Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

aNNUAL MEMBERS’ MEETING

This year’s BACBS Annual Members’ Meeting will be held virtually, by way of Zoom, on Wednesday 11th November from 7.30pm – and we hope to finish by 9.00pm at the latest. Further information, including Zoom joining details, will be issued nearer the date. We will try to make alternative arrangements for members who are not able to attend by Zoom video-link; so, if this applies to you, please contact us as soon as possible at info@bacbs.org

We make no apology for repeating our call for new BACBS management committee members:

Three members of the BACBS Management Committee come to the end of their elected terms next month, and we are looking to recruit new committee members. As reported last month, Gabriel Brodetsky will stand again for election, but both Adrian Hampshire and Mike Hobbs have decided not to stand again.

The size of the committee is not fixed but, in order to ensure a democratic society, we do not want to let committee numbers fall. The last few years have been busy with firstly the purchase of the pub, the recruiting of the first and then second tenants, establishment of the More than a Pub programme, the commissioning of the accessible toilet block, and latterly the Covid crisis. We are hoping that things will quieten down from now on! However, we do need to maintain our role as property owners and landlords, so would benefit from recruiting members with property management experience, and also IT skills - although these are definitely not prerequisites for anyone interested in joining the committee. In addition, it would be good to extend the diversity of the committee with, in particular, more women and residents of other villages.

Please do consider standing for election to the committee. If you would like to find out more about its workings then please feel free to contact the outgoing chair, Mike Hobbs (mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com), or any other current committee member. Contact can be made through personal approaches or info@bacbs.org. We hope to hear from you.

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tHE aBINGDON aRMS

Despite further Covid-19 restrictions on pubs, The Abingdon Arms remains open every day, serving meals and drinks with all necessary track and trace, distancing and hygiene measures in place.

Opening hours can be found here https://www.theabingdonarms.co.uk/opening-hours Takeaways are still available lunchtimes and evenings. Alex’s new wood-fired pizza oven is fully functional, and a ‘buy one, get second one half price’ pizza deal has been introduced on Thursdays! See menus at https://www.theabingdonarms.co.uk/menus---christmas-2020

Distancing restrictions have significantly reduced the number of tables available for diners and, even more-so for drinkers, particularly now that the weather limits outside custom. With BACBS support, Suzy, Alex and Vicky are applying for planning permission to install retractable awnings on the top terrace. The proximity of the pizza oven to covered tables would ensure that the rear terrace is an attractive alternative for suitably-wrapped customers! Suzy is also exploring options for creating covered space to the front of the pub for customers who want to drink but not eat when the indoor tables are reserved for diners, though listed building planning regulations limit the possibilities.

Meanwhile we urge all customers at The Abingdon Arms, whether dining or simply having a drink, to comply fully with the Government’s and local authority’s advice and regulations for limiting transmission of the virus. With infection rates increasing across the country, including in Oxford, restrictions are tightening at intervals. At the time of writing, pubs are required to close by 10pm, masks must be worn by customers when entering and leaving the pub, and the ‘rule of six’ is mandatory – see below. We hear that the police have intervened because of breaches at a pub in West Oxfordshire. Please do not jeopardise Suzy’s licence, the pub’s business, and BACBS’s security by disregarding the Government’s rules at The Abingdon Arms.

The ‘Rule of 6’ (Government definition):

• Customers must wear masks on entering and leaving pubs, and must be served seated at tables, whether eating or drinking.

• Premises must take reasonable steps or measures to limit customers to parties of six, and to keep tables an appropriate distance apart.

• Premises must take all reasonable measures to ensure that:

  • No bookings for a table are accepted for a group of more than 6 persons unless an exemption applies (e.g. they are all from one household);

  • No persons are admitted to the premises in a group of more than six, unless an exemption applies;

  • No person in one group joins another group where this is not permitted; (i.e. there should be no mingling between tables unless this is one family group or a ‘bubble’);

  • An appropriate distance is maintained between tables occupied by different groups. An “appropriate distance” means a distance between tables of at least 2 metres, or at least one metre if a) there are barriers or screens between tables; b) the tables are arranged with back to back seating, or otherwise arranged to ensure that persons sitting at one table do not face any person sitting at another table at a distance of less than two metres; or c) other measures are taken to limit the risk of transmission of the coronavirus between people sitting at different tables.

(BACBS bold emphasis)

So please would all customers support Suzy and her staff to ensure that the regulations are adhered to at all times. Our health, and our pub, depend on it!

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gRANTS TO bacbs

As reported last month, a grant was awarded to BACBS by Power to Change (the provider of a major grant which part-funded our construction of the accessible toilets) to compensate for the Society’s loss of income when we suspended our tenants’ payment of rent during lockdown. The Trading Income Support Scheme (TISS) grant - approximately £6,250 - will enable us to progress projects to support the community which were put on hold during lockdown, including installation of a notice board and a walking routes display board (which are now on order), extension of the pub’s WiFi to the restaurant area and outside terraces, and a Zoom subscription for our popular ‘even More than a Pub’ programme. In addition, with an environmentally-aware eye to the future, we are exploring the possibility of installing an electric vehicle charging point in the car park. This would be of benefit both to customers of The Abingdon Arms and, perhaps outside pub hours, residents of our community.

There may be a sum remaining after these items are purchased. Could you suggest other potential projects of benefit to the community? To be eligible for the TISS grant, proposals must meet one or more of the criteria set out by Power to Change for ‘charitable purpose’ and be for ‘public benefit’:

“Charitable purpose

The funds we invest through this programme must not be used purely for commercial purposes. The funds we award must support charitable purposes, charitable activities and/or deliver charitable outcomes, and you must be able to clearly describe how the funding will help you to do this.

Power to Change will fund the following charitable purposes:

• the prevention or relief of poverty

• the advancement of education

• the advancement of health or the saving of lives

• the advancement of citizenship or community development

• the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science

• the advancement of environmental protection or improvement

• the relief of those in need because of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage

• the relief of unemployment

• the promotion of urban and rural regeneration (subheading under citizenship or community development)

• the promotion of social inclusion (subheading under relief of poverty)

We cannot support activities that promote the advancement of religion or that are party political in nature. This does not prevent faith groups from applying for funding for an existing community business which has a charitable purpose other than the advancement of religion.

For public benefit

For a proposal to be charitable, it needs to have both a charitable purpose and to be for public benefit. This means that your proposal must create benefits for a sufficient section of your community, including people who are experiencing disadvantage” (Power to Change)

The grant must be spent by mid-December, so please submit any suggestions to BACBS as soon as you can, and by 22nd October at the latest. Please contact mike.jd.hobbs@gmail.com or info@bacbs.org

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gOOD nEIGHBOUR sCHEME

With Covid transmission rates rising again, the BACBS Good Neighbour Scheme (GNS) offers support to residents of Beckley, Elsfield, Stanton St John and Forest Hill who are self-isolating or in quarantine, to more vulnerable residents taking greater precautions, and to people who do not have their own transport. Lifts can be arranged to local surgeries for flu vaccinations and other appointments; and, of course, we can deliver take-aways from The Abingdon Arms, prescriptions from Islip surgery, and items from the Stanton Shop if required.

To meet essential requirements the GNS driver will wear a mask and car windows will be opened; and, unless there are medical reasons not to, passengers must now wear masks too. Obviously, we would ask people not to request lifts if they are experiencing Covid symptoms.

To request a lift either ring 07514 791910 (if there is no reply, please leave a message with your number and one of the drivers will call you back), or email BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com. Passengers are asked to pay a mileage charge (45p per mile, rounded to nearest 50p) to cover fuel expenses. Residents of Horton cum Studley, Noke, Woodeaton and Islip have access to their local GNS schemes.

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Even More than a Pub programme

Please see BACBS website at https://bacbs.org/events

There is only one eMtaP presentation in October, but it’s an award-winning event!

Sunday 11th October, 6.30-7.30pm: How changes in oxygen levels led to a Nobel Prize in 2019 - Christopher Pugh, Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Oxford, Honorary Consultant Physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. Chris lives in Horton cum Studley.

For your diaries, the other talks scheduled for the autumn are as follows:

Sunday 8th November: 6.30-7.30pm: Owen Barfield of Bee and Church Cottage: the first and last Inkling - Owen Barfield, grandson of the first Owen Barfield who lived in Bee and Church Cottage (Church Street, Beckley) for a time in the 1920s. Barfield was a founder of the Inklings, the literary group associated with CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. His daughter Lucy gave her name to the heroine of Lewis’s Narnia books. He was also a noted philosopher in his own right. Today’s Owen Barfield will explain some of his grandfather’s thinking and why he had such an influence on his fellow Inklings.

Sunday 13th December: 6.30-7.30pm: The Secret World of Codes and Ciphers - Roger Heath-Brown FRS, an Emeritus Fellow of both Worcester and Magdalen Colleges, and Professor of Pure Mathematics at Oxford University until his retirement in 2016. His research interests centre on the study of prime numbers. Roger’s talk will look at the history of codes from ancient times to the internet age. It will be accessible to all, and will involve audience participation. Roger lives in Garsington.

Jazz sessions at The Abingdon Arms: With the present resurgence of Coronavirus, there is no prospect of resuming our monthly Sunday evening jazz sessions at The Abingdon Arms in the foreseeable future. For those of you who are jazz fans, you might like to access sessions which are being streamed from two excellent sources:

• The Swiss guitarist Nic Meier, who has performed locally and across Europe with our good friend Pete Oxley, streams live performances each week with a series of other musicians. Usually (but not always) on Thursdays, and for a small fee, Nic’s gigs can be found at http://www.meiergroup.com/csgi

• London’s excellent 606 Club is open again, and streaming live jazz every weekend - with mid-week repeats. The 606 attracts the best musicians, and for a small fee you can tune in at https://www.606club.co.uk/account/videos/live/

WOBBLE and MOB lunches: The monthly Women of Beckley Big Lunch Event and the Men of Beckley lunch, organised by Sarah Smith and Steve Smith respectively, have resumed as before. The lunches are held inside the pub, or outside on the terrace if the weather is good enough; the WOBBLE lunch on the first Tuesday, and the MOB lunch on the first Wednesday of each month. If you would like to attend please contact Sarah on beckleysarah@gmail.com or Steve on barkbeetles@gmail.com

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Local Walk Routes

Autumn can be a lovely season for walking, and we have many delightful walks in our area, some from our door-steps. As publicised previously, BACBS has produced a booklet of walks in the Beckley and Otmoor area which combines outline route maps, walk notes and points of interest. The routes are also available on the BACBS website, but this handy booklet has the advantage that it can be carried on these walks. Both the booklet and our companion folding, laminated map of the area are on sale at The Abingdon Arms and at the Stanton St John, Rectory Farm, Field View Farm and Islip shops.

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