Oswaldkirk Parish Meeting
Chair: David Nelson ☎ 788 735. Email: pm@oswaldkirk.net
Secretary: Vacant
Treasurer: Mike Aherne ☎ 787 022. Email: pm@oswaldkirk.net
Under the Local Government Act 1972 Oswaldkirk has a Parish Meeting (not council) by choice as our population is small. The Parish Meeting is a very basic form of democracy with limited influence or money but it provides a forum in which all residents can be involved and has achieved much more than might be expected over the years.
Parish Meetings, to which all are invited, are often prompted by planning applications, but may be called on a more or less regular basis in order to fix an annual budget, discuss serious parish issues, or to present information which affects residents. The officers are elected annually and simply act on decisions made by residents at the Meeting. No one has the power to make individual decisions and there are no ‘closed doors’.
Agendas and minutes of meetings are posted on the village noticeboard and website.
Find out more about the Parish Meeting
Village Grapevine
Grapevine is a village email messaging service co-ordinated by Del Jenkins. If you would like to be added to the distribution list and kept updated by email on issues relevant to local residents, or have news, information, offers or requests that you would like disseminated in the village community then contact her with your details (☎ 787 148 or dela.jenkins@yahoo.com).
Village Noticeboard
The main village noticeboard was renovated in 2020 and is attached to the wall of Manor Farm, Main Street, near to the post box. The right- and left-hand sections are for official Government and Parish Meeting notices and minutes of meetings.
The central section is for public use. It’s a good idea to check the noticeboard regularly as there is always some new information posted there, some of which you may find useful.
There are also Village Hall noticeboards inside and outside the hall, which give details of social events within the village and in the surrounding area.
Village Hall
Oswaldkirk Village Hall Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Chair: Mike Aherne ☎ 787 022 Email: mike.aherne@aol.com
Acting Secretary: Lisa Halmshaw ☎ 788 913 Email: lhalmshaw@hotmail.com
Treasurer: Veronica Dunne ☎ 787 111. Email: veronicafish@hotmail.com
Bookings Secretary: Lisa Halmshaw ☎ 788 913.
The Village Hall is set back from Main Street towards the East end of the village and is a community hub at the heart of village life. The Village Hall Trustees take care of the fabric and finances of this valuable and well-used community resource. This modern facility was built in 1988 (despite the relocated historic stone from the previous village hall: “AD 1911”) and has recently been extended and renovated. It is light, airy and warmly heated. It can accommodate up to 100 people comfortably and has a well-equipped kitchen, toilets (including one that’s wheelchair-accessible) and internal store. It has a Premises Licence, which with the permission of the Trustees covers the sale of alcohol. Equipment available for musical events includes a piano and amplifier with speakers. There is also a projector (with
computer/AV input sockets) and a temporary stage can be erected.
The hall is available for hire at £10 per hour, a charge which is reviewed on an annual basis. For a modest fee, you can also hire chairs, tables, glasses, crockery and cutlery. Lisa looks after the bookings – please make provisional bookings through the online form on the Events page of the Village Website or enquire by phone ☎ 788 913.
Saturday Coffee Mornings, cinema nights, the Pop-Up Pub and numerous social, physical and cultural groups and classes use the hall. Activities vary over time but include, or have included, keep fit, Pilates, yoga, line and Scottish dancing, indoor bowls, art, craft and bee-keeping classes, and multiple children’s activities. Residents may wish to join in any number of these. See the village website and the village and Village Hall noticeboards for details.
Lending Library: There is a modest lending library located in the hall. Donated books, videos and DVDs are on display and may be borrowed for a small contribution. Please supplement with any good quality items that you think may be of interest.
Find out more about the village hall.
Village Community Space
It moved from the original York Road site in 2025 and is established with modern play equipment, a community garden and much improved open space, south facing for all to use and enjoy. Enquiries to the Village Hall contacts above.
Street Furniture/Equipment
Defibrillator
A community public access defibrillator (CPAD)/automated external defibrillator (AED) is located at the gateway to the Village Hall. See below in ‘Medical Emergencies’ for details.
Postbox
The Oswaldkirk postbox is on Main Street, mounted in the wall between The Malt Shovel and Manor Farm.
Collection times:
| Oswaldkirk collection times | |
|---|---|
| Mon – Fri | 0900 |
| Sat | 0700 |
| Sun & BH | No collection |
Later collections are made from the postbox in front of Ampleforth Village Stores:
| Ampleforth post box collection times | |
|---|---|
| Mon – Fri | 1715 |
| Sat | 1100 |
| Sun & BH | No collection |
Phone Box
The K6 telephone box in the centre of the village was erected in 1936. Designed by Sir
Giles Gilbert Scott it was one of the first outside of London. It no longer has a functioning
telephone but was restored to an impressive standard by villagers in 2013.
Wooden Bench
The wooden bench at the top of Manor View, adjacent to Chestnut Bank, marks the
renovation of this area, with construction of a new path, by local volunteers in 2003.
Litter Bins
Litter bins are located on Main Street and in the village playground.
Medical Emergencies
In case of medical emergency it is essential to first activate the Ambulance Service Emergency Response by phoning 999 (or 112). Mobile reception can be patchy in the village but fortunately emergency calls are routed through any available mobile network as needed, not just your normal provider.
The emergency call handler will ask for your location and in a dispersed village such as ours it can be helpful to also know and share your British National Grid Reference (paper maps, the
Ordnance Survey ‘Locate’ app, and on-line tools can supply this) or to use the ‘what3words’
system (what3words.com) to guide the ambulance to the exact spot. Perhaps it’s a good idea
to write these location details on a piece of paper next to your phone.
Within the village urgent intervention may then be expedited by access to Community First
Responders and a community public access defibrillator (both are secondarily via the 999
system).
Community First Responders
The Community First Responder (CFR) scheme is a life-saving partnership between Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) and local communities. As authorised volunteers for YAS, Community First Responders form teams as part of a wider initiative to help reduce the number of pre-hospital deaths in Yorkshire. Historically Oswaldkirk has always had several volunteers who are trained to provide life-saving treatment to neighbours in the vital first minutes of an emergency until an ambulance arrives.
Full training and equipment is provided and volunteers are only placed on the rota at times that they nominate. They can do as much or as little as they are able. They are alerted via the usual 999 response system and do not offer a first-aid or other service. New members are always welcome.
For details visit the YAS website.
Defibrillator (CPAD/AED)
Sudden cardiac arrest is rare but can be treated by early access to the emergency services, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. To this end a potentially life-saving device: a community public access defibrillator (CPAD), also known as an automated external defibrillator (AED), was purchased and installed at the entrance to the Village Hall car park in 2021. The cabinet is locked but the code is given to anyone who needs it via the 999 system. No specific training is required for its use – the machine talks you through the steps – but if you would like more information about the defibrillator or CPR in general see the Yorkshire Ambulance Service website’s Restart A Heart page. The village hall is the official guardian of the defibrillator.
Neighbourhood Watch
Neighbourhood Watch is a grassroots charitable movement. It is the largest crime prevention voluntary movement in England and Wales and has upwards of 2.3 million members. Schemes are run by volunteers across England and Wales supported by volunteer Associations, and by Neighbourhood Watch Network, the national umbrella organisation for the movement.
For more details see the website: https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/
Oswaldkirk is covered by a number of volunteers, each representing a small number of homes. Our local chairman is Mark Clook – contact him for information or to get involved: ☎
788 247. Email: mark.clook@btinternet.com.
Sean Simpson is our Police Community Support Officer (PCSO). Contact via ☎ 101 or email:
Sean.Simpson@northyorkshire.police.uk
Reporting Anti-Social Behaviour in the Village – Civil Enforcement Criminal activity should be reported to North Yorkshire Police via ☎ 999 (emergencies) or ☎ 101 (minor and non-emergencies). However, a new role of Civil Enforcement Officer was created by the Council in 2020 to cover aspects of civil enforcement, including noise nuisance, vandalism and graffiti, harassment and neighbour disputes, litter and fly-tipping, abandoned vehicles, and dog fouling. The officers can give advice and issue fixed penalty notices where appropriate.
North Yorkshire Council contact details are: ☎ 0300 131 2131 (office hours) or use the
online form on the “Contact us” page of their website https://www.northyorks.gov.uk
Litter Picking
We pride ourselves in keeping the village and wider parish environment as litter-free as possible. Rubbish bins are provided on Main Street and in the Village Playground. Additionally an annual Great Oz Litter Pick occurs each spring; details are announced via Grapevine and local notice boards. Get involved, all equipment is provided and our yearly haul is very impressive (or depressing)!
Snow Clearance
The Oswaldkirk Snow Plan was initiated in 2013 whereby an invaluable service is provided each winter by a voluntary group of able-bodied villagers whereby snow and ice is cleared from pavements to enable residents to walk as safely as possible from their homes to other parts of the village. The Parish agreed to pay for the pavement grit salt from the Ryedale Council Precept but shovels and effort are provided by the volunteers who each adopt a pavement pitch. The Council has confirmed that individual insurance cover is not required.
Most of the volunteers are retired folk along with a few who have flexible work arrangements. New volunteers are always needed; for further details and information on how to contribute contact David Badham, Oswaldkirk Snow Plan Coordinator (☎ 787 046 or davidbadham@hotmail.com).
Oz Oil
Oswaldkirk and District Oil Syndicate (Oz Oil) was set up by volunteer residents in 2009 for the benefit of the villagers of Oswaldkirk and surrounding localities. Our aim is to buy heating oil in bulk so as to get a better price for our members. It is extremely popular and there may be a waiting list to join. More details are on the Oz Oil pages, and if you are interested in enrolling please complete the online application form therein.