Beckley & Area Community Benefit society Limited (BACBS)

The Abingdon Arms

The Abingdon Arms continues to provide an excellent service to us all with its take-away food service and drink delivery. We encourage you to sign up to the pub’s information emails to receive information about the current menus and special offers https://www.theabingdonarms.co.uk/contact-us. Orders can be taken by phone (01865 655667), email info@theabingdonarms.co.uk, or drop in. Please keep the orders coming to help the pub stay open until the current lockdown ends. The forthcoming openings are expected to be:

• Week of 12th April: garden opening for food and alcohol, with rule of 6. Alcohol can be served without an accompanying meal.

• 17th May: indoors with rule of 6; the rule of six no longer applies outdoors.

• 21st June: all restrictions end.

More than a Pub Programme - https://bacbs.org/events

The monthly Sunday evening talks by Zoom continue and remain popular with 30-60 people ‘zooming’ in. The talks range across many disciplines and remain very varied. The last talk from Betty Dye about her early life on a farm was a lovely account of times past, a gentle and evocative tale of a different era.

This is the current Sunday evening programme so far, with more events in the pipeline:

The Cutting Edge: Surgery in the Pandemic and Beyond. Sunday April 11th 6:30pm. Professor Neil Mortensen, FRCS, a Beckley resident and professor of colorectal surgery at Oxford University and Consultant Surgeon in the Oxford hospitals. He has an extensive academic publication record and has been president and chair of several surgical societies. He has been responsible for enormous improvements in colorectal surgery in Oxford and beyond. Most recently he has been the spokesperson for surgical services in the UK as president of the Royal College of Surgeons. The current pandemic has been an enormous challenge for the maintenance of safe surgical services. Neil’s knowledge and perspective on the future of surgery in the UK is second to none.

Saving Elephants in West Africa. Sunday May 9th 6:30pm. Dr Susan Canney, a resident of Horton-cum-Studley, has worked on a variety of nature conservation projects across Africa, Asia and Europe, and in sustainable development policy at the Green College Centre for Environmental Policy and Understanding. Over the years her conservation work has become increasingly about finding ways for humans and nature to thrive together. The iconic elephant population in the Sahel of Mali has been her major focus since 2003, moving from scientific studies, to working with local communities and government. The work continued despite the lawlessness (and elephant poaching) that has accompanied the terrorist insurgency of 2012; and a pilot project to adapt the approach in Burkina Faso is underway. She is Director of the Mali Elephant Project and Research Associate at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford.

Zoom access details will be made available nearer the time. If you would like to watch previous talks please visit https://bacbs.org/events/#past-events.

‘Pub Quiz’

The most recent pub quiz (Wednesday 3rd March) was again a success, with 40+ ‘quizzers’ zooming in. Andreea did an excellent job again, managing the whole exercise and the technical complexities, many thanks to her and her ‘team’. Particular thanks to Suzy at The Abingdon Arms for the prize of pizzas for the winning team. The next quiz will be on Wednesday 7th April at 8pm. Go to https://bacbs.org/events for further information and log in Zoom details.

gOOD nEIGHBOUR sCHEME and Covid Support

This service is still available to give lifts to those with no other transport, to attend vaccination appointments, collect items from surgeries, Stanton village shop etc., as well as to the Barton/Green Road roundabout where buses into Headington and central Oxford are frequent. We should also be able to collect take-aways from The Abingdon Arms. To request a lift, either ring 07514 791919 (answerphone if no answer) or email BACBSgoodneighbour@gmail.com. Given COVID issues, both driver and client need to be satisfied with both parties wearing masks and having open car windows. If you know of anyone who might need help, and perhaps does not know this service exists, please do let them know.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING POINT AT THE ABINGDON ARMS

The EV charger has been installed but not yet commissioned, hopefully available soon!

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE ABINGDON ARMS

The rent holiday for the tenants continues for the time being. When we have all recovered for the pandemic there are some projects in early discussion planned for the pub, that we will discuss with our members in due course – watch this space!