a Titchfield charity that runs and looks after 19 almshouses in the village, has come to the aid of Henry Cort Community College students after a request from one of the school’s teachers.

The Fareham secondary school (Henry Cort Community College) which has over 800 pupils and is currently only open to children whose parents are essential workers or children who are considered vulnerable continues to provide education using an on line based curriculum. This of course relies on the fact that all children have access to a computer.

The government has said that they are providing portable devices for those :

• with no digital devices in their household

• with a single device in their household that’s being shared with more than one other family member

Unfortunately in many cases these objectives aren’t being reached even though they have promised to supply one million devices. As a result the Earl of Southampton charity, which along with its almshouses, also provides grants for individuals in need was approached by Mr Ben Parker, Assistant Principal to see if the Trust could help fill the gaps.

Henry Cort students with the new laptops. In the background are EoST Chair Frances Knight (left) and School Principal, Claudia Cubbage and Assistant Principal, Ben Parker

The Trust Chairman, Frances Knight, said, “During these trying times for all of us we wanted to show support for those who through no fault of their own are finding it more difficult than usual to cope.”

Frances held liaison talks with Mr Parker, who said, “We have been unable to provide multiple laptops to some our disadvantaged families that have two or more Henry Cort students in the household.

Families are having to share one device, which significantly diminishes the amount of virtual education they can access. This of course only widens the education gap that many of these families already have.”

Consequently the Trust have bought 10 laptops at a cost of over £4,000 to help those children. The Principal Ms Cubbage, is extremely grateful for the support of the trust and said, “We will ensure that these laptops get to the students who need them most.”

Frances added, “We may be a charity with a past going back 500 years but in this instance it’s the residents of the future we are aiming at.”

Gardeners Club talk on Zoom

Titchfield Gardeners' Club invite you to join their February meeting on Zoom on Wednesday 3rd February at 7.30pm for a talk from Andrew Halstead on "Beneficial Insects in the Garden.

Andrew is a writer, author and lecturer as well as being a member of the Garden Media Guild.

He has now retired from his position as  the RHS Principal Entymologist for many years at RHS Wisley.

He is also a beekeeper. He specialises in garden pests, wildlife gardening and biological control of pests.

He will explain how you can make your garden more wildlife friendly while retaining the style of gardening that you prefer.

Talks are free to Members but non members are invited to join for a fee of £3.

Please contact Tina, the club Secretary,  on info@titchfieldgardenersclub.co.uk if you are interested.

Titchfield residents urged to stay at home

The Council is urging residents to stay at home and stick to the lockdown rules, after a steep rise in Covid cases across the Borough.

 In the first week of January the number of cases increased by 614 (2,730 to 3,344).

 Under the current restrictions, you may only leave the home to:

• Shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person;

• go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home;

• exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area;

• meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one;

• seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse);

• attend education or childcare - for those eligible.

 Covid marshals are continuing to patrol shopping areas and open spaces around the Borough, to ensure that the rules are being complied with.

 Executive Member for Health and Public Protection at Fareham Borough Council, Councillor Trevor Cartwright, said:

“With the new strain of the virus circulating it is now more important than ever that residents stick to the rules and stay at home. The number of infections across the Borough is much higher than it was in the Spring, and sadly this has led to more people losing their lives. By staying at home, we are protecting ourselves and others and helping to reduce the strain on the NHS.

 “If you do have to leave home, please remember ‘hands, face and space’ - wash your hands, cover your face and give others space. These steps will help to reduce the spread, and ultimately save lives.”

For more information about the current restrictions visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home

The above graph shows the rise in cases in the Fareham Borough:

Hedgehugs raise £1,500 for local charities

Strength trainer raises £1500 for local charities, encourages others to get active and spreads much needed hugs nationwide during the pandemic.

In March last year Alexandra Davison from Fareham decided to get creative and make her mum (mumma Viv) 60 pom pom pigs for her 60th birthday, with a tag attached to each saying why she loved her. Shortly after that lock down hit, and Alex’s job as a Strength and Wellness Coach for technical sports, including Olympic Weightlifting, changed dramatically, leaving her more time on her hands.

Not one to sit still, and after seeing the great reaction and joy her pom pom pigs brought her mum, Alex experimented with different animal shapes and Hedgehugs was born.

Growing organically from strength to strength, what was a cottage business to do in her spare time turned into a full-time job in November. Alex drafted in her mum and partner to help make the Hedgehugs, with orders coming in for 150 at a time and requests for customised Hugs such as Christmas Hugs, Baby Shower Hugs, Valentines Hugs, Superhero Hugs and even Nurse Hugs.

Alex’s intention was always to give something back to the NHS, with the family having received “outstanding care” from Queen Alexandra Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital in the past, Alex’s father a senior practitioner at Basingstoke Hospital, her partner working within medical research and her sister-in-law, Heather, an advanced nurse practitioner. Alex herself had even in the past worked within the Occupational Health Team at her local hospital.

Alex comments on the success of Hedgehugs: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the love for our hugs and have sent them as far as Pennsylvania, USA, which is crazy when I think about it! I never could have imagined we’d have raised so much for charity.” 80% of the money raised has gone to the NHS with other donations going to The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, as well as fundraising for a terminally ill local teenager who sadly lost her battle to Cancer just before Christmas.

“As a self-professed fitness fanatic, delivering Hedgehugs on our bikes also gave so much purpose to our daily exercise. We’ve ridden well over 60 miles to deliver a Hedgehug, Fareham to Bordon and back, and have even caught a ferry.

“I love to inspire others to be active and sometimes myself and my partner are joined by my wonderful nine-year-old niece, Caitlin. We created a Delivery Rider Scheme for her which involved Caitlin completing an entire delivery with us and we gave her an award ceremony with a certificate and medal at the end. We hope to inspire others and want to develop this further in the coming months.

“Lockdown has been such a difficult time for so many but making Hedgehugs and reading people’s messages has been so uplifting. I’ve lost count of the amount of times a message has made me tearful, and I’m reminded daily of the love and kindness that exists in the world.”

If you’d like to get involved, either making pom poms or becoming a delivery rider please get in touch with Alex via Facebook or Instagram @haveahedgehug

Web address: https://haveahedgehug.com

Christmas Day fire devastates Titchfield home.

Around mid-day today emergency services rushed to a blazing house on the Bellfield estate.

The fire in Hewett road was attended fire crews from Fareham, Hightown and Cosham.

In all six pumps responded to the call.

Early reports speak of neighbours helping the family, which included a pregnant lady, escape the blaze and later comforting the occupants.

Roads around the scene were blocked off as Police, Fire Service and Ambulances arrived to assist.