Community Safety issues were the subject of a special Christmas event in Penllwyn recently, which attracted over 200 people.
Two of Caerphilly county borough’s volunteer Community Crime Fighters hosted the event at Penllwyn Millennium Centre recently (Tuesday 15th December) to promote community safety awareness in their local area, having secured a grant from the Home Office.
A number of organisations including Gwent Police, Gwent Probation Service, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, CCBC’s Trading Standards and the Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership were present at the event to provide advice and guidance on various issues.
Information on issues such as anti-social behaviour, substance misuse, bogus callers and community payback was provided, with residents also having the opportunity to put forward projects in their locality that could benefit from community payback.
The event also provided an opportunity to raise the profile of Community Crime Fighters in Caerphilly county borough, who play a vital role in creating a direct link between crime fighting agencies and the communities they serve in the county borough.
People attending the event also had the opportunity to see for themselves first hand how effective CCTV is across the borough, with a visit from the council’s mobile CCTV van.
A visit from Santa on his sleigh courtesy of Pontllanfraith Rotary Club also provided exciting entertainment for the children.
Community Crime Fighter and Penllwyn Community Partnership Secretary, Sian Woosnam said, “We were overwhelmed by the number of people that came along to support the event, who also gained some really good community safety advice from the various agencies that attended. The feedback we have gained from the event has been excellent – thanks to all who came along and showed their support.”
Cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Lyn Ackerman said, “I am delighted that the Community Crime Fighters initiative has been so well received in our county borough. We now have over 100 volunteer Community Crime Fighters who play a vital role in helping to build community confidence and work with us to further reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder levels in our area.”
Community Crime Fighters are a vital component of the Home Office’s national neighbourhood crime and justice initiative, Justice Seen Justice Done, of which Caerphilly county borough is one of the pioneer areas.
Further information on the Community Crime Fighter initiative can be found on the Safer CCB website at http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/saferccb/
