Monday morning, 6 February. The sun came out and 6 volunteers met up to scour the village for litter. The photo below shows the team and their spoils. 5 large fairly heavy bags of general waste plucked from the verges and hedgerows. It’s a shame that so much rubbish is dropped in the village but comforting that there are always volunteers to give their time to clear it up. Thanks to everyone. Watch out for the next date.
The Adrian Bell Afternoon was a great success with delightful seasonal readings by members of the Adrian Bell Society, hosted by chairman, John Ford. In between readings, the audience were invited to join in with Christmas carols led by local singers. Mulled wine and mince pies and other refreshments together with the Village Hall decorated for Christmas, created the perfect atmosphere for a very enjoyable afternoon.
This seasonal mood continued into our December Community Café which was the most successful ever! After cakes and savouries with a Christmas theme (the Christmas cake was devoured in record time!) hours were extended over lunchtime as an extra Winter treat, to include a selection of delicious and warming home-made soups and bread.
January saw us celebrating the Community Café’s first birthday in style. Pat Clare, Chair of Claxton Parish Council, said a few words of congratulations and thanks to everyone who had helped make the Café so successful over the past year. “Happy Birthday” was sung and the cafe organisers shared blowing out the candles on the delicious chocolate birthday cake which was then cut and offered to everyone there. First drinks were free of charge and there was also a free raffle to add to the fun. The usual cakes and savouries were on sale too at 50p per item and the book exchange, the newspapers and magazines and children’s corner were there for everyone’s enjoyment as always.
We do welcome ideas on what we can do to enhance the café and people are invited to use the Café to spread the word about local events, activities, etc – just speak to any of the organisers at any Café. Above all, make sure you remember to put the Community Café from 10am-12.00 on the second Tuesday of every month in your diary, with the next one being 14th February. People tell us how nice it is to have somewhere to go where they can chat with old friends and neighbours or have the chance to meet new ones. We are always delighted to see new faces, so if you haven’t been yet, why not call in next time?
Looking ahead the Village Hall Committee are already planning events for 2017. Dates for your diary are Saturday 8th April for another Race Night and Saturday June 17th for the next Quiz Night. More details will follow.
In commemoration and remembrance of the end of the First World War and the many millions who were killed or came home dreadfully wounded, a chain of 1,000 beacons will be lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories at 7pm on the 11th November 2018 – a century after the guns fell silent.
The Parish Council will be discussing the possible involvement in this event at its meeting on 18 January. The note below from the organisers gives full details.Beacons of Light pdf
The Big C Cheese and Wine Evening on 15 October celebrating 35 years of this unique local charity was a great success. The delicious cheeses had all been sourced from the area covered by the Big C (Norfolk & Waveney) and proved to be a talking point with everyone who attended.
The raffle and an auction at the end of the evening helped bring the total raised to £1,500. Thanks to all who contributed towards the evening and attended.
Fresh from the recent wildlife photography exhibition held at the Village Hall comes something slightly different from the Chet Valley Photography Club. Why not come along and have a look at the offerings from this very active organisation? Entry is free and refreshments will also be available.exhibitionposter2016-compressed
A neighbour in Loddon sent in the following extract from a post on Facebook yesterday. Curiously the same individual was also peddling spare pea gravel in Claxton yesterday morning. We reproduce it here to alert villagers to a possible scam.
“Just had a guy tried to drop some gravel off. For allegedly £5.00 because he needed to pick some machinery up from the next village. not the case at all. had to call police in the end. he put some sprinkles of gravel on drive, that was already 1|2 inch thick. No visible change. Wanted £5.00 per yard. Didn’t get it. Be warned that these people are about. I ended up calling 999 and he left with £50.00. if I had been at home when he arrived he would not have got anything. Thank goodness the police advised him to take the £50.00 & go. DO NOT ALLOW ANYBODY ON YOUR PROPERTY unless you have asked them to come. I have registration of the vehicle and a receipt for what the police officer said was fair. Do Not Allow anybody unless requested.”
On 22 July we published a letter to Parish 
Councils from the Public Affairs Manager at UK Power Networks, outlining a new, simpler scheme for taking action during a power cut. This scheme came into force today and below is this morning’s communication from UK Power Networks about the scheme.
Dear Stakeholder
Following on from our last email, you may have seen today’s launch of the new national power cut phone line – 105 – to help people contact the company that looks after their electricity network. This would be UK Power Networks for London, the East and South East of England.
The number, which is available to electricity customers in England, Scotland and Wales, will enable people to report or get information about power cuts as well as report damage to electricity power lines and substations that could put themselves, or someone else, in danger. 105 is funded and delivered by the electricity network operators, and is a first for the UK’s energy industry. As well as calling 105, people can find more information on the website: http://www.powercut105.com/
We would be incredibly grateful if you were able to promote the new number, perhaps on twitter or your website if you have one. Possible tweet may be something like:
“If you have a power cut, call 105 – a new, free service for people in England, Scotland and Wales. Find out more at www.powercut105.com“
You can find more information on the Energy Networks Association’s website: http://www.energynetworks.org/info/powercut105.html. Or if you would like posters or leaflets then please contact [email protected].
UK Power Networks still runs a Priority Services Register for your constituents who may be more vulnerable in a power cut e.g. older people, those dependent on medical equipment, parents of young children etc. To join, they can call 0800 169 9970, email [email protected] or apply online at www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.
If you have any questions or would like any further information, please let me know. Also, if you are able to support awareness raising of 105, please can you let us know when, where and how you can help by contacting/emailing us.
Kind regards,
Michelle Dorrell
External Communications Assistant
UK Power Networks
Below is a letter to Parish Councils from the Public Affairs Manager at UK Power Networks, outlining a new, simpler scheme for taking action during a power cut. This supersedes the previous (different) numbers to be used from land lines and mobiles. It comes into force on 6 September.
Dear Stakeholder
On 6th September a new national phone number “105” will be launched by electricity network operators for customers to call should they need to report or get information about a power cut in their area.
Key points to note about this service are:
· Dialling 105 will put customers through to their local electricity network operator – the company that manages the cables, power lines and substations that deliver electricity into homes and businesses in their area.
· 105 is just one of the ways that customers can contact their electricity network operator. They can also contact them by phone or via their website, and most network operators are on social media too.
· 105 is a free service for people in England, Scotland and Wales.
· Customers can call 105 no matter who they choose to buy electricity from.
· Customers can also call 105 if they spot damage to electricity power lines and substations that could put anyone in danger. If there’s a serious immediate risk, they should call the emergency services too.
A consumer awareness campaign will run from September through to next spring and will include PR, media advertising, social media and coordinated messaging through partner channels.
Hopefully you can help us to raise awareness of this important new national 105 service through your channels, once the service is launched. We can provide you with materials for use from 6th September:
· Copy for newsletters, websites and magazines
· 105 imagery
· Tips on what to do in a power cut
· Comment from our spokespeople
· Social media assets
· An animated film explaining 105
· We can also work with you to co-create bespoke content specifically for your channels.
We will also want to continue to work with partners to raise awareness of 105 in the longer-term.
Attached here is a slide deck with more details about this valuable new service. In addition, a Stakeholder Toolkit which includes creative collateral you might wish to use, along with the brand guidelines, has been produced. It can be downloaded from here and the password is “poWercuT105”.
Vulnerable customers who would like to sign up to our Priority Services Register can still call 0800 169 9970, email [email protected] or apply online at www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.
If you have any questions or would like any further information, do let me know. Also, if you are able to support awareness raising of 105, please can you let us know when, where and how you can help by contacting/emailing me or Toni Calder, our Marketing Manager ([email protected]). Thanks a lot for your help.
Peter Kocen
Public Affairs Manager
Tel: 020 7397 7710 Mob: 07812 262 504 Twitter: @UKPNnews
Below follows a letter the Clerk has received from Anglian Water which might just be good news for someone in Claxton
Dear Mr Balmer
There may be good news coming for some of your parishioners if they have a private pumping station on their property.
Currently, homeowners have to spend hundreds of pounds every year for electricity running costs, maintenance and repairs to look after these private pumping stations. They may even have been flooded if it’s broken down in the past.
From October 2016, many of these private pumping stations will transfer over to Anglian Water and become our responsibility. We will take over all of the maintenance and the running costs too, saving customers hassle, worry and money.
We’d like to ask for your support in letting local residents know about this, and asking them to get in touch with us if they think they have a private pumping station.
To help customers identify and report the pumping stations easily, we have launched a specialist website: www.spotapumpingstation.co.uk.
We have also produced some posters, which you can download here, that can be published in your parish magazines and newsletters, or placed on your parish noticeboards.
If you have any questions about this campaign, please reply to [email protected]. For any other queries, please contact our Public Affairs Team on [email protected].
Thank you in advance for your support.
Anglian Water Private Pumping Stations Campaign Team
