Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Well put on event at the Ivy Leaf this morning, plenty of stalls and a ‘few’ people in attendance when I visited for an hour or so.

The well reported spate of ‘attempted theft’ from our area (some vehicles left unlocked),
My reported 6 burglaries a couple of weeks ago (again several were through unlocked doors).
It now appears that the ‘Low Life’ (arrested on suspicion) are from outside our area.
I dare say we have a few of our own, but local police keep an eye on these characters.
Today whilst doing my therapeutic Litter Picking, another load of Fly-Tipping, the last lot found, contained addresses not from Whittlesey.
Low Life clear off somewhere else to do your ‘Dirty Deeds’ preferably Peterborough Prison.

Scammers are becoming more and more cleverer and sophisticated – an elderly lady has been hacked this week in Whittlesey.

A lot of information, links on Whittlesey Neighbourhood Watch Website.

http://www.whittleseynhw.org.uk/

1st one this week.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) has recently received an influx of reports that fraudsters are targeting the public, via social media, in relation to football tickets.   Fraudsters are posting pictures or statuses online telling members of the public to contact them via Direct Message for football tickets. This then leads to a mobile messaging conversation. During the conversation, bank details are provided by the suspect so that the tickets can be purchased.   After the victim has paid for the ticket the fraudster blocks them to stop further conversation, leaving victims without the tickets and out of pocket.

Protect yourself:

Check the security of the website and validity of the post.
Avoid taking the conversation offline to private messages.
When purchasing any products over the internet always try to make the payment via PayPal or a credit card where you have some sort of payment cover.
If you, or anyone you know, have been affected by this fraud or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.

2nd one this week.

A new investment fraud trend is targeting members of the public who are seeking to sell their wine investment.  Fraudsters agree to purchase the victim’s wine, but instead transfer the stock into their own account without paying the victim.  The fraudulently obtained wine is then believed to be sold on to other, unsuspecting victims.    How does it work? Fraudsters set up fake companies and websites as well as exploit the names of legitimate, established companies to facilitate this fraud.  They cold-call the victims and offer to purchase their wine for significantly more than the actual market value.    Fraudulent documents, such as purchase agreements, are used to facilitate the fraud and are sent to the victims via post and email.  Some fraudsters have gone as far as setting up fake escrow services in order to fool the potential sellers that the payments have been transferred.
The fraudsters send the victims instructions to transfer their wine into storage accounts held within legitimate bonded warehouses.  The victims are informed that upon doing this they will be paid the agreed amount.  The use of storage accounts held within legitimate bonded warehouses adds an air of legitimacy to the process but in actual fact these storage accounts are controlled by the fraudsters.
Once the wine is transferred into the new storage accounts the suspects break off all contact with the victims.  The wine is then moved again, normally within days and often abroad, and, needless to say, the victim never receives the money from the agreed sale.

Protect Yourself :

Never respond to unsolicited phone calls – if in doubt, hang up.
Always check that the details of the organisation or company contacting you (such as website, address and phone number) are correct – the fraudsters may be masquerading as a legitimate organisation.
Never sign over your wine (or any other investment) to another party without first checking they are authentic.
Don’t be fooled by a professional looking website, as the cost of creating a professional website is easily affordable.
Escrow services are regulated by the FCA under the Payment Services Directive 2009.  Only deal with a registered Authorised Payment Institution.
You can check the FCA register online at www.fca.org.uk/register
Consider seeking independent legal and/or financial advice before making a decision.

If you have been affected by this, or any other scam, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk

What a good idea Gilly B has on StreetLife© A Beacon for Whittlesey, as far as I am aware and please correct me if I am wrong, Whittlesey does not have one.
Some community spirited person could start a campaign off – put me in for a generous donation to get it started.

Friday I was supposed to be promoting and volunteering to sell ‘Tickets’ for the Mayors Charity Duck Race, which has been held for a number of years, normally around Easter.
It was postponed until the May Bank Holiday. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that I am unaware – It has been cancelled altogether.
What a pity, as this event raised somewhere in the region of £1,000:00 and this always went to one or two ‘Local Charities.
Lets hope it returns next year.

By the way, tickets which I sold, won on (2) occasions – and No it wasn’t rigged.
©RG

First. the Whittlesey Business Forum, which was the best attendance I have witnessed 25 people attended. A very good exchange of information and the group is moving forward with trying to promote many aspects of what Whittlesey and surrounding areas have to offer.
Click Here to WBF Website

Second meeting I no information to publish

Whilst I was a councillor, Cambs County Council came to several meetings in regards to ALL of Cambridgeshire having their Street Lighting replaced by ‘New’ more energy efficient Street Lights. ‘We’ in Whittlesey were told that ‘we’ had to ‘loose’ 10% of Street Lights, one reason being that the ‘New’ lights were better and more energy efficient.
Where I live we ‘lost’ 2 lights, all Town Councillors did a street check of their own wards.
Some lights were identified as safety issues and arguments ensured to keep them.
The ‘New’ lights were to be ‘dimmed’ at 2am.
After the installation there were some issues, regarding signs etc.
Now we have reached April 2016 – Lights now switched off at 2am to save money.
When I went to a meeting last year the notice of Street Lights being switched off was brought up – I/we were told’
That Cambs CC had spoken to neighbouring Councils in respect of ‘Crime’ increasing due to the Street Lights being turned off. Cambs CC told us that there investigations said that there had been NO increase in crime from the neighbouring Counties who had already carried out the exercise? Therefor this was not seen as an argument.

So in a nutshell there you have it….we wait and see, I am as sceptical as the next person.
I ‘hope’ that Crime does not increase. We have to wait for statistical information as to where (On or Off) time of day and type of crime etc.

Never fear I will be keeping a close watch on this – as it effects us all.
I hope my fears are proven wrong.

If you ‘Google’© Cambridgeshire CC Street Lights you will get a lot of different articles.
If you have concerns or issues please contact your own ward councillor – details can be found on the Whittlesey Town Council Website.

Disclaimer: I am no longer a councillor.

Crime prevention and awareness message. Cambridgeshire constabulary has unfortunately seen a significant increase in vehicle crime within Whittlesey, Eastrea and Coates. These incidents have occurred over night 15-16th April and have continued over the preceding nights it appears that these incidents are occurring in the early hours . Unfortunately most of the vehicles targeted have not been secured. Please could I remind you to ensure that your vehicles are left locked and secure and that there are no valuables left on display. If you have sat nav systems stuck on your windscreen that they are removed and all signs of suction pads and leads are locked out of sight, no change left in central console. And where possible valuable portable items e.g laptops are removed from within the vehicle.  Works vehicles with tools please remove of ensure the vehicle is locked securely and where possible access to the tools is blocked by a garage or another vehicle. Please could we ask that if you see or hear anything that you believe to be suspicious and out of normal activity you contact us on 999 (Happening now), 101  (information to report not emergency) or you can call crime stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
Thank you for your help and support.
Julie Bailey Crime Reduction and Community Safety Officer Fenland.

1/ 10 people including myself & Connie attended the Cambs & P’boro Foundation Trust consultation meeting at the Gloucester Centre. As par for the usual, we were the only people interested enough from Whittlesey!!!.
It was not about funding but how best the Trust can engage with their customers and partners – we had a 1 hour ‘Brain Storming Session’
Only (1) Councillor who was from Wisbech. See previous post to see dates/venues of other meetings.

2/ Links to more information regarding the Police & Crime Commissioners Election.

The Commissioner’s website  http://www.cambridgeshire-pcc.gov.uk/new-commissioner-elections/ carries a lot of information about the role and process involved. For more detailed information about the candidates please see below.

In Cambridgeshire there are four candidates:

You can see what each of the four candidates have to say at:
https://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/

1/ Correcting social media, – There was an attempted break-in of a vehicle on Thornham Way Eastrea.  This type of crime has been very active in the past week.
Lock It. Leave nothing on display which may temp someone.

2/ Received Postal Vote Forms for Police & Crime Commissioner elections.
Nothing received from any candidate other than what we can find on the web.
Yes I know it’s all there – Maybe one of the Candidates will come to Whittlesey!!!!

3/ Whittlesey Business Forum meeting tomorrow 6pm at Grosvenor House.

I am planning to attend the meeting tomorrow (19th) at the Gloucester Centre. Anyone can go along…..Must book your place first
See at end of article.

Re: Improving how we involve people using our services
We are working on a project to improve how we hear feedback and involve people in shaping CPFT services.  We would be most grateful if you could to pass this message to your Patients and in particular, your Patient Participation Groups.
People who use our services are the experts in terms of what works well and what doesn’t, therefore it’s important that we involve them in helping to improve what we do.

Over the next two months we are running sessions, co-facilitated with people who use our services, to better understand how we can improve our involvement. We are keen to hear from service users, patients, carers and professionals about how best we can do this.

The sessions are:
–          19 April, 2pm-3pm or 5pm-6pm: Recovery College, Silver Birch, Gloucester Centre, Peterborough, PE2 7JU
–          20 April, 2pm-3pm or 5pm-6pm: Rehab and falls gym, Princess of Wales Hospital, Lynn Road, Ely, CB6 1DN
–          21 April, 2:30pm–3:30pm or 5pm-6pm: Hunts Forum, Maple Centre, 6 Oak Drive, Huntingdon, PE29 7HN
–          26 April, 2pm-3pm or 5pm-6pm: Cambridge Recovery College, Block 24, Ida Darwin, Fulbourn, CB21 5EE
–          27 April, 2pm-3pm or 5pm-6pm: Iceni Room, Doddington Hospital, Benwick Road, Doddington, March, PE15 0UG
–          28 April, 2pm-3pm: Rosmini Centre, 69 Queens Road, Wisbech, PE13 2PH.

There is free parking available at all of our venues and refreshments will be provided. We will also offer to reimburse people’s travel expenses in line with Trust policy.

The link to the events can also be found here: http://www.cpft.nhs.uk/Latest-news/improving-involvement.htm
To book your place please email chris.hampson@cpft.nhs.uk or call 01480 398 542.

To be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher we are also running a short survey to capture people’s views. You can complete the survey by clicking here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WF9MSPB