Archived press release

Date Published: 20/01/06

A popular service which carries out free home security checks for the over-60s has received a funding boost from a former local neighbourhood watch group. Aylesbury Vale District Council’s Home Service has been given a donation of more tha...

A popular service which carries out free home security checks for the over-60s has received a funding boost from a former local neighbourhood watch group.

Aylesbury Vale District Council’s Home Service has been given a donation of more than £1500 from the now defunct Buckingham & Winslow Neighbourhood Watch Association.

The neighbourhood watch group closed last year and chose to donate its remaining funds to a worthwhile scheme.

Since its launch in 1997, the council’s Home Service has gone from strength to strength, providing and installing door and window locks and smoke alarms for householders over the age of sixty years.

The donation from the neighbourhood watch association will be used to publicise the service so the council can help many more elderly people throughout the Vale feel safer in their homes.

Michael Edmonds, Cabinet Member for Housing at AVDC, said: “The Home Service has proved a huge success since its launch eight years ago and hundreds of pensioners have already benefited from the service. We are delighted to receive this donation, which will allow us to publicise the service more widely to those who need it most. It will really help us out and prove beneficial to the older residents.”

Helen Thomas, Neighbourhood Watch Administrator for the Aylesbury Vale area, said: “It’s unfortunate that the neighbourhood watch association had to close. However, many independent schemes still operate across the Buckingham and Winslow areas, with volunteers acting as street co-ordinators. The donation from the association is going to a cause that will benefit local people and help reduce crime.”

For more information about the home service, residents should call 01296 585110 or visit the council’s website at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk

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