Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Besides what would ‘appear’ to be increased ‘Fly-Tipping’ occasionally there are ‘abandoned vehicles’ just left….this one today seemed in quite good condition for it’s year was seen on Station Road – today (Saturday).
I think there is a statutory 14 day period of notice after which the Council (FDC) can legally remove the vehicle – There is no cost to the Rate Payer, as the Towing Company takes it away, and if not reclaimed – make their money be selling it on or spares/scrap.

Where  Whittlesey Library & Learning Centre, 31-35 Market Street, Whittlesey, PE7 1BA
When   18 June 2018
Time    10.30 – 11.45am
Price     Free

A talk by Cambs Police – How to deal with Cold Callers and Keeping Safe

A week to Celebrate the time and energy volunteers give to support and grow their library’s services.
Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills, build up a CV, meet people, combat lonliness, and give support to an organisation you care about.
The Library Service has many volunteers who are supporting their local libraries and the people in their communities. “Give a little, and you get that back many times over”!
The Home Library Service provides regular visits to people who cannot get to the library by themselves. These are social visits, visits that ensure some-one is keeping an eye out, visits that bring local news. These visits re-engage isolated people with their local community – all by bringing some much treasured books, magazines or audio-books once a month.

To say a big “thank you” to all our volunteers Tea and Cakes events are being held in libraries throughout the County.
What would Whittlesey do without it’s very dedicated Groups of Volunteers across a wide range of social and domestic concerns and issues – so whether you volunteer with us or are thinking of volunteering and would like to know more…please do call in for a cuppa, we look forward to seeing you…
Whittlesey Library on Thursday 7th June at 2:30 -3:30pm –

One of our coordinators has recently been the target of a convincing postcode lottery scam. (Top tip, you can’t win the postcode lottery, or any lottery, if you haven’t entered; genuine lotteries don’t draw random names.) This letter claimed ‘Participants in this programme were randomly selected by computer’. Please mention this to anyone you feel might need a reminder, these scammers take huge amounts of money from victims. Be very wary if they ask for an admin fee or foreign taxes to be paid, according to the ‘Think Jessica’ campaign ‘No genuine lottery or competition would ask you to send money to claim a prize.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) have noticed an increase in Action Fraud reports where fraudsters are offering a discount on television (TV) service provider subscriptions. Fraudsters are cold-calling victims, purporting to be from a TV provider offering a discount on their monthly subscription. Victims have been told the following: their subscription needs to be renewed; that part or all, of the TV equipment has expired and they are due an upgrade on the equipment/subscription. In order to falsely process the discount, the fraudster asks victims to confirm or provide their bank account details. The scammers may also request the victim’s identification documents, such as scanned copies of passports. Watch out for the telephone numbers: “08447111444”, “02035190197” and “08001514141”. The fraudster’s voices are reported to sound feminine and have an Asian accent. This type of fraud is occurring nationwide. Since the beginning of this year (2018), there have been 300 Action Fraud Reports relating to this fraud. From the reports received, victims aged over 66 seem to be the most targeted.

There was an interesting article in the Daily Mail recently, here, warning of a scam that tricked a lady out of four thousand pounds. This was a sophisticated scam, so I’d like to draw attention to it. Fraudsters can falsify phone numbers so that your caller display shows a familiar number such as your bank or the Police or imitates a local number to tempt people to pick up. If possible always go into your bank if someone claims that there is a problem with your account, or – as this is not always possible – call them and wait on the line to speak to a member of staff (avoiding the ‘callback’ scam by using a different line from the one you have been called on or by phoning a friend first to ensure the line is clear). This scam tricks people into opening a new account in which they believe their money will be safe, only to find it has been emptied by the criminals.

Finally, finding a job can be challenging so I thought I’d share an opportunity that might interest someone you know. Cambridgeshire County Council is looking for applicants who could make a real difference to the older people we support. Our energetic and highly committed Reablement Team are expanding. The role of a Reablement Worker is to provide support for a limited time period, to enable someone to regain independence, allowing them to carry out daily tasks like cooking, cleaning and self-care without needing anyone to help. If you know of anyone who might be looking for a job and interested in a role in this team please do contact me for more details or call Harriet Cadman on 01223 703579.

Kind Regards
Elaine Mountfort
Community Protection Officer

People and Communities Directorate
Telephone: 01954 286006 or 07810153604
Email: elaine.mountfort@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Please join the fight against scams by registering to become a Friend Against Scams at www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk or follow @AgainstScams on Twitter.

The Whittlesey Mud Walls will be featured on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire thanks to the museum curator Jenny.
Sue Marchant from BBC Radio Cambs likes to find interesting things in and around the county.

The program featuring The Whittlesey Mud Walls will be broadcast on Monday 4th June between 3 – 4pm

A couple of years ago…..(Sainsburys™/Tesco™ Supermarkets) one of our businessmen enquired with several Hotel chains as to ‘if’ Whittlesey was in their expansion plans…
alas, the couple that did reply, said there wasn’t sufficient ‘footfall’ to justify coming to our town.
We have a few good B&B’s that can cater for a few rooms, and of course The Falcon Hotel™. (Did you see 4 in a bed on Ch4)

Tonight I hear that the Old redundant Police Station on Bridge Street Peterborough is planned to be demolished and ‘Premier Inn™’ to build a 150+ room Hotel, this along with ‘Hilton™’ planning to build at the ‘prestigious’ ‘Fletton Quays™’ development another 130 rooms.

I wonder why then, when our own Old Police Station came up for sale – there were no Hoteliers vying to snap this prime site …

However I can reveal that since ‘Subway™’ opened – there are now 21 Eating/Take-Away establishments within a few hundred yards of the town centre (Whittlesea Society).
There is a message somewhere there….

There has been a change to the Projects Committee meeting, which will now take place on:- Tuesday 05th June @ 6pm
(WTC Offices Grosvenor House, Grosvenor Road Whittlesey)

Whittlesey & District Business Forum meeting last night – 18 members in attendance, including (2) Whittlesey FDC Councillors.
Now with 47 members – the members last night were invited to talk about ‘why’ they had joined the Forum – Everyone needs good ‘networking’ these days, even in the e-commerce world we live in.
A new potential member A.G.L All Port Transfers came along to see/hear what’s was happening. www.agltransfers.co.uk

A short talk about GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) by Mr Mike Holland gave the group the latest responsibilities for those who hold database(s) about people.
As usual at the end of the meeting – members have the opportunity to meet and network with one another.

A ‘Full House’ at last night’s ‘Friends of Whittlesey Library’ meeting, not often All the committee are present.
Joining us from Cambs CC was Nathian Jones and from The Library Services Jackie Racey.
The ‘Friends’ are very good supporters of our ‘local’ Library & Community Hub and have purchased a number of enhancements.
Fantastic news from Nathian, The Arts Council have awarded 4 years of funding to Cambs CC Library Services, this funding will be used to bring, Art, Events, Workshops etc to those Libraries.
On my previous post – There will be a selection party to be held on Thursday 14th June between 6:30 – 7:30pm when anyone can attend and help select what they think the ‘Library’ may put on later in the year… The choice is yours…!

FOWL are also looking at producing a new logo and there is a competition for children to enter…. see below…

Friends of Whittlesey Library are ALL volunteers and their next meeting will be on:-
Tuesday 26th June at 7:00 – Rear entrance to the Library – everyone welcome….

Come along and get to know your fellow Businesses – Fantastic Networking opportunity.
WHITTLESEY DISTRICT BUSINESS FORUM AGENDA AGM 30th MAY 18