Curridge Residents are invited to attend a village Jubilee event at the WI Hall on the afternoon of Saturday 4th June, between 1-7pm.

The event will be loosely based on the nationwide 'Big Jubilee Lunch' initiative where communities are encouraged to come together for a street party style event. This will be an un-ticketed, 'bring your own' picnic event (food and drink) with free entry.

Everyone is encouraged to arrive and get setup for 'Lunch' to start at 2pm. Bring your own chair and/or picnic blanket - there will be a number of tables setup in the WI grounds, but these are likely to be in high demand so arrive early if you want one! 

Curridge WI will be selling selected refreshments, and we are expecting an Ice Cream van to attend, both later in the afternoon.

There will be a couple of organised games held on Curridge Playground after lunch - individual Welly Throwing, followed by team Tug of War to close out the event. Both games will be open to enter on the day, but start getting your Tug of War teams organised beforehand!

There is an opportunity for anyone to perform on an 'open mic' stage throughout the afternoon, should they wish to sing or play an instrument for a short segment.

More details of the event will follow on the village website and social media over the coming weeks; however if you would like to get involved to help organisation or to put yourself forward to perform please get in touch with CRA using the contact us page here.

If you are a Curridge based business and would like to display anything at the event please also get in touch.

Curridge Residents are invited to help Curridge Playground Trustees with path building and general light maintenance tasks at Curridge Playground on either Saturday 7th or Sunday 8th May, between the hours of 10am to 3pm.

Dependant on numbers in attendance, we will also direct groups to undertake general litter picking routes around the village.

Equipment and refreshments will be supplied.

This week saw the distribution of leaflets to every house in the village containing information about the new Curridge volunteer network that has been growing over the last two weeks. The network has been created specifically to help this residents that need help whilst self isolating during the Covid-19 coronavirus  crisis.

We now have around 40 households, nearly 10% of the village, signed up to help others in need with a variety of tasks that might be required during short term (showing symptoms) or long term isolation (vulnerable groups). 

Also distributed with the information leaflets were Self Isolation signs that residents may attach to their front doors to signify to neighbours and visitors that they are isolating.

Urgent Groceries
The most likely request for help is home delivery of grocery items. We cannot replace a full home delivery grocery service but the volunteer network aims to be able to provide a quick response when specific urgent items are requested. The volunteers are in regular communication via instant messaging and through this we can let each other know when going on planned shopping trips to local supermarkets and other outlets.

If residents in self isolation have a request please use one of the following methods to contact us:

Email: help20@curridgevillage.co.uk
Phone: 07842 840644

We have compiled a list of local for suppliers that might be helpful to residents for both groceries and takeaway meals. The list will be updated regularly and can be found here.

Already we have been able to distribute food boxes to around 10 local households thanks to the kind generosity of The Bunk Inn.

Medical Prescriptions
We have also established a medical prescription collection service for Curridge residents from the Downland Practice. Our collection day will be THURSDAY every week, starting on 2nd April. If you have a prescription due then please contact the practice on 01635 248251 to give your consent for it to be collected and delivered by our volunteers. If you normally have to pay for prescriptions then payment will have to be completed by phone by the Wednesday before collection day. Our volunteers will deliver the prescriptions to your home address during daytime (8.30-4.30) and will need to see you to accept delivery.

Please do not contact the volunteer network directly regarding prescription collections unless you have a more urgent need than the next scheduled weekly collection run. In that case please make arrangements directly with the surgery for the prescription and then contact the volunteer network to request a dedicated collection on the day/time that the prescription is expected to be ready.

Other Services
We hope to adapt the volunteer network to be able to respond to any other reasonable requests that residents make during self isolation, whilst respecting the health and security of the volunteers and working within the evolving government guidelines.

Already we have a couple of volunteers that have indicated willing to help with dog walking in the village so please get in touch if this may be helpful.

Even if you don't have a specific help request yet, if you enter self isolation in the village then please feel free to register with the volunteer network using the following form forms.gle/ZPVPHy72HHYs22La9. That way we can get a volunteer to proactively check in with you via phone, email or messaging to ask if if there is anything required when we know that someone is already visiting the shops.

Last week saw the official launch of the first publicly accessible Automated Emergency Defibrillator (AED) in the village of Curridge, West Berks.
 
Following a two year project by Curridge Residents’ Association, the device was funded by proceeds of the village’s annual summer social event, and made possible by the generous donations of residents and local company sponsors.
 
The project was supported by Chieveley Parish Council, who will take on long term responsibility for the device, and the Upham Pub Company who agreed to site the unit at The Bunk Inn, RG18 9DS.
 
The defibrillator is registered with the South Central Ambulance Service, meaning that in an emergency anyone can call 999 to request the access code to the cabinet where the AED is stored, using the location code AHA122. For more information about accessing public AEDs and instructional videos for their use please see: 
https://www.scas.nhs.uk/news/campaigns/savealife/
 
Thatcham Heartstart will be giving a talk on Life Saving and Defibrillators at the next Curridge Residents’ Association meeting on Tuesday 17th March, 8pm at the WI Hall. The event is free to attend, and everyone is welcome.
 
Curridge Residents’ Association is grateful for support in this project from Rob Crispin, Mike Belcher and Tracy Snook (Chieveley Parish Council), Cleone Hilborne (Upham Pub Company), Chris Young & Miglė Račiukaitytė (Management Team at The Bunk Inn), and Nick Young at Thatcham Heartstart.
 
Top: Chris Cholmeley (Chairman, Curridge Residents’ Association) completes the formal handover of the village’s first AED to Mike Belcher (Chairman, Chieveley Parish Council)

Below L-R: Chris Young (The Bunk Inn), Chris Cholmeley (Curridge Residents’ Association) & Mike Belcher (Chieveley Parish Council).

Please see the attached for upcoming dates of road closures in the area

Application Forms, Notice and Small Grants Award Criteria and Conditions available for community bodies and groups in the Parish. Chieveley Parish Council is committed to supporting and strengthening the many community groups and organisations that help to make a positive difference to the residents in the Parish. 
Deadline for applications:  31 October 2019
 
Apply with the attached forms or at the link below:- 
www.mychieveley.co.uk/chieveleyparishcouncil

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