Spring Safety Community Day
SPRING SAFETY COMMUNITY DAY
March 18th, Cambourne
This day (actually a long morning) was organised by Inspector James Sutherland and was most worthwhile and interesting. If it is repeated we should encourage as many people as possible to go (and not just parish councillors).
There were four workshops and everyone got the opportunity to go to all four.
In the order in which I attended them:
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH John Fuller, Coordinator, `neighbourhood Watch
Virtually everyone else in this group were Neighbourhood Watch coordinators and the discussion centred around what worked and what didn’t. The messages I took away was that you got out of it as much as you put in. and with the decline in crime it has become more about developing community cohesion and building communities. The value of communication was emphasised in helping to protect the vulnerable. (This was a common theme throughout the day.)
I took a handful of leaflets about Neighbourhood Watch for the Annual Parish Meeting, assuming, that as I had never heard Neighbourhood Watch mentioned in Duxford, that it did not exist. However at the Parish meeting several people mentioned that there had been schemes in various parts of the village but didn’t know what had happened to them. This was reinforced by Beryl and Valerie at the surgery meeting. – Valerie is/was a coordinator but had not heard anything for a long time – she does not have a computer so this may be the reason.
QUERY Is this something the Parish Council should encourage? The Parish Council does not necessarily have to be involved in any scheme but can help..
They are keen to send information/people along to the Village Show etc to spread the word
PROTECTING VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES Mark Taylor, Fire Service
The Fire Service doesn’t just put out fires: they are proactive in helping the vulnerable to live more safely.
They will undertake “Safe and Well” visits on referral by other agencies including the NHS (I actually had one after breaking my ankle and being unable to walk for several months). These visits are, of course, only made with the consent of the householder. They give advice on:
Fire Safety (including fitting free alarms where appropriate)
Falls Prevention
Alcohol Use
Stay Well and Warm
Crime Reduction
Mark stressed that the Fire Service is now often doing things that were previously associated with the Ambulance Service.
There has been established a multi-agency safeguarding hub, including the Fire Service, Social Care and the Police to enable early identification and intervention.
He emphasised the importance of access to defribillators He said they today, they were almost foolproof to use and could save lives while waiting for ambulances.
COMMUNITY SPEED WATCH Paul Jenkins, Traffic Police
He emphasised that Speed Watch was about education rather than punishment. He also emphasised that if a community believes they have a problem they have to meet the Police halfway and be prepared to do something themselves.
Some findings from Speedwatch groups over time;
people frequently overestimate the speed of passing vehicles (he illustrated it with an recent example from Pampisford,
offenders are nearly always locals – rarely people from outside.
For a community Speed Watch group a minimum of 5 people is required (three have to be there at any one time). Time and commitment is needed. Volunteers can go out when and where they want to. Kit is provided (including an enormous sign) but will have to be shared around with other groups. Training is provided. Information feeds back directly to the Police and they can take further action if it is warranted.
The message is COMMUNITY SPEED WATCH WORKS. If you want to reduce speeding get a Speed watch team.
To get more info;
SCAMS AND ROGUE TRADERS Charlotte Homent, Community Protection Scheme
This workshop looked at;
awareness of scam and fraudulent activities
where to report
support for local community schemes.
The main messages from this session were;
if it looks too good to be true it most likely will be,
don’t be embarrassed to report a scam – even the most vigilant and aware can be caught,
watch out for older family members or neighbours who may be vulnerable.
Older people are often reluctant to report a scam because they are embarrassed or fear losing their independence.
What can be done?
Letters etc can be put in plain envelopes and posted to Freepost, Scam Mail.
The postman has to deliver addressed mail but can report it if they feel there is a problem. Mail can be diverted but only with the assent of the resident.
Community led protection schemes, such as the Good Neighbours scheme are very useful where they exist.
Again the important thing is good communication. Passing on information, keeping an eye on neighbours, especially in regard to rogue traders, is the best protection.
We were given a bag of information which is available from South Cambs from the Community Protection Team and scams etc can be reported to them.
Policemen really are getting younger. Police cadets were at the conference in force; it was frightening!
Judith Tarrant