The Your Community, Your Choice initiative, supported by the North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) celebrates a decade of funding projects in 2023 and to celebrate this milestone, the funding available to apply for has doubled to £120,000.

Since its inception, Your Community, Your Choice has sponsored grass-roots projects that bring people and organisations together, ultimately creating a safer environment for all.

Over the past ten years, a total of £428,792 has been awarded to 149 projects working to support the priorities in the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.

The funding available to winning projects for the next round of the initiative is increasing to a total of £120,000, shared across 33 projects.

• Four projects in each of the 6 North Wales counties will each receive £2,500
• One project in each of the 6 North Wales counties will receive £5,000
• Three pan-North Wales projects will each receive £10,000

The funding for Your Community, Your Choice comes partly from money seized by the courts through the Proceeds of Crime Act with the rest from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

VOTING IS NOW OPEN

Efenechtyd Community Council – Community Park and Play Area development project has been selected to go forward for the final public vote.

English:  www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YCYC_23

Welsh:  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ECEC_23

We hope you will vote for our project in Efenechtyd project using the links above.

Deadline for voting is  17th March 2023

You will find brief background details of each project when you cast your vote.

• Voters can either vote for their preferred project in a single county or select a project in each of the categories if they wish. It is NOT mandatory to vote for a project in each county
• Votes are restricted to one vote per device – (maximum four devices per household/ISP)

Please share this post on social media

Highways Department Denbighshire County Council  undertaking works to improve one of the Public Rights of Way footbridges in your area.

The location they are planning to work is shown above.

Footbridge 1803 – Pwllglas – Replacement of existing life expired bridge with new timber unit. Also raising the deck level to improve river flow.

Dyfed Powys Police have started to see a rise in ‘Courier Fraud’.

• Courier Fraud is not the fake DPD or Royal Mail text type scam.
• Courier Fraud involves a criminal pretending to be a police officer and phoning you.
• Courier Fraud results in a criminal collecting money or bank cards from you personally.

These frauds are predominantly aimed at those using landlines and those that will not question if the person at the other end really is who they say they are.

The current version of the fraud works by the criminal phoning the victim stating that they are a police officer and that they have someone under arrest for fraudulent use of their credit or debit card.

The criminal may state that the person in custody is a relative of the victim, and that the victim is under caution and cannot tell anyone else about the call.

The criminal will then go on to get the victim to either withdraw money for some spurious reason or gain details of their credit/debit card.

The reason it is called Courier Fraud is because the result is the criminal tells the victim that a courier will be collecting the money or card and PIN.

The courier will be the criminal – who will pretend to be a courier or the ‘police officer’ that spoke to the victim.

They will reassure the victim that the money will be held in safe keeping and be returned or refunded.

The reason for collecting the money will normally be that the bank has rogue staff that are putting counterfeit money in the withdrawals that people request.

I have attached a PDF which can be printed A3, A4 or A5 so can be used as a leaflet or poster, it is Welsh one side and English on the other.

Remember

• The police will never phone you and ask you to convey details of your debit or credit card
• The police will not caution you over the phone and ask you to collect money
• The police will not contact you to tell you your debit or credit card has been cloned
• The police, or your bank, will never ask you to withdraw money or transfer it to a different account
• The police will never ask you to reveal your full banking password or PIN
• Phone a family member or friend to make sure the line has cleared and then phone 101 to report to police
• Report it online:  https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/en/contact-us/report-an-incident/ or call 101

Courier fraud poster

The UK is currently in the midst of an unprecedented outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) and the winter migration of wild birds to the UK means that the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Surveillance of avian influenza suggests a heightened risk of Avian Influenza in Wales over the winter months. Therefore, from Friday 2 December, new compulsory biosecurity and housing requirements have been introduced for poultry and captive birds in Wales.

It is a legal requirement for all keepers to keep their birds indoors or otherwise separated from wild birds.

One way which backyard flock owners can be kept informed of the current situation and be advised of any cases in their area is to register their flock. They would also be provided with the latest advice and guidance on how to keep their flock safe.

We would be grateful if you could make your local community aware of how to register their flock, information on how to do this is outlined below.
We would also been grateful if the attached posters (Welsh and English) are placed in prominent positions within your community.

How to Register?

You must register poultry flocks of 50 or more birds that you own or are responsible for. We would strongly encourage those with less than 50 birds to register as well. They don’t have to all be the same species. This applies even if your premises are only stocked for part of the year.

You should register your poultry within one month of their arrival at your premises.

By email – Complete the registration form available at GOV.UK: Poultry (including game birds) – registration rules and forms (external website) and email it to customerregistration@apha.gsi.gov.uk.

There are guidance notes to help you complete the form. Welsh versions of the registration form and guidance notes are also available.

By phone – Ask for a registration form by contacting the GB Poultry Register Helpline on 0800 634 1112. Lines are open 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday.

For the latest update on Avian Influenza in Wales please follow this link Welsh Government: Avian influenza (bird flu) – latest update

As a community project, Brynhyfryd School Year 11 Technology students very kindly made 5 figures which have been placed around the Pwllglas and Efenechtyd area.  We are very grateful to them and their Head of Faculty, Mr I Davies.

Criminals use Welsh to try and scam you as well…

• People think that criminals only use English to try to scam people.
• Dyfed Powys Police have had reports of emails in Welsh as well as phone
  calls in Welsh from criminals trying to scam them out of money or get them
  to pay for services.

Always remember:

• The police, or your bank, will never ask you to withdraw money or transfer it to a different account.
• The police, or your bank, will never ask you to reveal your full banking
  password or PIN.
• Do not click on links or attachments in unexpected or suspicious texts or emails.
• If you get a pop-up on your computer stating you need to contact Microsoft –
  turn the machine off, wait a few minutes and then turn it on again, that will normally stop the pop-ups.
• Report suspicious emails to: report@phishing.gov.uk
• You can also report suspicious texts by forwarding the original message to 7726 (which spells SPAM on your keypad).

Royal British Legion to give veterans and their families grants of up to £2,400 to help pay bills – check if you’re eligible and how to apply

The Royal British Legion, the UK’s largest charity dedicated to supporting the Armed Forces community, has today launched a new grant scheme for veterans and their families who are struggling to pay their energy bills. The initiative will provide non-repayable emergency grants of up to £2,400 a year (£200 a month), and is available across the UK.

More details here

It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.

We send our deepest condolences to all members of the Royal Family.