Thame’s Community Equipment Bank saved

AFTER the threat of closure and a long search for a saviour, Thame’s Community Equpment Bank has a new Supervisor, just in time for the busy hiring season.

Robert Nisbet

Robert Nisbet will be taking over the liaison between the hirer and the keyholders, joining the current team. This is a task that has to take place most weeks and in the summer when there may be multiple bookings each week.

The Thame Community Equipment Bank provides equipment for events at extremely reasonable prices to allow local events like fetes, festivals, fundraisers and celebrations raise the maximum funds for their respective charities and groups. Since 2006 the equipment bank has supported almost every event that you will have heard of in Thame and many more that will have taken place in the surrounding villages.

The 21st Century Thame Partnership set up the Equipment Bank with funding originally from SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) to purchasd the bulk of the equipment, and receives funding each year from SODC and Thame Town Council as well as ploughing any profit back into replacing and fixing the equipment. The equipment bank has helped many events take place over the last 12 years. Since 2014, Sue Martin-Downhill has run the equipment bank with help from David Laver and Peter Harris and the support of the rest of 21st Century Thame. Having taken on the chairwomanship of 21st Century Thame and continuing to run the Thame Carnival, the equipment bank had become too much work.

Sue said: “We are very pleased to welcome Robert Nisbet to the team. I am so pleased that someone has been able to take over as without this pivotal role the equipment bank would not have been able to continue.”

21st Century Thame is a group of volunteers from the community that works in partnership with Thame Town Council and SODC. It works to ensure the vitality of Thame and its surrounding villages.

“We are always looking for volunteers to help with the many projects that our community needs,” explained Sue. “Thame Tidy was a recent success and we’re looking forward to Thame Carnival in June and we’re currently updating the Shopping Guide cabinets in the car parks.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about 21st Century Thame and getting involved, and meeting like-minded people around Thame, is invited to email admin@thame4me.co.uk