The plans for the Contemplation Garden at St Gile’s Church are progressing well and we are open to visitors during Arts Week. The garden is being managed to encourage a diversity of wildlife and wildflowers and to be used as an area for quiet contemplation 

A recent survey identified 132 species of plants and shrubs in this small area and further surveys of insects, birds and animal life are planned. A cherry tree in the centre of the garden has been planted to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee. This tree will be dedicated on Friday 3rd June at 11am. 

A waymarked path leads through the areas of wildflowers and encourages reflection. Special contemplation leaflets have been produced to aid peoples’ reflections. These will be available in the Church and Reading Room. Please visit the garden, enjoy the birdsong and beautiful views across the Vale and rest awhile. 

Plants and flowers: Plants will be on sale at the church during the weekends of Arts Week and the church is open to view several floral displays and old historic church documents. 
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The following documents have been added to the website:

Agenda for Annual Parish Meeting - 16th May 2022
Agenda for Parish Council Annual Meeting - 16th May 2022
District Councillor's Annual Report - 2021/2022

Have you seen any frogs or newts in your garden or around the parish recently?
 
Greener Great Coxwell (GGC) is concerned about the apparent decline in the number of these fascinating creatures in our village over recent years. There are likely to be a number of reasons for this including loss of habitat, environmental pollution and predation by snakes.  GGC would be pleased to hear from people in the parish with their perception of whether numbers of these animals declined, or even increased, over recent years.
 
Have you seen any newts or frogs in your garden pond or anywhere else in the parish recently?
 
Do you plan to encourage these animals to your garden by establishing a wildlife pond?
 
Please let us know.  Email to: ians.mason@btinternet.com
 
Many thanks
 
Ian Mason (on behalf of Greener Great Coxwell)

1. Great Coxwell Community Energy Project Phase one Successful -  Please Complete our Confidential Household Energy Survey 
 
Our consultants, Locogen, have completed the Phase 1 Report -  the desktop assessment of benefits and risks of potentially technically feasible energy schemes. Locogen concluded "there is potential for a heat network in Great Coxwell - hot network solutions are potentially viable". Next steps for Phase 2 are to model test scenarios comparing those solutions under different heat demand profiles. 
To continue this work we now need more detailed information on the energy requirements of the village. We are therefore asking for as many people as possible to complete our brief survey which collects information on your energy use and some basic household data. Completing the questionnaire implies no commitment and the information will be strictly confidential to the energy team and the consultants.  Please use the following link to access our on-line survey - time is short so we would appreciate a quick response - apart from the information on energy use (from your energy bill) the questions are very simple and shouldn't take more than a few minutes. There is also space to add comments.  Please go to: 
 
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L9HZBGX
 
If you are not already signed up for our Community Energy Bulletin, you are still welcome to complete the survey and you might like to go to the website: greenergreatcoxwell.com to sign up  or e-mail energy@greenergreatcoxwell.com.
 
2. Greener Great Coxwell Featured in Oxfordshire Climate Action Stories Website
 
Our Community Energy Project has been included in the above 'Climate Action Stories' project run jointly by Friends of the Earth and Edinburgh University. We contributed to the Edinburgh research initiative and are featured on the Website under 'Energy Production' - see:   
 
https://www.oxfoe.co.uk/oxfordshire-climate-action-stories

Thank you 
Greener Great Coxwell 
 

web: www.greenergreatcoxwell.com
mail: info@greenergreatcoxwell.com
Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 
Registration number: 8761

The Parish Council has received a notice from the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils pledging their support for No Mow May, a national campaign to encourage people not to mow gardens and public areas during May. We intend to include Great Coxwell in this and will postpone the cutting of verges, footpaths and the Park until June with the following caveats:

• that the path to Faringdon remains passable;
• that vegetation doesn't limit visibility at corners or requires cars to drive into the middle of the road to avoid vegetation, safety will be the overriding priority;
• maintaining the grass in the central area of the Park so that it can still be used for recreation and does not form a trip hazard; and
• cutting the grass around the Reading Room for Art Weeks (14&15th May and 21st&22nd May) to allow the café to set up tables on the grass.

 
The campaign is intended to encourage people to let grass grow long to help boost biodiversity and provide a refuge for wildflower blossom, increasing the supply of nectar for bees. Not cutting lawns for a month will encourage more wildflowers to grow with May being the time at which grass grows fastest.
 
At the end of May, people are asked to take part in Every Flower Counts (https://www.plantlife.org.uk/everyflowercounts/), a survey to show how many bees the UK’s lawns can feed and for the councils to assess how the trial has impacted each area.
 
More information on how the VWHDC will carry out grass cutting can be found at http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/NoMowMay.
 
Verge cutting in Great Coxwell
Attached are maps showing the areas of verge that our contractor BGG will be cutting and those verges which will be maintained by property owners. This information is based on information held by the Parish Council last year and we are asking anyone who wishes to make any changes to this to please notify the Clerk, Jo Farrant at clerk@greatcoxwell.com. We would be grateful if this message could be passed on to anyone who does not receive the Newsletter.
 
Joanna Farrant
 
Clerk to Great Coxwell Parish Council
 
Tel: 079 89 75 1950

Dear all,
 
Please find the flyer for our next concert at Stonevale.  It is always wonderful to hear and support the young and upcoming pianists.  Tuna Dyonmez just turned 17 and has already proved to be extremely successful in the music world.   We are so pleased that the concerts are back up and so well-attended, so make sure you book your seats early.
 
Best wishes,
Lynette
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Tickets are now live and I have just ordered an awful lot of fizz so send me a message, give me a call and grab a ticket for a wonderful cause. All profits from ticket sales and the bar will go to Helen and Douglas House. Tickets are £18 each and early booking is advised. Dressing up is encouraged - the production has been set in post war 1940s so rollers at the ready ladies! Of course, anything goes and no matter the weather the show will go on.

Ainslie (Danes Cottage)

Faringdon Corn Exchange is delighted to host a talk by Richard Rickitt on Introducing the Amazing Honey Bee at 2.30pm.  The greatest contribution of bees and other pollinators is the pollination of nearly ¾ of the plants that produce 90% of the world’s food.  A third of the world’s food production depends on bees.  Richard Rickitt is the editor of Bee Craft and keeps his bees at Westonbirt Arboretum.  Passionate about this subject, his hobby grew into a job.  He will explain lots of intriguing facts about bees.

Refreshments are available after the talk.  All members are welcome but visitors are required to pay £1.50 for each visit.

It is expected that all attendees will be fully vaccinated  before coming to the talk and will be in good health.  For everyone’s safety please do not hesitate to stay at home if you are unwell.
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Greener Great Coxwell plans to encourage and assist with the planting of 70 trees (one for each year of Her Majesty’s reign) in the parish.
 
We have been contacted by the Deputy Lieutenant Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Neil Sutherland.  He told us that The Queen has asked that a very significant initiative is undertaken to mark her 70th (Platinum) Jubilee.  She has requested that the Queen's Green Canopy project be rolled out to mark this occasion.  (See: queensgreencanopy.org).  The emphasis is on planting healthy trees in the correct location so that they will thrive.  All projects are to be logged on the Queen's Green Canopy website. 
 
Ideally trees should have been planted between October 2021 and March 2022, but for various reasons I’ve only recently been able to start investigating potential sites and sources of trees and other assistance.

I've recently contacted the Great Western Area Forest organisers at Swindon Borough Council and they have agreed to consider providing trees and stakes for the village.  Once we have identified suitable locations they will visit the village and provide us with advice about location, recommended stage of growth of the trees and species to be used.  Over the next few weeks we will finalise the potential sites for the trees and with liaise with them about planting this autumn.  At that point we will enter the trees onto the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee tree initiative map as requested.

If you want to get involved and plant trees:

Please let me know your plans and the future location of the trees.  I can then collate a list of trees and sites and respond to the Great Western Forest team with our intentions.

If you’ve already recently planted trees in the parish:

I'm also aware that last autumn a number of trees were planted by various landowners and householders within the parish.  If that applies to you please follow the following instructions  and register the trees.  (I’ve just done it for three trees we planted here and it seems pretty straightforward.  Let me know if you have any difficulties and I’ll try to help.)

1. Take a photo of your tree, or if you have planted a clump, copse, avenue, orchard, hedgerow, etc , then a general view of as many as you can see.   If you would like to, include people, either yourself or others, in the foreground.
2. Go to the following QGC webpage https://queensgreencanopy.org/map-education-hub/qgc-map/#/
3. Select "Add your tree" and follow the instructions.  The photo of your tree or planting site will need to be uploaded, and some basic information completed.
   
4. Your entry will take a couple of days to appear on the digital map as the registration is checked by the QGC team and the location 'randomised' for data privacy reasons.  You should get a confirmatory email within a few days.  The photo and basic details (including your first name only or the name of your organisation) will then appear on the digital map.   

 
Ian Mason, Greener Great Coxwell (ians.mason@btinternet.com)
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Don’t forget to buy your tickets for the Jubilee Celebration on the 4th June.

Tickets are going fast.

Mandy - Church Lees - 240142
Pam - Rosemary Cottage - 240233
Pauline - Oak House - 243140