Markfield N.W. June contribution

After the initial flurry of membership progress we, here in Markfield, have settled down to a slower but steady rate of recruitment without any accompanying fanfare of personal glorification. Having said that there are two matters that reflect well on our local group about which I am happy to boast.

The first relates to some very quick and intelligent action taken by one of street co-ordinators who, spotting nearby suspicious activity, intervened and sent the would be miscreants packing. The villains concerned, unfortunately, did go on to commit crime elsewhere but we and the Police have their description, know their vehicle make and number and, if they have not yet already been apprehended, that can only be a matter of time.

My second is to acknowledge receipt of and thank the Chief Constable for the award he recently made to us as a group. This was a signed, framed certificate in recognition, and I quote, "Of our valuable, voluntary contribution towards supporting neighbourhood policing and the local community".

Repeating again what I have said before and directly following the recent outburst of Neighbourhood Watch hierarchy publicity there is only one end product that can bring all round satisfaction and justify our existence. This is the knowledge within any neighbourhood that the system is working at GROUND LEVEL with the good all looking after each other and keeping our eyes on the bad. Best of all, that latter group know that we know who they are
and that they are being "Neighbourhood Watched".

By the way, you may have noticed some of the bright new N.W. signs recently installed at various Markfield locations thanks to a generous donation from the local Markfield Herald and the stalwart fixture efforts of Vice Chairman Peter (and his sister). Much appreciated. These signs positively indicate an active N.W. scheme presence.

That clearly means that here there is a very strong Police/Resident
anti-crime bond. Local knowledge is the best Crime Deterrent and here, of course, we have a ready willingness to communicate such knowledge to our local police officers. Reporting some suspicious activity is not "spying on our neighbours". No, quite the opposite, it means we are actually trying to protect our neighbours.

One effort we are currently undertaking locally is a "Drug Awareness Project" aimed at concerned parents or, perhaps more importantly, "unconcerned" parents who may be blissfully unaware of signs indicating the probable use of illegal drugs by their offspring. A number of booklets giving graphic detail of such signs, symptoms and dangers are available for discreet collection by any such parent or any other interested party from the following Markfield locations:- The Health Centre, Londis store, Mason Chemist, Bradgate Independent Financial Advisors, JMC Hair Design, F&G Hardware and last, but not least, the Co-op store.

We thank the management of these premises sincerely for their cooperation in helping tackle this worrying problem. Finally, can I ask you to think about Neighbourhood Watch membership and if you would like to join our ever growing group of public spirited, like
minded people, come along to our next membership get together, the Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Thursday the 4th of September at the Congregational Church Hall in Main Street commencing at 7Pm. In the meantime, rather than wait until then, just email me now at loadstar@supanet.com and we can take if from there.