Spring 2012.pdf - Neighbourhood Watch

MARKET HARBOROUGH NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH ASSOCIATION VIGILANCE

NEWS LETTER

AWARENESS

Spring 2012 Number 45 Email: [email protected] County Website: www.leicestershirenhw.com THE QUEENS DIAMOND JUBILEE VOLUNTEERING AWARD 2012

and Paralympic Games and intends to continue to operate as a legacy of London 2012 to promote volunteering can be nominated for the award.

GUIDANCE NOTES:

When you can nominate an organisation:

Nominating a group for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award 2012.

You can nominate an organisation between the 27th February 2012 and midnight on 9th September 2012.

You can nominate any national organisation which involves volunteers. You can also nominate organisations which have worked - and will continue to work with - volunteers as part of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Confidentiality of the award. Details of the nominations for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Volunteering Award will be restricted to the Award administrators and the Award Committee scrutiny panel.

You can nominate an organisation that you are a part of, for example if you are a volunteer or a member of staff.

Winning organisations will be notified prior to the official announcement date in the late Autumn of 2012. This information will be embargoed and all recipient organisations will have to agree not to divulge this before the announcement from Buckingham Palace, or this could result in a withdrawal of the Award.

Please obtain two letters that endorse the nominated organisation’s work. These should be from people who are familiar with the organisation. These can be attached to the nomination digitally and will be referred to during the assessment process.

Assessing nominations for the award:

If you do not have access to a computer, or are unable to get support or help in making an electronic nomination, you may be able to make a nomination via the Queen’s Award administrator.

Nominations will be assessed by an independent Award Committee comprising of members of the existing committee members of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and other specialist assessors. The Committee will include representatives from all four of the nations which make up the United Kingdom and will be published on the website in due course.

Tel: 020 7271 6206 for further details. Conditions to receive the award: Both of these: The organisation must involve a minimum number of 25 volunteers in their activities. This is in addition to volunteer Trustees and Committee members. The organisation must have been running for three years or more, And either of the following:

Winning the award: The Cabinet Office will send a recommended list of organisations to Her Majesty the Queen for her approval and winning organisations will be contacted directly by the QAVS team.

Any national voluntary sector organisation or charity that involves volunteers in projects that cover the whole of one or more of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom can be nominated for the award.

Award Administrator - Tel: 020 7271 6206 REMINDER ABOUT BOGUS CALLERS.

Or

Always remember there is no such thing as:

Any organisation which has been involved with the engagement of volunteers or volunteering activities since the announcement of the London 2012 Olympic Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111 Your calls are free.

THE GAS BOARD, THE WATER BOARD or the ELECTRICITY BOARD. 1

“Crime cannot flourish in a Community that cares”

NEIGHBOURHOOD & HOME WATCH WEEK 2012

LPU COMMANDERS REPORT

This year's Neighbourhood & Home Watch Week will run from 16 - 24 June 2012 so please put those dates in your diary!

Hello and welcome to the February update from me the LPU Commander for Market Harborough and Lutterworth.

The focus for the Week will be around our 30th anniversary and being the largest voluntary movement in the UK, with a particular emphasis on linking with police support volunteers and the Special Constabulary.

May I start by thanking everyone for their continued support and hard work in bringing our communities together and helping others feel secure in their homes. It is this and the Neighbourhood Watch ethos of seeking every possibility to reduce crime and the opportunities for crime which have contributed significantly to our current excellent crime reduction performance.

We will also continue to work with our partners The Big Lunch so if you are planning a lunch to warm up for the Week (this year's Big Lunch will be on 3 June) do visit www.thebiglunch.com/ where you can find all sorts of handy tools and ideas.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight those areas of our key performance figures relating to our Serious and Acquisitive Crime (SAC) to date.

Based on your feedback from Neighbourhood & Home Watch Week 2011 we are looking for sponsorship for printed marketing materials and we will keep you informed.

Dwelling House Burglary (Down by 28.1% compared to this time last year) This equates to 50 less victims of crime. Commercial Burglary (Down by 19.4% compared to this time last year) This equates to 25 less victims of crime.

Please let us know at enquiries@ourwatch org.uk of any activities you have planned and we will be happy to publicise them on our website and social media both before and after the event.

Theft from Motor Vehicles (Down by 16.7% compared to this time last year) This equates to 39 less victims of crime.

Visit www.ourwatch.org.uk for further information.

Theft of Motor Vehicle (Down by 5.3% compared to this time last year) This equates to 3 less victims of crime. Drug offences (Down by 21.2% compared to this time last year) This equates to 44 less victims of crime. Violence against the person (Down by 14.3% compared to this time last year) This equates to 49 less victims of crime. Serious/Violent Crime has increased by 3 offences however the overall total number is 10 for the year to date and of these 9 of them have been positively detected. In general terms our current total crime performance year to date shows a reduction of 139 offences compared to this time last year and we are currently on track to achieve the vast majority of those targets set at the start of our performance year in April 2011. All of our Neighbourhood Teams are embedded in new media which includes Facebook, Twitter and increasingly Neighbourhood Link. I would urge you to click and follow your local Neighbourhood Team to keep up to date with local policing issues. There addresses can be found on the force website:

HARBOROUGH MARKET STALL DATES We are at Harborough’s Indoor Market on the first Tuesday of each month, come along if you have any problems or questions, we may be able to help you. Tuesday 3rd April 2012 Tuesday 1st May 2012 Tuesday 5th June 2012

http://www.leics.police.uk/ A final plea form me during the remaining winter months, if you have a neighbour who lives alone, is elderly or vulnerable then please check on them regularly to ensure that they are safe and warm, thank you!

Watch the press and listen to Harborough FM radio on 102.3 for further details of our latest crime prevention initiatives. Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111 Your calls are free.

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There has been rapid growth in devices using the Android platform and with this fast uptake has been an accompanying explosion of apps offering users convenience and entertainment. Recent reports suggest that there are now more than 500,000 approved apps on the Android Market, so it’s important to remember that with the increase in popularity, the smartphone market becomes more attractive to malware writers and potential fraudsters as noted by the most recent quarterly AVG Threat Report.

HARBOROUGH STONE STONEMASONS & FIREPLACE SPECIALISTS Natural Stone Fireplaces hand carved and made to measure. Architectural Work Date stones & House plaques All aspects of Building works undertaken Monumental Work Showroom display of Gas & Electric Fires and a full range of fire accessories. Wood burning & Multi-fuel Stoves, supplied and fitted.

Nowhere is this more pertinent than on the Android platform where the quality control of the official “Android Market” is less stringent than Apple’s AppStore. Google are working hard to combat this and regularly remove apps found to be malicious but users should be aware of the inherent risk.

Open 9.30am - 4pm Mon-Sat 1 Sulley's Yard, Adam & Eve Street Market Harborough, Leics, LE16 7LT Tel: 01858 410033 SINGLE EMERGENCY NUMBER 112

You can stay on top of threats and scams on Android devices by following our Mobile Threats blog run by our AVG Mobilation™ team. On top of that, you can secure your device for free with our own AVG Mobilation app (http://avg.com/antivirusfor-android) which can not only protect you from malware also help you recover your phone if it gets lost or stolen.

Whether for skiing holidays, family days out, business travel or visits to this summer's sporting events, including the London Olympics or Euro 2012 UEFA football in Poland and Ukraine, millions of Europeans and visitors need access to emergency services in and outside their home country. Yet only 34% of regular travellers and 26% of all Europeans know that 112 is the single emergency number they can call, both in and outside their home country when in trouble.

If that weren’t enough, our Facebook AVG Free Community (http://www.facebook.com/AVGfree) of nearly 700,000 users is always full of helpful advice and here is what some of them have to say about keeping your mobile device safe and sound. AVG Community Top 5 tips for securing your phone against malware:

Many major rail, air and other transport companies have joined Vice Presidents Neelie Kroes and Siim Kallas in a campaign to raise 112 awareness rates. The emergency number will be publicised without cost to taxpayers on e-tickets, in on-board magazines, on their company websites and through their staff. The list of participating companies can be consulted on www.112.eu.

Avoid installing any applications that aren’t downloaded from the official “Android Marketplace”. If you don’t know who made it, you can’t trust it. Don’t install anything that sounds too good to be true! Examples may include “free ring tones” “free wallpaper” etc. Always be sure what your downloading is legitimate.

Vice Presidents Kroes and Kallas have decided to work together to ensure every European can access a 112 smartphone app, in their own language. In recent years many 112 mobile apps have been developed, but much more can be done in this field. Vice President Neelie Kroes said "You can save a life by knowing and dialling 112. But 112 only helps if people know about it. So we are working with travel companies to catch attention while people are en route to their destination."

Think twice before “rooting” or jailbreaking your device to allow a lower level of protection than standard Android OS release. Always keep your phone updated with the latest operating system. This will make sure your phone is as safe as possible. You should check for system updates about once a month.

Vice President Siim Kallas said "I welcome the commitment of the transport sector in Europe to make every traveller aware of the 112 emergency number. 112 is an essential safety tool in transport. The list of participating companies will be open all year long and judging from the interest shown, many more companies are likely to follow."

Install an antivirus app on your phone. You should be sure to check all settings; make sure the appropriate boxes are checked for the data you are receiving, i.e. web surfing, text messaging and realtime scanner. Ensure that you scan your device regularly and above all keep it up to date!

Marion Lewis OBE Neighbourhood Watch Lead Volunteer Leicestershire Constabulary Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111 Your calls are free.

N.H.W. is working with Harborough FM on 102.3 FM to bring you information and regular crime updates. 3


FIRE SAFETY IN THE HOME Did you know…?  You’re twice as likely to die in a fire if you don’t have a smoke alarm that works.  90 people die each year because the battery in their smoke alarm was flat or missing.  Over half of home fires are caused by cooking accidents.  More than five fires a day are started by candles.  Every three days someone dies from a fire caused by a cigarette.  Faulty electrics (appliances, wiring and overloaded sockets) cause around 7,000 house fires across the country every year.

Fabulous Hats and Fascinators (bespoke service available) Beautiful Handbags Stunning Scarves contact

Fashion and Handmade Jewellery The Courtyard, Bennett’s Place, High Street, Market Harborough LE16 7NL

Fit smoke alarms on every level of your home  Smoke alarms are cheap and easy to install.  They are available from DIY stores, electrical shops and most high street supermarkets.  There are a variety of different models to choose from.  Your local Fire and Rescue Service will be happy to give you advice on which one is best suited for you.

Tel: 01858 466 849 Email: [email protected] Web: www.happy-hats.co.uk hear the alarm throughout your home. If it is difficult for you to fit your alarm yourself your local Fire and Rescue Service for help. They’ll be happy to install it for you. LOOKING AFTER YOUR SMOKE ALARM:  Make checking your smoke alarm part of your regular household routine.  Test it by pressing the button until the alarm sounds. If it doesn’t sound, you need to replace the battery.  If your smoke alarm starts to beep on a regular basis, you need to replace the battery immediately.  If it is a ten year alarm, you will need to replace the whole alarm every ten years. IN THE KITCHEN.  Take extra care if you need to leave the kitchen whilst cooking, take pans off the heat or turn them down to avoid risk.  Make sure saucepan handles don’t stick out – so they don’t get knocked off the stove.  Take care if you’re wearing loose clothing – they can easily catch fire.  Keep tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob.  Spark devices are safer than matches or lighters to light gas cookers, because they don’t have a naked flame.  Double check the cooker is off when you’ve finished cooking.

HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR ALARM WORKS:  Never disconnect or take the batteries out of your alarm if it goes off by mistake.  Standard battery operated alarms are the cheapest option, but the batteries need to be replaced every year.  A lot of people forget to check the batteries, so longer life batteries are better.  An alarm with ten-year batteries is the best option. Test the batteries in your smoke alarm every week, change them every year and never remove them.  Mains-powered alarms are powered by your home power supply. Generally they don’t need replaceable batteries, but need to be installed by a qualified electrician.  Alarms that plug into a light socket use a rechargeable battery, which is charged when the light is on.  You can even have linked alarms installed, so that when one alarm detects a fire they all go off together. This is useful if you live in a large house or over several levels. Strobe light and vibrating pad alarms are available for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Contact the Royal Institute for Deaf People Information Line on 0808 8080123

TAKE CARE WITH ELECTRICS:  Keep electrics (leads and appliances) away from water.  Check toasters are clean and placed away from curtains and kitchen rolls.  Keep the oven, hob and grill clean and in good working order. A build up of fat and grease can ignite a fire.

FITTING YOUR ALARM:  Don’t put alarms in or near kitchens or bathrooms where smoke or steam can set them off by accident.  The ideal position is on the ceiling, in the middle of a room, or on the hallway and landing, so you can Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111 Your calls are free.

Articles printed by kind permission of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Services.

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