Money has been raised for Macmillan Cancer Support throughout the year at the monthly village coffee mornings. A fabulous total of £226.35 has been raised for this worthwhile charity. Many thanks to Deb Watts who organises the coffee mornings.
All posts by Sarah Richardson
Kineton Driver Banned for Accident which led to Horse’s Death and Rider’s Severe Injuries
A local driver has been disqualified following a serious injury collision with a horse and rider.
The incident on 2 January 2023 saw the horse put down by a vet on the roadside in Kineton and the female rider suffering life-changing injuries.
Christopher John Wixey, 76, of Banbury St, Kineton, was disqualified from driving for 12 months, and required to take an extended test of competence before he can drive again. He was also fined £540. He had earlier pleaded guilty.
Avon Dassett have requested the ‘pass wide and slow’ signs for Farnborough Lane but these are yet to materialise.
For more information on the Kineton case see: https://www.stratford-herald.com/news/careless-and-inconsiderate-driver-sentenced-9333114/
Electric Vehicle Charging in Avon Dassett
Residents may be aware that Warwickshire County Council recently received £3.3 million of funding to provide more publicly available electrical vehicle chargers in the county.
It is very important that rural communities, like Avon Dassett, get their share of this funding. Phil Baxter is leading a project to consider possible sites for electrical vehicle chargers in the village and to lobby the County Council to support their installation. If you would like to know more or be part of the project please contact Phil: phil@avon-dassett.com or 07805 061 419
COMPTON CHRONICLE – OCTOBER 2023 EDITION
COMPTON CHRONICLE – OCTOBER EDITION
Hello everyone, the October edition of the Compton Chronicle can be found below.
Paper copies will be delivered in the coming days.
For contributors please note that the November edition closing date for submissions will be 12th October latest.
If anyone has any club or diary news for Fenny Compton, Avon Dassett, or Farnborough for the November edition of the Compton Chronicle, please send details to comptonchronicle@yahoo.co.uk by 12th October . Also if you have a club or event which isn’t in the Chronicle please let the Chronicle Team know!
Digital Switchover 2025 and News on Latest Scams
Latest news from Warwickshire County Council
Digital Switchover Scam Warning
Criminals are using the switchover from analogue to digital telephones to scam vulnerable people.
From 2025 the old analogue copper telephone landline network will be switched to digital, meaning that all phone calls will go through the internet, and everyone will require broadband to make landline phone calls. If you don’t already have broadband, your supplier should be able to provide you with a broadband connection, specifically to support the new digital system.
Warwickshire Trading Standards are concerned that some elderly and vulnerable people may be tricked into revealing personal or financial information by fraudsters claiming they are contacting them to carry out the digital switchover or help them with phone line linked telecare systems. These fraudsters may claim they are calling from the resident’s telephone or telecare service provider.
Never provide personal or financial information to a cold caller, whoever they may claim to be. If you believe the caller is genuine, ask to phone them back on a publicly listed telephone number.
Age UK has produced some good advice on the analogue to digital switchover.
Scam Letters
Warwickshire consumers have reported receiving a ‘default notice’ letter demanding payment of £42.99 and threatening court action if the money isn’t paid, despite never buying anything from the business! The letters, that purport to come from an online music and technology seller, appear to be bogus. Scammers often send bogus letters and emails demanding payment for money that is not owed and threatening court action. People are often told to respond quickly to force them into a quick decision.
Facebook Marketplace Scams
Several Warwickshire residents have reported losing money in Facebook Marketplace scams. A consumer reported paying over £200 by bank transfer for a pram on. However, the item was never delivered, and the seller then deleted their account. Another paid £3500 for a car being sold on the online marketplace, but the vehicle was never delivered. It was recently reported that around 65,000 Britons lost £37.5m through Facebook Marketplace scams in 2022.
Online marketplaces can be a great place to grab a bargain, but buyers need to be vigilant.
How to help avoid being ripped off when buying from online marketplaces
- Fraudsters will often try and move you off the online marketplace, communicate with you via email and ask you to pay by bank transfer. Always stay on the website and use their official/recommended payment method. By doing so it’s more likely that problems can be resolved if they arise
- If possible, pay with a credit card. You may benefit from Section 75 protections, if for example, your goods arrive damaged, or don’t arrive at all!
- Try to examine the goods before you buy. This may mean that you need to visit the seller and buy the items face-to-face, so take someone with you for safety. In these circumstances, you may wish to pay in cash
- Don’t let a seller pressure you into making a quick decision
- Some online marketplaces provide feedback on their sellers, so it’s always worth looking at their star ratings and seeing what other buyers have had to say about them
Crypto Currency Trading Scam
Warwickshire students are warned not to fall victim to a crypto currency scam. Victims are messaged on WhatsApp about a job/additional income ‘opportunity’ which involves completing ‘training tasks’ to trade crypto currency. The victims are directed to buy and transfer small amounts of crypto currency to complete each ‘training task’. The victims are shown a screen where they appear to be making ‘profits’.
One victim purchased and transferred nearly $300 of crypto currency to the scammers, believing they would then be able to access their profits. However instead, they were then asked for more money to complete all the ‘tasks’. It was at this stage they realised it was a scam and the profits were bogus! Victims are even invited into a WhatsApp group controlled by the scammers to make the scam appear genuine and encourage victims to keep paying to complete their ‘tasks’.
Parish & Partners Briefing Published by Stratford District Council
The new edition of Stratford District Council’s Parish and Partnership Briefing is out now! It contains lots of useful information on refuse and recycling, tourism, crime, leisure and much more:
Suicide Prevention Contacts
Councillor Natalie Gist has put together a leaflet with information on the local and national organisations that support people who are struggling with their mental health:
The leaflet may also be found on our Health and Well-Being page.
Use Alexa to Manage Your Refuse Collection!
Stratford District Council have created an Alexa Skill that can be used on Amazon devices that are enabled with Alexa.
The skill is called Ask Stratford District Council and is free of charge, but you do need an Alexa enabled device and an Amazon account to use it.
The skill covers the Recycling and Waste service, and you can ask questions such as:
- Alexa, Ask Stratford District Council: When is my recycling collected?
- Alexa, Ask Stratford District Council: Can I recycle (then say the item)?
At the moment, the Amazon smart speaker is the only system we are working with. The skill is currently not available under Google Home or Apple HomePod.
Setting up and using the Alexa skill
Residents of Stratford-on-Avon district can now use their Amazon Echo device to find out information about our recycling service. For example, when their recycling collections are due.
To use the skill, it needs to be enabled first. This can be done in a number of ways:
- Via the Alexa App on your smart device. The Alexa App can be downloaded free of charge from the Play/Apple store.
- From the Amazon website
- By saying “Alexa, enable Stratford District Council” to your Echo device.
To use some of the skills functions, you will need to access the skill settings via the Alexa App.
Once the skill is enabled, you can use either the Alexa device or App to ask questions by saying:
Alexa, ask Stratford District Council
- When is my recycling collected?*
- How do I recycle (item or material)?
- Tell me about the Green Waste collection?
- What can I place in my recycling bin?
- What can I place in my green bin?
- How much is a bulky waste collection?
*requires your address details to be in the Alexa App
Please remember to use the phrase “ask Stratford District Council” after saying Alexa.
Privacy
The Alexa skill was made in conjunction with Cloud 9 Technologies. Their privacy policy can be viewed on their website.
New Community Meals on Wheels Service
We are pleased to announce that Warwickshire Rurul Community Council plans to launch a new Community Meals service.
Initially, the service will be very similar to that run by Apetito – we will deliver a hot meal to you during a specified time slot, check you are well and plate up your food where necessary. However, we do have ambitious plans for the future.
We have attempted to answer a few questions below, but you need to register your interest so we can keep you informed. You can do this by:
Telephone: call 01789 842182
Post: return the completed form by post
E-mail: send us an e-mail to cff@wrccrural.org.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is WRCC?
WRCC is a local registered charity that aims to support communities in Warwickshire and Solihull, focussing on rural communities. We’ve been around since 1937 and currently run community transport services, Warm Hubs, an oil buying syndicate and work in affordable housing and village halls. You can find out more about us on our website: www.wrccrural.org.uk
How will the new service work?
We hope it will be very similar to the way Apetito has operated in the past, though we have big ambitions to improve the service in the future.
What will the new service offer?
The service will offer similar food options. You will still be able to order special dietary choices. In time, you will also be able to order an evening snack. Where necessary, our staff will come into your home to plate up your meal and check everything is OK.
Who will be visiting my home?
All our staff will be fully trained and DBS checked.
When will the service start?
We hope to make the service available again in late July 2023.
How much will it cost?
When Apetito decided to stop running the service, Warwickshire County also decided not to commission a community meals service. Unfortunately, this means that the meals will not be subsidised anymore and we will also have to charge VAT. This is likely to increase the cost of the service to around £9.50 per meal, but we are working hard to reduce this if we can.
Register your interest and we will write to you with more details as soon as possible.
New Policing Model for Warwickshire
One of the drivers for a new policing model is to maximise the benefits of having the largest number of officers in Warwickshire in force history to meet ever-increasing demand effectively, and to provide the very best prevention, engagement and investigation services for communities.
Looking specifically at demand: the police are experiencing significant levels of demand on our 999 and 101 phone lines. While they will always prioritise answering 999 calls, the increased demand means an increased wait time for 101 calls, which causes many people to abandon their calls, to call again, or call 999 instead when they don’t really need to. This, in turn, impacts our ability to respond to the people who most urgently need police attendance.
They are therefore making changes to improve our ability to meet demand. The briefing below provides more detail on the new triage process for 101 calls, further improvements we are planning to make, and the positive impact we hope they will have for our communities.