Please see below for the online issue of the Compton Chronicle. The paper copies will be delivered shortly:
Monthly Archives: October 2022
Remembering Lives Lost and Injured on Warwickshire’s roads
Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership is inviting the public to a memorial service to ‘Remember the lives lost and injured on Warwickshire’s roads’ at St Mary’s Church, Warwick, between 2.30pm and 4.30pm on Sunday 20 November 2022 – the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (#WDoR2022). The service will also be live streamed on Facebook (please search @stmaryswarwick on Facebook).
The church will open from 2.30pm to provide the opportunity for anyone who would like to light a candle and take some time for silent reflection.
Open to all faiths, the service, led by Canon Peter Holliday, will start promptly at 3pm and last no longer than one hour.
The service will include:
Introduction of the World Day of Remembrance led by Canon Peter Holliday
Songs and Hymns
A reading from the Chair of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership Philip Seccombe
A minute’s silence led by Canon Peter Holliday
Senior Family Liaison Officer Karen Powell speaking on behalf of victims
Police force Chaplain Matthew Hopley speaking on behalf of the emergency services
Closing remarks from Canon Peter Holliday
We welcome all those who are able to attend. However, if you are unable to attend the service in person but would like to remember someone on the #WDOR2022 a Remembrance Service ‘toolkit’ is available on our website (https://warksroadsafety.org/warwickshireremembers/) with information and readings you can choose from to create your own service of remembrance at a time and place that suits you. The toolkit also includes text and images that could be used in a newsletter and to share on social media.
We understand how important it is never to forget the lives lost and injured on our roads and that’s why Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership has also created an online space for you to leave a tribute. This can be anonymous if you wish. Please do what’s right for you. (https://warksroadsafety.org/warwickshireremembers/)
Warwickshire Remembers provides an online space to visit whenever you want from a mobile or computer to see your tribute and remember your loved one. By posting a tribute you are also helping to raise awareness of the long-term consequences of a collision.
Sheila Vale’s life totally changed when she was left paralysed after being hit by a car while walking her dog in October 2019. This moving video of Sheila Vale from Studley was filmed last year telling her story of recovery after she suffered these life-changing injuries. Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership Remembers 2021
We will also be sharing Sheila’s story on social media using #WDOR2022
This is just part of the work being done in Warwickshire to remember those lives lost and injured on our roads. At the service, we also plan to unveil designs for a permanent memorial, and these will be available for you to view if you wish.
In Warwickshire in 2021, 15 (2019, 34) people lost their lives and 215 people (2019, 282) were seriously injured in road traffic collisions. Globally, road traffic crashes are a leading cause of death among young people, and the main cause of death among those aged 15–29 years. Source: Brake
Philip Seccombe, Chair of WRSP and Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire said: “The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, on 20 November provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the magnitude and impact that road traffic collisions have on society. It is still a sad fact that far too many people are killed or suffer life-changing injuries on our roads each year.
“The service allows people from all backgrounds, faiths and beliefs who have been affected by a tragedy on our roads to come together and have a moment for reflection. It also allows the wider community of Warwickshire to show solidarity and support for those who have been bereaved.
“The event also acts as a reminder to us that all deaths and injuries on our roads can be prevented and that we all have a responsibility to use the highway network safely. Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership has set a target of halving all road casualties in the county by 2030 and, ultimately, we want to get to a position where no-one suffers the loss of a loved-one on our roads. That will need everyone to play their part and become safer road users and as a Partnership we are working hard to achieve this.”
The service will also be attended by representatives from key partners and Warwickshire’s civic leaders have been invited.
Please follow us online @WarwickshireRoadSafety (Facebook) @WarksRoadSafety (Twitter) to find out about the work we are doing to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads by 50% by 2030. You can also visit our website www.warksroadsafety.org The hashtag #WDoR2022 is being used worldwide to support the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims and if you search this on social media you will see a wide variety of posts including ours.
Warm Hubs Initiative
Winter Warm Hubs
We have small start-up grants available for any halls wanting to set up a Warm Hub for their community this winter. We’ve produced an Organiser’s Checklist guide – you can download it and the (very short) application form on our website. We hope to be able to add additional funding in the near future too.
Please note that Avon Dassett Parish Council will be discussing warm hubs and the village at the next parish council meeting on 7 November and as always welcome residents’ views and input.
Energy Advice
ACRE and Utility Aid have published a short Briefing for people managing village halls: Urgent Energy Advice for Halls. It’s really important that you understand your energy usage and billing and engage with an expert like Utility Aid (come to our AGM – we’ll tell you more then!).
Halls Together Facebook Group
We have over 200 village hall people in the group now with recent posts about EV charging points, the rising energy cost, online banking and more. It’s a closed group for people involved in running village and community halls only (i.e. no advertising!) and it’s the first place we post news. Join at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1052306918837175
Winter Closure
ACRE research suggests that 1 in 10 halls might close this winter due to rising energy costs. If your hall is thinking this way, please get in touch. This information will help us to represent the impact of the crisis better. We will only share information with permission.
WRCC Annual General Meeting 2022
We’re holding our AGM online on Thursday 10th November 2022 at 7.00pm.
The meeting will feature a presentation about our Warm Hubs project with details of the start-up grant funding available to halls wanting to set up a Warm Hub this winter. We will also include a presentation on how halls can deal with the energy crisis, with up-to-the-minute guidance from Utility Aid.
It would be great if you could join us – details at https://www.wrccrural.org.uk/agm2022/, including the link to book your place. Please excuse the reminder e-mail that will arrive nearer the time.
Scam Alerts!
The £400 Energy Bills discount
What to know and how to look out for scams
Households across Great Britain will receive a £400 non-repayable discount off their electricity bills, via the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme. The discount will be paid in six monthly instalments starting in October.
There is no need to apply for the scheme. You will not be contacted by the Government or Ofgem asking you to share your bank details in order to benefit. Your electricity supplier will apply the £400 discount automatically if you pay your electricity bills by direct debit, standard credit, payment card or smart prepayment meter. You do not need to do anything.
If you are on a traditional prepayment meter, it is important to ensure your electricity supplier has your contact details so you can receive the discount via vouchers issued from the first week of every month from October to March. Vouchers will be issued by your electricity supplier via SMS text, email or post along with information on where to redeem them. This will usually be a PayPoint or Post Office branch.
Do not give out private information (such as bank details or passwords), reply to text messages, download attachments, or click on any links in emails if you’re not sure they’re genuine.
For more information on the Energy Bills Support Scheme, see the Explainer on gov.uk
Energy bills related scams to look out for:
- Scam Energy Rebate Emails and Text Messages – Some emails and text messages may be bogus and sent by fraudsters, encouraging you to click on a link to apply for your rebates. These links will direct you to websites where your personal and financial information may be stolen. Never click on any links if you’re not sure they’re genuine.
- Bogus ‘Energy Saving Boxes’ – With energy costs rising, fraudsters are targeting consumers, selling them ‘energy saving boxes’ and ‘eco-plugs’ that falsely claim to be able to save residents up to 40% on their energy bills. The boxes are being sold online and do not appear to provide any tangible energy savings!
Maintenance Cold Callers
Warwickshire Trading Standards has received complaints from Housing Association tenants that a business has been cold calling them, asking to carry our repairs. It can be hard to tell a good trader from a bad one over the phone (or at the doorstep). Never agree to work being carried out on your home by unexpected cold callers. If you need work doing to your home, do your research, ask friends and family for genuine recommendations, and look for local traders with reputations to maintain. Doorstep sellers.
Scam ‘Safe Accounts’
Residents are warned to beware of more bogus bank fraud team phone calls. This is how the scam works. Fraudsters make a transaction request to the victim’s bank account and follow it up with a phone call. The caller falsely claims they are phoning from the bank’s fraud team and state they will block the online transaction and any others they spot. They may even give the victim fraud advice. They then phone back at a later date stating more problems have arisen with the victim’s bank account and they need to transfer the customer’s money in to a new ‘safe’ account. In reality this account is controlled by the fraudsters and any money sent to it will be stolen. Some people have been convinced to transfer their entire live savings to fraudsters in this way.
If you receive a phone call from anyone claiming to be from your bank, put the phone down. Banks are very unlikely to phone you unexpectedly, but if you do believe the call is genuine, phone your bank back on a publicly listed telephone number. Make sure the fraudsters have phoned off before you make the call (leave it a few minutes or use a different phone line). Never reveal any personal or financial information to cold callers, whoever they may claim to be!
Business Employees Targeted in Financial Scam
Businesses are warned that fraudsters are phoning and emailing them, falsely claiming to be existing employees and asking for their bank account details (into which their salaries are paid) is changed! Should this happen fraudsters will be able to direct salaries into their own accounts. Smaller businesses are more likely targets.
Rogue Gardeners and Roofers Target Stratford upon Avon
Rogue traders have been knocking on the doors of Stratford upon Avon residents. Rogue roofers will claim that a resident’s roof tiles appear loose and need replacing. Some residents have reported being charged over £700 for work that was unnecessary and, in some cases, not even carried out. Rogue gardeners are offering to ‘tidy up’ resident’s gardens before claiming that trees are diseased and need removing, and then going on to charge thousands for the work, when in reality it does not need doing. You can’t tell a good trader from a bad one on the doorstep. Do not buy goods or services from cold callers. Doorstep sellers.
Police ask speeding drivers to obey speed limits and help reduce death and injury on our roads
Warwickshire Police is supporting the national NPCC anti speeding campaign between 10-30 October 2022 that aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads.
In Warwickshire in 2021, despite lockdown, 56,136 people were caught speeding in the county. Two thirds of speeding drivers were male and 98% were in cars and vehicles under 3.5tonne. Worryingly despite needing greater breaking distances 2% of drivers caught speeding were in vehicles over 3.5tonne.
Whilst most people don’t speed, the campaign aims to change the behaviour of the few that do and also enforce against those who continue to put their own lives and the lives of other innocent road users at risk by speeding.
Speeding motorists may try to convince themselves that speeding is normal but enforcing speed limits has been proven to reduce collisions, deaths and injuries and Warwickshire Police will be conducting proactive operations on our main arterial routes.
Throughout the campaign police officers, PCSO’s, special constables and Community Speed Watch volunteers across Warwickshire will also be out and about in local communities taking part in a mixture of enforcement and educational initiatives.
This includes National Safe Speeds Day on 19 October that has the aim that no one dies in a road collision during the 24-hour period starting at 0700 on Wednesday 19 October.
During the campaign officers will be reminding drivers they stop of their responsibility to drive legally, within the speed limit and at an inappropriate speed for the road conditions to protect themselves and other road users from road collisions resulting in death and injury.
This is because speeding especially in residential areas puts lives at risk as pedestrians are four times more likely to die if hit by a vehicle travelling at 40mph than at 30mph.
Speeding uses more fuel and also affects air quality on our roads as research has found that slowing down just 10mph on our motorways for example can have a positive impact on the environment as emissions are reduced.
Chief Inspector Faz Chishty said “Road safety is a joint responsibility and we are asking drivers who speed to think about why they speed, the potential effects on themselves and other people and to commit to making all their road journeys at speeds that are both safe and legal for the conditions at the time.
“Speed limits are there to protect the public and to assist traffic flow as well as improving the quality of life for local residents. As well as being illegal, driving too fast or at an inappropriate speed for the road environment or conditions means that drivers have less time to react and near misses can easily turn into collisions. That is why our officers will actively target those who speed on our county’s roads as well as on our motorway network.”
We need speeding drivers to change their behaviour because speed kills and in Warwickshire despite COVID, between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020, 40 people were killed and 317 seriously injured in collisions where speed and/or loss of control was recorded as a contributory factor.
During the campaign we will also be using social media to raise awareness of the facts around speeding. Please help share our road safety messages on social media from @WarwickshireRoadSafety (Facebook) and @WarksRoadSafety (Twitter)
Sanctions
Speeding drivers who are eligible for and accept a conditional offer of a fixed penalty receive 3 penalty points and £100 fine.
Excessive high speed offences will not get a conditional offer and will be prosecuted via the courts.
You could be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 years. New drivers who receive 6 or more penalty points within the first two years of driving will have their license revoked.
Those drivers who admit the offence of speeding and are eligible may be offered the opportunity to attend the National Speed Awareness Course on the effects and dangers of speeding as an alternative to a speeding fine and penalty points.
The course aims to influence the attitudes and behaviour of drivers by directly challenging attitudes towards speeding, offering motorists insight, awareness and understanding about their speed choices, and helps equip participants to change their behaviour.
The course is not a way to avoid fines however, you can only attend one speed awareness course every three years.
Warwickshire Police also offer a National Motorway Awareness Course and if this is offered only one can be attended every three years.