Leicestershire Constabulary is urging residents to keep thieves locked out this summer.

As the temperatures rise, so do the number of burglaries at properties where the windows or doors have been left open or unlocked.

PC Ashley Russell, the Force's Crime Reduction Coordinator, said: "A lot of burglaries are carried out on the spur of the moment by thieves who see an opportunity, such as an open window, and take it.

A campaign to ensure every member of the public knows the name of their local beat officer and PCSO is coming to a street near you.
A huge trailer displaying a billboard-size advertisement will be touring Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for two weeks from Monday May 12. The advert encourages members of the public to find out who their neighbourhood officers are and highlights ways in which they can be contacted.

Motorists in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are being offered free advice on motorway driving.

Leicestershire Constabulary is holding a motorway driving evening on Thursday June 5 aimed at any motorists who feel nervous about driving on the motorway.

It's also an opportunity for newly qualified drivers who may have no experience on motorways to gain some useful skills.

The event will include a presentation and videos highlighting some of the problems drivers could face.

Membership is free.......and always will be.

Reports are coming in that residents of the Leicestershire area are receiving demands for an annual joining fee per household to become members of Neighbourhood Watch.

Do not pay.

We have put some adverts on Arriva buses around the county and wondered if YOU have spotted one.

Let us know where and when you've seen them by telling us in the discussion forum.

The list of the top 100 village & town sites on Leicestershire Villages has been unveiled for the period between January and March 2008.

To find out how well your village has done just click on the title above or go to the Help section.

If you would like any help in getting your village further up the list you can come along to a FREE training session or you can contact us on 01509 643448 or email admin@leicestershirevillages.com.

An exciting exhibition of memorable and iconic photographs for those who love nature, the varied people of the world and photography is currently on show at Leicestershire County Council’s Melton Carnegie Museum.

“Visions of the World” is exactly what it says it is: visions of our wonderful world.

This exhibition was created by The Royal Geographic Society, selecting 40 striking images from its archive of ½ million photographs.

30 images are currently on display, many of which will be changed during the exhibition – so people can come more than just once to enjoy these stirring visions.

Runs from January to 23rd April 2006

Leicestershire Cares is a registered charity which encourages businesses to get further involved in their local community/voluntary organisations through a variety of projects. They are looking for projects that could be undertaken by one of their teams - for more information please see below.

The UK European Consumer Centre launched ‘Howard’ the online, interactive shopping assistant - a free tool to help consumers make informed and safer choices when shopping online.

A scheme initially set up in Denmark and Ireland, by simply entering the website’s address and country, Howard will return with a number of details.

Firstly it will reveal when the website was registered. Experience shows that consumers should be very wary when prices seem too good to be true and payment is required in advance by an unsecured method such as bank transfer or cash payment.

People and their Heritage - a free conference providing an opportunity for heritage and conservation enthusiasts to meet and see what others are doing.
Speakers include Chris Gordon of Natural England, Colin Hyde of East Midlands Oral History Archive, as well as volunteers from local heritage groups and Leicestershire County Council to give updates on local projects.

1000's of people over 60 do not claim money that they are entitled to either because they think that they will not qualify or that the forms are far too complicated. It is thought that as many as 50% of those over 60 pay more council tax than they should because they have never informed their council that they are on low income. Many people struggle with day to day tasks and have difficulty moving around both inside and outside their homes. For more advice about the benefits that are available then either contact your local council or Age Concern 0116-299-2233 or look at the DVD on Entitlements for Older People Leics CC web site link 'It's Yours, Claim It'

Severn Trent water are keen to promote their services to community groups.

Leanne Town from the Customer Access Team, is available free of charge to groups who wish to hear about what to do with Bogus Callers claiming to be from the Waterboard, as well as the Confidential Password scheme, and other services.

Leanne can be contacted on 01332 686 043 or by e.mail at leanne.town@severntrent.co.uk

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to fund a '101' phone service to cover the whole of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland to respond to anti-social behaviour and non-emergency calls. More details

Submitted by Dr Matthew O'Callaghan – Deadline to sign up by: 17 March 2009

Use this link to sign the petition

This free Public Liability Insurance has been designed to allow Schemes / Associations and volunteers to carry out their legitimate roles with protection for their liability and without fear of personal loss.

Ministers have now approved the continuation of the provision of Public Liability Insurance for registered NW schemes and the new policy begins on 1st April 2008.

Use this link to download a copy of the Insurance Policy

Auction of Promises
Run by the Bradgate Lions Club

Auction of Promises
This is the link to an Auction of Promises run by the Bradgate Lions Club to raise money for the new (DLRAA) Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance.

You may find something of interest to bid for or you may even have an idea for me to include as another Lot to add to the auction. Either way please take a look at it and bookmark it as further Lots will be added regularly. I would appreciate you passing the link on to as many family, friends and business acquaintances as you can as the more people we get having a look hopefully the more bids we shall get, thank you.

James McLure

Bradgate Lions Club

All Leicestershire & Rutland County registered schemes will work together for the benefit of the community, and will strive to promote the partnership enjoyed by us all with our local constabulary and all other Crime & Disorder Reduction Partners (CDRP).

To add clarity to the expectations of the Leicestershire Constabulary and the Leicestershire & Rutland County Neighbourhood Watch Association in relation to the basic support each partner will demonstrate to each other,a Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been drawn up.

Policing in your area
If you need to visit your local policing unit, you can find the address, location and opening times as well as neighbourhood beat information, news and appeals by clicking on the Policing in your area link.

If you know your postcode you can enter it into the search box and find out which local policing unit covers your neighbourhood.

The Melton Musical Theatre Company (TMMTC) is pleased to announce their upcoming production of the exciting Jekyll & Hyde the Musical showing at Melton Theatre from the 14th – 19th April.

With NODA award winner Nigel Taylor directing the TMMTC production, this show looks to equal the praise and talent that was recognised when Nigel directed the Derby Opera Company’s production of Jekyll and Hyde the Musical in 2006, winning the East Midlands (NODA) Best Musical Award. Comments included ‘Nigel Taylor should be proud of what he & his talented cast have achieved’ and ‘possibly the best amateur musical production I have ever seen’.

There can't be many people who don't know the story of Doctor Jekyll & his experiments with human personality creating a murderous counterpart in the form of Edward Hyde. A tale of romance and the epic battle between good and evil, romance, passion, murder and chaos abound in the streets of 19th century London. Knowing he has entered the very gates of hell, the two halves of Jekyll's murderous, broken soul clash in a bitter battle for supremacy. Who will emerge victorious? Who will live or die? How do you tell evil from good?

A superb show with top quality casting, choreography, orchestration & performances Jekyll & Hyde should not be missed and that goes for people outside the normal theatre-going fraternity! Tickets from £10 are now on sale from the Melton Theatre box office 01664 851111.

Sparkenhoe Suite, County Hall Glenfield
Seminar starts 7.00pm
Buffet Reception 6.15pm

Speakers include representatives from successful Parish Community groups as well as Action Deafness, The Rural Community Council, Neighbourhood Forums and Community Forums. Displays include energy advice, Leicestershire County Council and Rural Housing. For more details contact dcook@ruralcc.org.uk

On Sunday 24 February 2008, Radio Leicester will be launching a new weekly programme on BBC Radio Leicester featuring aspects of local history. It will be broadcast on Sunday afternoons at 3.00pm.

It is hoped that the programme will involve listeners in their own research relating to their neighbourhood, families and places of work whilst also reflecting the professional and academic work taking place in our area.

Radio Leicester would also very much like to publicise public events and meetings and the activities of history groups and organisations throughout Leicestershire.

Any history-related events and courses open to listeners will definitely be included in a future programme!