One of the most serious outcomes of the current pandemic problem is that thousands of people in the UK are losing their jobs. If you are one of these people, and are made redundant or offered voluntary redundancy, it is important that you thoroughly understand your rights and options.

The first thing to do if you are at risk of redundancy is to look at your contract of employment, which will spell out your basic rights. Make sure that your company abides by these conditions. Also, consider other sources of help such as your union if you belong to one. Bear in mind that if you have been in the job for less than two years you do not have as much job protection, but if for more than two years, your employer has to follow certain procedures, e.g. find you another job in the company if possible.

You can’t be made redundant in an unfair way or for discriminatory reasons. The reason must be a genuine one, i.e. the job you do or the skills you have are no longer needed, or the employer can’t afford you, or the business is failing. With technology advancing, sometimes fewer people are needed to do a given job.
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You might be entitled to receive redundancy pay, which increases with length of service and has two elements – statutory and contractual. Statutory pay (not paid to those who have less than two years’ service) is the minimum that the law says you are entitled to, and is based on your age, weekly pay and the number of years you have worked in the job. Contractual redundancy pay is the additional amount to which your contract may entitle you. If you have been furloughed, the law says that your redundancy pay must be worked out according to your usual wages, not the 80% furlough figure. Bear in mind that if your employer offers you a suitable alternative job and you refuse to take it without good reasons, they can refuse to give you redundancy pay. You can check that your redundancy pay is fair by using the calculator at https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay.

You are also entitled to a paid notice period or pay in lieu of notice, and the employer should give you paid time off for attending job interviews.

All the implications of redundancy are helpfully described on the Citizens Advice website at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/leaving-a-job  The website also gives advice about claiming benefits or dealing with your debts if you need this. You can talk to an adviser on our Adviceline, 0300 330 9042. Visit www.caox.org.uk to find your local Citizens Advice office.
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Download here if you need it.

While doing some research on Ancestry I came upon the Electoral Register for Great Coxwell for 1959.  By digging further I reached the 1935 Electoral Register.  I have found them very interesting and a number of people in the village have expressed interest (or already had copies from me), so I thought I would make them available to you all.  There are a number of names that will be very familiar.  I also have a register from 1939 which is more like the usual census, giving all people in a household, their dates of birth and their occupations.  However, the images are very dark so I will have to clean them up as much as possible to make them more legible.  If I succeed I will put them on here shortly.  I shall also see what others are available.

Dear Editor of the Coxwell Newsletter.
 
Thank you for publishing the story of Marian Czerwinski.  It is important to have it recorded.  I wonder whether the Oxford Polish Association would like a copy (I have sent a copy - Ed).  

​I well remember Marian’s smoke-emitting Robin Reliant.  One of its incarnations burst into flames on the corner of Puddleduck Lane, leaving black scorch marks on the wall of what was then Helen Anderson’s house.  
 
Ann-Marie and I look forward to receiving our copy of the Newsletter and enjoy reading about life in Gt Coxwell, where we had five very happy years.
 
Best wishes
Ian Beckwith (Vicar of Gt Coxwell 1997-2002).
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The below might be of interest, there's something for everyone.  Lots of stuff for kids too. Might help to dispel any October gloom a bit!

Regards Jacqueline

Oxford Science and Ideas Festival
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The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will take place (belatedly this year) on Thursday, 8th October at 6.30pm by Zoom.  If you would like to attend this will you please email Michael Harris at michaeloatesharris@yahoo.co.uk so that he can send you a Zoom invitation nearer the time.
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A little bird told me that Daphne and Mark celebrated 50 years married last week on September 12th, described as long term stalwarts they have been in Great Coxwell since 1974.

Seen below on the big day, and later running the vegetable stand at the village fete - which was their "patch".

Congratulations!
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We have lost of grandad and father Marion Czerwinski of Wrekin cottage. He was 94 been in Great Coxwell for 66 years will be very sadly missed by his daughters his son in laws. Grandchildren and great grandchildren. His burial is 14th September 10.30am. 

Marian Czerwinski

One of our oldest residents, Marian Czerwinski, died suddenly at home on Friday 28th August at the age of 94.

Marian Czerwinski was born on 21st January 1926 in a remote village near Alexandrov, Eastern Poland.  The son of a farmer, his childhood there was changed forever on 1st September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, followed fifteen days later by the Russian invasion of Eastern Poland.  In early 1942, after two and a half years of occupation, Marian was plucked from his family, bundled onto a train heading West and interned into a forced labour camp by the Nazis.  He was 16 years old and was never to see his parents again.  

Marian spent the rest of the war working in forced labour camps across Germany.  Polish labour was employed in SS owned enterprises such as the German Armament Works (Deutsche Ausristungs Werke (DAW)) and also in privately owned factories such as Junkers, Messerschmitt and Siemens.  Under the ‘Polish decrees’, Poles were required to wear identifying purple ‘P’s on their clothing.  They were subject to curfews, banned from using public transport and housed in segregated barracks behind barbed wire. 

Marian’s routine was punishing.  It involved hard labour 12 hours a day for 6 days a week making war munitions for the Axis effort.  His diet would have been very poor and he would have faced brutal punishment for disobedience or poor performance.  For a time, Marian was working in a factory in Karlsruhe, near Stuttgart, and he recalled that the Polish shifts were at night during Allied air raids, whilst other workers covered the safer daytime shifts. He learnt very quickly that to survive in such circumstances, he had to work hard, never complain and keep out of trouble.

It is hard to appreciate the devastating impact of the German occupation on the Polish community.  It is estimated that over 6 million of the 26 million population were killed either by the Nazis or by the Russian forces that followed, between 1939 and 1945, 21.4% of the population.

In 1945, having worked in different labour camps across Germany, Marian found himself in Southern Germany close to the Swiss border.  As the Third Reich collapsed under Allied advances, the Free Polish Army rescued Poles that had been displaced and led them to safety over the Swiss border, and thence into Italy.  Marian thus found himself recruited into a Division of the Free Polish Army based in Northern Italy.  From there, he was offered the chance to start a new life in the UK.  And so it was that in 1946, he arrived in a refugee camp in Nettlebed, near Henley-on-Thames.

In the late 1940s, Marian received a letter from the Soviet dominated Polish Government of National Unity, inviting him to relinquish all rights to his family’s farm and properties in Poland.  It was an offer he was unable to refuse.
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Marian’s first employment in the UK was in Reading, rebuilding the war damaged town.  His diminutive stature (he was 5 foot 2 inches tall) was put to good use, as he was selected by the Water Board to climb down drainage pipes and weld broken joints.  Further work at the Huntley and Palmers biscuit factory followed before he was relocated to the Marine Barracks in Faringdon in 1953.

Marian’s career in agriculture began with a farm labourer’s job for the Williams family.  Their farm included the Great Coxwell Tythe Barn, which was used to store the harvest.  Indeed, Marian can be seen unloading a haycart in a 1956 film on the British Countryside, narrated by John Betjeman.  When the Williams family retired from farming, Marian moved to Colleymore farm to work for George Twine, and later on for Adam.  He retired in 1992 after 39 years in the fields.

Marian married Beatrice in 1954 and they had two daughters, Gillian and Angela.  One of the longest serving residents of Great Coxwell, the Czerwinskis first lived at Amberley and then later, Hillside, before downsizing to Wrekin Cottage in 1981. 

Marian was a character and was liked by everyone who knew him. Whilst his mastery of the English language was only enough to make him understood, it was usually embellished with a rich use of the vernacular!  He was a loyal, hard-working and utterly reliable member of the Colleymore Farm team. An avid pigeon-fancier, Marian also enjoyed his garden and his home-grown vegetables.  Some may remember that he kept a mynah bird during his early years in Great Coxwell, and taught it how to wolf whistle at passing ladies of the village, much to his amusement…He also operated as chimney sweep for some of the villagers and was the resident pheasant plucker for those who enjoyed the shoot but not the plucking and drawing!  Marian's transport was a three-wheeler Robin Reliant, normally accompanied by clouds of smoke.
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Sadly, Marian lost his beloved Beatrice 7 months ago. Whilst none of us will ever fully understand the hardship he suffered in his early life, we can take comfort that he found peace in the village which became his home.  He will be remembered fondly by many in Great Coxwell.  Our thoughts are with Angela, Gillian and their families at this sad and difficult time.  Marian is being buried at a private family funeral on Monday 14th September at 1030 in St Giles Church graveyard where Beatrice is waiting for him.

(Robbie Burns, with assistance from Richard Smith and from his family, 11th September 2020)