With cold weather predicted this week, Warwickshire County Council have issued advice for vulnerable people:

• Severe Cold Weather Advice

A meeting to discuss reviving the Avon Dassett Soapbox Derby will be held at 9.30 am on Thursday 8th February at the Yew Tree public house.

More soldiers and civilians were killed through war, famine and disease during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651) than in the First World War in proportion to the population (3.6% against about 2%) and in arguably more traumatic circumstances yet the impact of the Civil Wars has received little attention. This project seeks to reclaim the hidden heritage of ordinary people in the parishes of the war-torn ‘frontier’ county of Warwickshire by engaging volunteers in the transcription and interpretation of an important set of documents which cover nearly 75% of the ‘old’ county’s ‘constabularies’ (roughly, the parish). The ‘Loss Accounts’ (1646/7) record losses by the parish and named individuals, in money and goods given to the Parliamentarian army through onerous taxation, loans, free quarter [board and lodging] and plunder as its troops continually marched through the county. They are an invaluable source for exploring how people made sense of this “war without an enemy” and how they suffered through the impact of continuous warfare.

The Project Manager, Dr Maureen Harris, has been working for the past year with the Dugdale Society, the ‘Friends of Warwickshire County Record Office’ and staff at WCRO, to set up the project with Heritage Lottery funding to train volunteers from several heritage, parish and civic societies, universities and U3A groups etc across Warwickshire to transcribe their local ‘Accounts’ which she will edit. They will eventually be formatted on a publicly searchable WCRO website with an accompanying Dugdale Society printed volume for which she will provide a detailed interpretative chapter, calendar of all the ‘Accounts’ and a detailed index of people and places.

There is an opportunity for 1 or 2 volunteers from villagesfor which ‘Loss Accounts’ survive and who fulfil the following criteria to take part. They should have:

• the ability to receive and send information digitally to the Project Manager
• no, or little, previous experience of visiting record offices
• no, or little, previous experience of using original records
• no, or little, previous experience of reading C17th handwriting
• a strong desire to learn more about the impact of the Civil Wars on ordinary people and in localities close to where they live
• time to spend attending training workshops and working on the ‘Accounts’ at home

The volunteers will be trained in seventeenth-century palaeography and supported personal transcription and interpretation of the ‘Accounts’ at home for their own or adjacent parishes, and asked to work with small ‘buddy’ groups from their ‘home’ institutions so their knowledge can be shared with others. The volunteers will be given the opportunity to put the ‘Loss Accounts’ into context by means of approximately monthly supportive meetings starting in May 2018 and continuing for 12 to 18 months, consisting of workshops, lectures, visits to record offices and centres for civil war study, discussion and the provision of much background material in the form of document copies and transcriptions. They will also be encouraged to use other archive sources at record offices to discover more about the people and places mentioned in their ‘Accounts’ and to share their knowledge with their ‘home’ institutions. At the end of the project, and after training in presentation, they will assist with the production of displays of what they have learned for the general public at local libraries/schools and at a public ‘launch’.

The Project Manager will be assisted by 4 or 5 members of the ‘Friends of the Warwickshire County Record Office’ who have skills to help volunteers with some aspects of the training, particularly using original records to research the named individuals in the ‘Loss Accounts’, but who themselves want to transcribe some of the ‘Accounts’ and learn more about the impact of the civil wars on ordinary people in Warwickshire.

If you would like the opportunity to be involved as a main volunteer, please contact Maureen Harris on email:  meh@maureeneharris.co.uk or phone 02476 543814 for more information

Bird flu has been detected in wild birds in Warwickshire, prompting a warning to poultry keepers.

Thirteen wild birds found dead in the county were confirmed to have the disease, leading the government to declare a bird flu prevention zone for the whole of England.

While the Food Standards Agency said bird flu did not pose a risk to food safety for people in the UK, the prevention zone aims to protect poultry keepers and other people who keep birds.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said testing of birds in Warwickshire was ongoing but it is was thought they had the H5N6 strain of the virus, which is different to the H7N9 strain which affected people in China last year.

Public Health England say the risk to public health from the H5N6 strain is “very low”.

The prevention zone means all captive bird keepers in England – whether a few in a back garden or thousands on a commercial unit – must take immediate measures and remain vigilant.

Measures all poultry keepers need to follow include cleaning footwear before and after visiting birds; placing food and water in fully enclosed areas protected from wild birds; keeping a close watch on birds for any signs of disease; and reporting any sick birds or unexplained deaths to a vet.

People can report wild birth deaths to a Defra helpline on 0345 933 5577, and bird keepers should report suspicion of disease to Apha on 0300 020 0301.

Visit www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu for further information.

This month’s newsletter gives a reminder that the consultation on the Police Precept for 2018/19 is in its final few days, as well as giving information about a meeting held by the Commissioner with Community Speed Watch groups; the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant by Warwickshire Police and reflections on the good police work that led to guilty pleas for a man who took hostages at a bowling alley in Nuneaton last year.  There’s also information about the next Citizens’ Academy which will be running in South Warwickshire later this year.

Read the newsletter >>

Allow more time for your journeys out of the village towards Burton Dassett and Fenny Compton as there are roadworks on Church Hill and to repair the broken water main by Eva’s Cottage.

“As we head towards the end of the year and the festive season, it is traditionally a time to reflect on the year past, take stock of achievements and plan for the year to come. Recently, I have had the chance to think back a little further in time, thanks to the 160th anniversary celebrations of Warwickshire Police. It’s often said that – despite being one of the smallest forces in the country – here in Warwickshire we punch above our weight. I believe this to be as true today as it has been over the life of Warwickshire Police – and as one of the oldest county police forces in continuous operation, that’s something to be proud of.

Fundamentally, a police force is only strong because of the quality of its people. Just how exceptional our people are was reinforced at the celebration event, when Chief Constable Martin Jelley commended a range of outstanding individuals for their actions over the past year. Bravery, perseverance, dedication and compassion were the hallmarks of all of the good work highlighted, too numerous to mention here but I’d urge you to visit the force website for full details of all those commended.

It was also with great pleasure that I was able to announce the inaugural winner of my Award for Excellence in Policing and Community Safety as PC Martin Rone-Clarke, Warwickshire Police?s Gypsy and Traveller Liaison Officer. Martin has been a key figure working with my office and partners to help launch the new county-wide protocol which seeks to ensure a co-ordinated response to the rise in unauthorised encampments in Warwickshire.

This year he has interacted personally with the occupants of 122 unauthorised encampments, which collectively have had more than 1,100 caravans. In identifying the best way to deal with encampments effectively, lawfully and in a fair way to both the settled and travelling communities, he has helped break down many of the traditional communications barriers that can exist.

I have seen for myself Martin’s exceptional skills at diffusing the tensions that can exist when an unauthorised encampment takes place. He is equally at ease talking to a packed community hall of local residents as he is members of the travelling community.

He is a very deserving winner but overall I was very pleased with the depth and quality of all of the nominations I received, which came from within policing and also from partner organisations and the public. In total we had 14 strong candidates for the award, ranging from individuals working in local communities to teams investigating some of the most difficult cases and complex areas of crime. It made the task of choosing a winner very difficult but I will be ensuring that all of those nominated do receive appropriate recognition for their outstanding work in due course.

Looking to the future, 2018 will see a number of new milestones, as Warwickshire Police continues on its programme of modernisation with the continued roll out of the new technology I have funded and the opening of our new control centre in Warwick, both exciting developments which will help officers and police staff in keeping communities safe. There remain considerable challenges ahead for policing, both nationally, regionally and locally, not least in terms of rising levels of crime and the increased threats from terrorism and cyber-related offences. All of these challenges are having to be met at a time when there are considerable pressures on police finances and I have continued to lobby for fair funding for Warwickshire Police (including to the Home Secretary last week, as detailed on our website).

While there was no specific news for policing in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, details of the national police funding settlement will be released later this month, which will enable me to begin consultation on next year’s budget for policing locally, including the amount you contribute through your council tax. I’ll be making clear the pressures on police resources as part of this and will update you in a special edition of this newsletter once all the details are known, so watch this space.

In the meantime, it just remains for me to wish you all a very happy and safe festive period and an enjoyable New Year.

For more information on PCC activities and events, please visit the Warwickshire Police & Crime Commissioner’s website:

http://www.warwickshire-pcc.gov.uk/category/pcc-news/

Philip Seccombe TD
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner

There will be live music at the Yew Tree on Sunday 17th December from the Doc Emmet Brown Trio from 8pm.

The trio receive consistent praise for their renditions of cover songs by artists such as David Bowie, Paul Simon, Hank Williams, Blondie, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Richard Thompson, The Police, REM, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Gnarls Barkley, Kings of Leon, to name but a few.

The Warwickshire Local Welfare Scheme helps the most vulnerable residents at times of unavoidable crisis.

It provides basic and essential help for food and energy. This is provided either in emergency food parcels or with credit for energy. It is not a cash benefit­.

The Scheme also provides help to those whose needs are more long term, who are vulnerable through an ongoing set of circumstances rather than an immediate crisis.

This includes people that are care leavers, victims of domestic violence, former armed forces personnel, or those resettling in a community after a custodial term. Help might take the form of help in furnishing accommodation with basic furniture and appliances.

The Local Welfare Scheme will also signpost customers in the direction of other agencies and organisations who can offer help and support.

Some families who are struggling financially and are eligible for free school meals have difficulty covering the period when their children are off school.

This Scheme is therefore an opportunity to reach and help those most in need over the Christmas and New Year period by supporting families with the cost of food for their children over the school holidays.

The eligibility criterion for this offer over the school holiday is that parents are registered for free school meals (not universal FSM) before 15^th December 2017.

The telephone contact number is 0800 408 1448 or 01926 359182. When calling, please make reference to the eligibility for free school meals and explain how you are struggling financially.

Applications will be accepted from Monday 18^th December 2017 to Friday 5^th January 2018 inclusive.

If you have any questions on any of the above please contact Leanne Silverwood on either of the above numbers of via email –warwickshirelocalwelfarescheme@warwickshire.gov.uk.