Author: Mundford Parish Council

The Metropolitan Police have provided a booklet to further raise awareness of some of the ever-evolving ways to scam the public out of their hard earned money. Some useful contact details are below:

Action Fraud – 0300 123 2040 or www.actionfraud.org.uk

Little book of Cyber Scams available at www.met.police.uk/fraud

Job adverts at www.safer-jobs.com

Ticketing fraud at www.star.org.uk

Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 or www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Elder abuse on 080 8808 8141 or www.elderabuse.co.uk

Age UK on 0800 169 8787 or www.ageuk.org.uk

Alzheimer’s Society on 0300 222 1122 or www.alzheimers.org.uk

Travel Agents at www.abta.com

Citizens Advice Bureau on 03444 111 444 or www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Cifas at www.cifas.org.uk

Cyber Aware at www.cyberaware.gov.uk

Financial Conduct Authority on 0800 111 6768 or www.fca.org.uk

Coach Services will be running an additional service on the 40 via Mundford on Mondays to Fridays, as of 3.2.20 (this is subject to agreement from the Traffic Commissioners Office that it can start on that date – If we do not get this, then it will be a March Start).

We have used the funding from the various ceased services to support this and there is a further amendment, which will allow a change at Thetford and onward travel to Bury St Edmunds.

From 3.2.20, a new 0948 pick-up has been added Monday to Friday from Mundford to Kings Lynn, with a new return from Kings Lynn at 1310, allowing a 2hr30 in Kings Lynn. For those that wish to stay in Kings Lynn longer, they can use the existing 16:30 departure from Kings Lynn, back to Mundford.

It may not be known to local people, but the current 0855 from Mundford to Thetford, on the current Coach Services 40 service, is available to concessionary pass holders. This arrives in Thetford at 0910. There is an 1100 departure from Thetford, allowing 1hr50 in Thetford. There is also a return at 1405 to Mundford for those that require more time. As of 3.2.20, the 1405 return will be amended to 1425. This will allow passengers to change at Thetford to Coach Services routes to Bury St Edmunds and will allow around 2hr45 in Bury St Edmunds.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to get these service changes earlier, but I trust this is beneficial to the residents of Mundford and that they will use it. Obviously, there is already an option to Thetford as mentioned above and this can be viewed on the current 40 timetable https://www.coachservicesltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/40-Aug19.pdf.

For further information about the service and through ticket details, it is best to contact Coach Services on 01842 821509.

The Regeneration Team at Breckland Council receive an email on a monthly basis which details any Funding available for the rural area from the Rural Services Network.  Not all of the grants may be of use to yourselves but could be useful to a group or business within your parish. 

Please read the Rural Funding Digest January 2020 to check if any grants are available to you,

In Good Health Magazine from the NHS helping you stay well this winter.

Police are appealing for witnesses to a police pursuit which took place between the A47 at Hockering and the A1065 near Brandon earlier today (Thursday 2 January 2020).

A white Vauxhall Astra failed to stop for officers on the A47, at the junction with the B1108 at Hockering at approximately 10.15am. As a result, officers pursued the vehicle along the A47 towards Dereham before the vehicle turned off towards Mattishall. The vehicle was then located on the B1108 and the pursuit continued on the A1065 before ending near Brandon.

Two teenage boys from Essex and a teenage boy from Cambridgeshire have been arrested in connection with the incident. All three are currently in police custody. Officers would like to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the pursuit, or has any dashcam footage. Anyone with information should contact PC Ben Hawkins at Swaffham Roads Policing on 101 quoting incident number 78 of Thursday 2 January 2020.

Message sent on behalf of Mr Peter Evans, Chairman of Norfolk Neighbourhood Watch:

Our next Norfolk Neighbourhood Watch meeting will be taking place on Thursday 9th January 2020 at Breckland Council Offices, Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke, Dereham, NR19 1EE.

All coordinators, members and anybody who would like to set up a new scheme are invited to attend.

Tea and coffee available from 7:00pm for a 7:30pm start. We hope to see you there.

Be a volunteer – make a difference!

Please click on the link for more details – Settle in Service Poster

Whether you are passionate about food or simply want to make the most of the food that you have bought, you might be interested in getting involved in our Food Savvy project.

We are looking for people who would like to become Food Savvy Champion volunteers who are willing to share their knowledge with others to help to reduce the amount of food we waste.

In the UK each year households throw away seven million tonnes of food and drink.  This costs the average family with children about £810 a year or the equivalent of £70 per month. 

As a Food Savvy Champion you will be trained in issues regarding food waste and equipped with tools and ongoing support to help others in your local community to make the most of their food, reduce food waste and save money.

Anyone over the age 18 can join the scheme; you will receive free training and resource pack and ongoing support from your programme coordinator and waste reduction officers.

The next training course will be held on Saturday 25 January 2020 at County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DH.

If you would like more information or are interested in becoming a Food Savvy Champion please email lovefoodhatewaste@norfolk.gov.uk

NARS are now able to offer a wide range of training courses. Our new website is now ‘live’! It has involved a lot of work, but we are very pleased with the results. Do please have a look, as it provides all the latest information about NARS. www.nars.org.uk

We are also working in conjunction with Simper Law to offer a free will writing service, for more information on this offer please look on our website. Please pass this information on to your parishioners.

Whilst writing, please note that we are very happy to come out to give a talk to clubs, societies or workplace groups.

We are always looking for volunteers who are willing to give up a day or two a year to help man our stand at a fete or show to help raise awareness of our organisation. Or for people who would be prepared to organise their own fundraising events on our behalf (ie: raffle, sponsored walk, bake sale).

We would love more people to become involved in our very worthwhile work and look forward to hearing from you if you feel that this is something you would be interested in doing. Please bear in mind that you do not need any specialist knowledge to help us just plenty of enthusiasm. Your commitment to us can be as small or as large as you would like it to be. We are very grateful for any help that we receive. Please feel free to pass this information on to someone who you feel may be interested, maybe a local resident, employer, work colleague, friend or relative.

Police are urging residents to be vigilant to cold callers claiming to be police officers following two incidents in south Norfolk.

It follows two incidents in Wymondham and Chedgrave where elderly residents were cold called on the telephone by a man claiming to be a police officer.

The first incident happened yesterday (Thursday 21 November 2019) when a resident in Chedgrave was called by a man claiming to be a police officer from Hammersmith Police. They stated the victim’s bank account had been hacked and that money needed to be withdrawn by the account holder to rectify it. The victim went to the bank where staff intervened and no money was taken.

A second incident was reported to police earlier today (Friday 22 November 2019) in Wymondham when a woman received a cold call from someone claiming to be a detective from Norfolk Police. The man asked the resident to confirm her address, which she did. The woman’s carer then took the call and asked the man to provide his collar number, at which point the call was terminated.

Detective Sergeant Chris Archer said: “This is a known method used by suspects to commit frauds and encourage vulnerable victims to withdraw large sums of money from their accounts.

“Fortunately, no money has been handed over in either incident but we clearly want people to be vigilant to such scams.

“Genuine police officers or staff would never approach residents and ask for cash withdrawals to be made or for people to purchase items on their behalf.

“I would ask people with vulnerable relatives, friends or neighbours to make sure they are aware of this type of scam.”

Officers have this advice:

·     Never give out personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone.

·     If someone calls claiming to be a police officer, ask for their identification number and police force. Hang up and call 101 using a different phone. If you can’t use a different phone, wait at least five minutes before calling back. A genuine police officer will not mind waiting while you check.

·     Police and banks will never ask you to give out personal details such as account numbers or PIN numbers.

·     If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank to cancel your cards as soon as possible.

Never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere. Anyone with concerns about such calls should contact Norfolk Constabulary on the non-emergency number 101 or 999 if a crime is in progress. Alternatively, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.