Community Engagement
Community Engagement
The BCEF supports and attends many events and initiatives right across the Borough to reach out, engage, consult and promote the work it does and the merits of working together.
Details of just a few are shown below.....
Protect mobile phones
Encourage young people to protect their mobile phones by registering them with a database which can then easily be checked by police in case of theft.
Operation School Bike 9th June 2011
This is an initiative of the Bromley Borough Safer Transport Team and was supported from an early stage by the BCEF. The initiative was launched at Charles Darwin School, Biggin Hill.
The objective is to obtain economically repairable bikes from around the Borough, have them serviced and then locate them at participating schools in the Borough.
The bikes remain the property of the school and are loaned to students who use them to travel to an from school, instead of using buses or family transport. The initiative alleviates overcrowding on buses and promotes health and exercise.
BCEF Chairman Judith Cross said "The BCEF recognised the value of this initiative and was pleased to support the Safer Transport Team in bringing it to fruition". We hope more schools will take part and others will donate bikes in support"
Community Outreach Day 26 April 2011
Another Community Outreach Day was held on 26 April
in the Glades
with
some interesting findings. There was much praise for the Police Teams
and the work they have done around anti social behaviour problems. In
previous Outreach Days, there was great concern about safety on public
transport and the perception of high crime, whereas these figures show
the public’s perception that crime on buses has fallen and generally
feel safer travelling on buses in the borough. Passengers travelling on
bus route 208 in particular, which was previously subject to much public
concern, praised the Safer Transport Team for their efforts and now feel
safe during the day. This is also the first Outreach Day where ‘cold
callers’ have been identified as a public safety issue on this borough.
To read a copy of the survey findings, click here.
Local firms donate car to Darwin SNT
Bromley Police are pleased to announce the donation of a new police vehicle
to the Darwin Safer Neighbourhood Team to assist the patrolling of their
Ward. Local firms Kelsey Publishing and Allan White Motors Ltd, who trade
as Capital Car Van and Truck Rental, are sponsoring the vehicle for the
forthcoming year.
The official ceremony marking this successful partnership was held today, the 14th December 2010 at the Cudham Lane Tithe Barn, home of Kelsey Publishing. It was attended by the sponsors, the Darwin Safer Neighbourhood Team, members of their ward panel and representatives from the local community. The keys to the car were handed over to Sergeant Katey Martin, head of the Darwin Safer Neighbourhood Team, by Gordon Wright, the Executive Chairman of Kelsey Publishing, and Allan White, the owner of Allan White Motors Ltd.
Chief Inspector Carron Schusler, head of Bromley's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, said: "Darwin is a very unique ward, three times the size of some boroughs, and without local support providing this vehicle the visibility of the team would be limited across such a vast area. Safer Neighbourhood Teams play a big part in helping maintain the quality of life in their communities, providing a policing presence, response and reassurance that is not measurable. I would like to thank Kelsey Publishing, Allan White Motors and the local community for supporting the team in this way".
Judith Cross, Chairman of the Bromley Community Engagement Forum and a Darwin resident, said: "This is the community working together with the police, which is so important in wards like Darwin, and is a further demonstration of the good relationship that exists between the police teams, the ward panel, and the local community".
Bromley Street Pastors prepare for busy Christmas
period
In teams of three to six people, with ages ranging from late 20s to mid 60s, they help people who have had too much to drink, intervene in disputes, and notify police of any dangerous situations. Jonathan McGill, who co-ordinates the pastor scheme in Bromley, said: “At this busy time of year, it is important we are there to help people who need us so they can safely enjoy the Christmas period.”
(News Shopper 17/11/10)
Community Outreach Day - 11th September 2010
The BCEF held another very successful Community Outreach Day
on Saturday 11 September at the Glades Shopping Centre in Bromley. The full
survey results are published below, but briefly the categories explored on
the questionnaire were:
- What affects your feeling of safety most? (Drug abuse 19%; Anti social behaviour 73%; Vandalism 25%; speeding cars 24%; car crime 10%; Burglary 13%)
- Do you notice Police Patrolling on foot in your area? (Never 12%; Seldom 10%; Occasionally 47%; All the time 29%)
- Do you feel safe using public transport? (See below)
- Do you know how to get hold of Police if you need to, without using 999? (yes 59%; no 41%)
- Do you live in LBB? (75% yes)
Regarding travelling on public transport, from 129 questionnaires: 65 felt safe; 64 did not feel safe. Further questioning on this revealed that people felt safe travelling on buses during the day, but not at night. On previous Outreach days travelling by bus had been a concern for many, especially route 208 and congratulations must go to the Safer Transport Team for making people feel safe during the day – route 208 was mentioned when feeling safe.
We
also asked if people were willing to volunteer their services and we have a
database of potential volunteers. If you are looking for volunteers for
your organisation, please contact me to see if we can
assist
you with this database.
Thank you to everyone who helped out on the day in making this Community Outreach Day a success – particularly:
Brenda Thompson, Pushpa Hillman, Peter Toy, Irving Radnor, Sid Piggott, Charmaine Dennis, Heather Dunnett, and the Safer Transport Team who worked with us throughout the day. Also, thanks to Paul Ellis from TSRS for compiling the data.
More details from the survey can be found by clicking here
Amanda Evans, Operations Manager
Message in a bottle comes to Bromley
The
Safer Bromley Partnership, supported by the Bromley Community Engagement
Forum (BCEF) and Bromley Police's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, have launched a
potentially life-saving "Message in a bottle" scheme. The kits - aimed at
elderly or vulnerable residents - contain a form designed to help emergency
services in the event of an incident in the home. It contains information,
filled in by the resident, such as an individual's medication, allergies,
illnesses, GP and next of kin details.
The bottle, which is to be kept in the fridge, is accompanied by stickers that are displayed on the inside entrance to the individual's home and on the fridge door, to notify the emergency services that the occupier has a message in a bottle. Kits will be available through members of the Safer Bromley Partnership and will also be made available at health centres, doctors' surgeries and chemists across the borough.
PCSO Rosaleen Ryan from the Darwin Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "I am passionate about promoting this scheme as it is a potential life saver. The borough of Bromley has the largest elder population in London and the bottles will be a great help to the emergency services. They will save valuable time in finding out who someone is if they are unconscious and whether they have any special medication or allergies. The scheme is also reassuring to local residents who can take comfort in knowing we will be able to immediately contact their next of kin".
Judith Cross, Chair of the BCEF, said: "I hope that a lot of people will benefit from this worthy scheme. When you hear about such terrible stories as the lady and her disabled daughter who tragically died recently, you realise just how important community initiatives are. Helping people to feel safe is among our top priorities. A clever idea like this can help saves lives and give family and friends the reassurance that those they care about will receive the help they need in an emergency".
Look out for a lonely neighbour
Howard Clark, (then) Executive Chairman said “We hope the start of this campaign will remind people the importance of watching out for your neighbours who might live on their own." He added “The concerning fact is that a number of Accident and Emergency admissions are older people who have fallen in their home and are not found for a number of hours or even days.”
“The lights might be on, but is the person behind the door ok? Taking the time to check could save a life” will also be passed to Safer Neighbourhood Panels and Teams across the borough to help remind the residents how important this is. The BCEF have partnered with a local promotions company to help raise this important message and are using advertising bikes over a series of weekends in the town centre also highlighting the return of the Metropolitan Polices’ Operation Bumblebee to tackle burglary and the reminder to secure your property.
Supporting Multi Faith
The
Safer Bromley Faith Forum was established by the Bromley Community
Engagement Forum and the Safer Bromley Partnership. Its role is to help
ensure all members of the faith communities in the Borough of Bromley are
fully aware of the initiatives and opportunities available to residents in
keeping the area a safe and pleasant place to live, work, learn and play.
The Support Card, details contact information about the various organisations operating in Bromley offering support and advice to residents.
It should be kept for future reference and given to colleagues to use in their work in engaging with the local community.
For more details, please contact the BCEF.