OUT OF THE BLUE
It is with some regret that I must write this, my last article for the Hooky Newsletter. I am now the Acting Sergeant in charge of Chipping Norton Police Area and it seemed an appropriate time to remove myself from the Hook Norton Beat and pass it on to another officer, PC Phil MORRIS, who works on the Banbury Rural Team at Deddington.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that I have had many happy years looking after Hook Norton and it will always remain one of my favourite villages. I have had the pleasure of being your Beat Officer for the past ten years, and I hope that for most of that time I and my colleagues at Chipping Norton have given satisfaction.
I hope to remain a frequent visitor to Hook Norton perhaps on a more social level, and look forward to seeing you then. Once again thank you!
Rosemary Dilsaver APS 818
THAMES VALLEY CRIMESTOPPERS
Crimestoppers is a vital weapon in helping to fight crime. People call the anonymous
0800 555 111
number if they have information about crime and don't want to speak to the police. They may not want to appear in court; have information about a relative or work collegue; they may be afraid. They are not asked for their name, but the information they give is a very valuable source of intelligence and does help to solve crime. All types of crime are covered, including drugs, assault, theft, fraud, arson and those that are increasingly of concern to local communities such as anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.
One of the successful campaigns is 'Get rid of the Graffiti' (GROG) and we have developed this for use by Neighbourhood Action Groups and other local community bodies.
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
This is the name of the new film by Al Gore on the evidence of climate chaos. It's now on general release and having been fortunate enough to see a preview earlier in the month I would urge those in two minds about whether climate change really is happening to see the film. Why is that? Well it's actually a film that has been put together in an entertaining fashion as you would expect from a man that was just a handful of Florida votes away from being the President of the USA ahead of GW Bush. Secondly, this is a particularly powerful message given that it is coming from the heart of the nation that has been labelled as the most sceptical about climate chaos. And finally, it is likely to inspire you to make some changes to your life as you walk out of the cinema – now how many films can you say do that ?
What the film doesn't do is to go through the things that you can do if you have already come to the conclusion that while “inconvenient” you already believe that climate change is happening. If that's the case you might find it useful to calculate your own carbon footprint (the amounts of carbon dioxide you are emitting from the things you routinely do at the moment). Two websites that help you find your carbon footprint easily are www.thec-changetrust.org and www.bp.com.
You might find it a revelation, as I did when I took over running a charity focussed on combating climate change, The National Energy Foundation, in July 2005. Having worked in the environment field for fifteen years I thought that I might be near the national average of 5.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Not so! I was double the UK average in 2005!
So what have I done in 2006 as a first step to reducing my carbon footprint?
We had two great family holidays on the coast of Wales and travelled by train to go skiing (as opposed to taking carbon-hungry flights).
We changed our old boiler for a new condensing boiler and installed two solar panels that now give us half of the hot water we use for free.
We replaced single glazed with double glazed windows, and will improve our loft insulation to a depth of 270mm before winter sets in.
I have managed to convince my family to change at least some of our bulbs to energy efficient ones – some take a while to “warm up”! An excellent choice and really friendly advice from Giles via www.efficientlight.co.uk
Was 2006 any more expensive or less fulfilling as a result of these changes? No definitely not ! The real challenge now is how to reduce the miles I travel and to get a car with lower emissions. So I certainly would not set myself up as a model for the future by any means, but it's a journey!
If any of that sounds of interest to you, then feel free to visit the charity web site www.nef.org.uk and once you have done that if you want to talk any of it through then you can always give me a ring.
Tim Lunel.
An Inconvenient Truth is being shown in Oxford at the Phoenix and the Odeon from the 22nd September.
