Police target sexual predators
All areas: Children’s hospice makes Gift in Wills appeal
ALL AREAS: Thames Valley Police (TVP) is looking to prevent sexual offences across its whole force area through a new initiative called Project Vigilant.
The scheme follows a successful pilot which has already been run in Oxford and is now being rolled out to the other areas that the police force covers.
Launched in 2019, Project Vigilant targets predatory behaviour in order to prevent sexual offences taking place.
It uses a combination of uniformed and undercover officers to carry out patrols to identify people who may be displaying signs of predatory behaviour such as sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and loitering.
Uniformed officers then intervene and take positive action to discourage this behaviour, which may in- clude arrest.
Following the suc- cess of this pilot, which saw a 50 per cent reduction in rape and 30 per cent reduction in sexual assaults in the night time economy in Oxford, TVP will now start to extend the prevention scheme further as coronavirus restrictions ease and the night time economy reopens.
TVP Detective Chief Inspector James Senior said: “My team and I are committed to ensuring the local community can have an enjoyable night out without the fear of being sexually assaulted.”
If you see someone acting suspiciously, call police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or approach an officer.
SLOUGH: A new £5million youth centre will occupy central Slough after the council’s cabinet gave the green light to plans this week.
A decision was made to press ahead with the delivery of a new youth centre at Monday’s meeting to cater for Slough’s high proportion of young residents.
It is estimated that the town has the youngest population in the country, with 29 per cent aged 17 or below.
The council’s aim is to have identified a site during this 2021/22 financial year. It is anticipated that the new centre will not open until the 2022/23 financial term.
“Before the start of the COVID19 pandemic it had already been identified that young people in Slough needed access to greater facilities and opportunities tailored to them,” states the cabinet report.
“Young people of the town have told us that although there are many opportunities, these are sometimes not accessible to all.
“It was identified that an additional purpose-built facility would be required to meet the needs of young people. £5million was allocated in the 2020/21 capital budget in recognition of this need.”
Reacting to the news, Councillor Martin Carter, Slough council’s lead member for children and schools, said he was ‘delighted’ with the plans.
“Nearly one third of our residents, some 29 per cent, are aged 17 or younger and this cohort represents the future of our town this decision reaffirms our ambition to ensure that Slough’s young people get off to the best start in life and take ample opportunity of what society has to offer,” he said.
“I am delighted we have made great strides in delivering against our commitment to create a stand-alone town centre youth hub alongside a refreshed youth offer.”
Slough council says that revenue costs associated with the running of the new youth centre will be incurred from the 2022/23 financial year onwards.
“No new revenue expenditure is currently anticipated for this project during 21/22,” the cabinet report added.
A children’s hospice has asked its supporters to leave ‘legacy’ donations to the charity in their wills to ensure it can carry on helping children for years to come.
The Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, based in Snowball Hill, Maidenhead, has launched its Gift in Wills appeal to mark its 14th anniversary in the hope that its supporters become part of the charity’s legacy.
Having joined up with online will expert Beyond, the charity is giving supporters the chance to write their will for free to encourage them to leave a donation and help ensure the charity will carry on supporting children for another 14 years.
Today, the charity supports 130 children with lifelimiting and life-threatening conditions, as well as their families.
Fiona Devine, CEO and cofounder of Alexander Devine, said: “This month is a special one for our charity.
It is special because it marks the foundation of my son Alexander’s incredible legacy.
“It was 14 years ago, a year after Alexander had died, that we started on our journey to create a muchneeded children’s hospice service for Berkshire.
“Sustaining and building on his legacy is something we can’t do on our own. We rely nearly entirely on the generosity of others to make sure we can continue to provide lifeline care to those that need it.
“We hope that people will
consider this extraordinary way of giving. Something that won’t cost them anything now, but has the power to change lives in the future. Big or small, it is what these gifts achieve together that makes them so incredible.”
For more information about the free wills campaign and to download Alexander Devine’s ‘Gift in Wills guide’, visit www.alexanderdevine.org/wills or contact the fundraising team by emailing fundraising@alexanderdevine.org.