What a weekend!

UPDATE: More pictures from the weekend’s Christmas events  – FROM live reindeer, lanterns and lights, beautiful singing, steam trains, swinging rock, Santas galore and give-aways, three days of festive fun has well and truly launched Thame towards Christmas.

On Friday the Big Christmas Event got under way as the town centre began to gradually fill up with colourful stalls promoting everything from local groups and charities, hats and scarves, Toffee and fudge and mulled wine, to French crepes, wines, fois grois and Normany cakes. Families gathered around the stage in the closing darkness, in anticipation of the grand finale, the switching on of Thame’s Christmas lights by the special VIP guest, Kerry Katona.

And when the big moment came, after a talent-packed build up of stage entertainment, a huge cheer for the popular local mum and reality TV star, filled the crisp night air revealing for the first time, the new, replacement white and gold themed Christmas lights.

The following day was Small Business Saturday, a celebration and promotion of small, independent shops and businesses, organised by Thame4Business with the support of the town council and South Oxfordshire District Council. Throughout the day shoppers were welcomed in shops by free mulled wines, mince pies, Bucks Fizz, some great special offers and the chance to support local charities and win raffle prizes, as the town centre throbbed to the sounds of the Thame Pop Choir, Thame Concert Band, Sing Community Choir, a sing-along to the music from the film ‘Frozen’, and live bands in The Shambles, Buttermarket, outside the Guitar Shop. A French Market stall courtesy of Thame’s twin town, Montesson, a Hog roast next to Wren’s butchers and Thame Round Table’s Father Christmas & his sleigh in the Upper High Street added to the holiday feel.

A fully equiped fire engine from the local fire station and Christmas music in Swan Walk all added to the fun and festivities on what the local shops hoped would be a bumper trading day for them, with only three more weekends left for Christmas shopping, a vital time for the small, independent shops that are the life-blood of the town centre’s economy and Thame’s character and vitality.

The fun continued into Sunday, when more than 150 Santa-clad runners of all ages and abilities, some pushing babies and toddlers in pushchairs, others accompanied by dogs, set off in the drizzle from Thame Town Hall, to run, jog or walk a 3K Santa Dash in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice, organised in conjunction with Thame Lions Club.

After a high-energy warm-up courtesy of fitness experts from Thame Leisure Centre, dressed as reindeer, local DJ Paul Biz was on hand to pump up the crowd with a selection of classic Christmas tunes, (both before and after the event) to get everyone in the mood.

The Mayor of Thame, Cllr Jeannette Matelot, also lent a helping hand giving out medals to fun-runners at the finish line, along with a team of volunteers and marshals from Thame Lions Club. Every child received a special gift from Santa’s very own sack on the day!

Image by Paul Roberts

“We’re thrilled to see over 150 festive fun runners taking part in our very first festive fun run in Thame,” commented FNHC’s Karen Shardlow. “We’ve had some fantastic support from the local community, including Thame Lions Club, Thame Town Council and the Mayor of Thame – we simply couldn’t have done it without you all, so a huge thank you to everyone involved in supporting this event, including all our wonderful runners, on behalf of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.”

She added: “Pledges are now being counted, and we hope to raise over £2,000 from this event in aid of the Hospice.”

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity needs to raise over £600,000 each year to ensure the continued funding of local palliative care services for families affected by life-limiting illness, including a 12-bedded in-patient unit and Day Hospice, based at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and home-based services such as the Florrie’s Children’s Team and Nightingale 24/7 Care.

Florence Nightingale Hospice recently celebrated its Silver Jubilee year. 25 years on, it is still providing vital Hospice care to patients and their families across Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Oxfordshire, including Thame, Haddenham, Chinnor and surrounding villages.

This weekend Thame community came together as it usually does at this time of year, and as it will no doubt continue to do, with school nativity plays, choral concerts, carols around the Christmas tree, special church services, turkey ordering, present-making and Christmas shopping – before the big day arrives – in just over two weeks time!