Like many other regions North East Lincolnshire was hit by last years floods, and many people had their furniture destroyed.

Fortunately a local charity was on hand to donate furniture to those who were affected.  Community Chest, has now been recognised at a national ceremony to thank the voluntary sector for their efforts during the devastating floods.

General manager Neil Cartwright and vice-chair of trustees Sylvia Moss were invited to a glittering reception at 11 Downing Street, where they were presented with a certificate for their “…outstanding contribution to the community”. 

 The furniture re-use charity worked in partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council during the June 2007 floods to co-ordinate the collection and distribution of donated furniture to communities that were affected.Mr Cartwright said:

 “We are a local home-grown charity that makes an enormous difference to the lives of individuals and households throughout our community.

“We were very pleased to be able to help by extending our furniture re-use activities in support of the local authority and wider community of North East Lincolnshire during this difficult time.

“The willingness to support those affected in this region came from all over the country”.

If you would like further information about this truly local charity and good work that it carries out in the community - get in touch with Community Chest on (01472) 268505 or visit  

www.community-chest.org.uk

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne, today accused both Labour and the Conservatives of ‘falling over each other to be tough on crime’ as he promoted his party’s new plans for stopping young people from committing crimes.The ideas outlined in the document A Life Away From Crime (The full document is available on www.libdems.org.uk) also highlight how to stop children who have been found guilty of minor offences from committing more serious crimes.

The main proposals include:

Making young people pay back the damage caused to communities without involving the criminal justice system.

The formation of a Youth Volunteer Force to engage young people in activities that benefit local people.

Running nationwide restorative justice programmes, with a particular emphasis on early intervention in schools and care homes .

Creating a dedicated PCSO youth officer in every area to work with teenagers most at risk of offending.
Targeting guns and knives through intelligence-led stop and search, hot-spot policing and action in schools.
Chris Huhne said:“If we want to tackle the problem of youth crime, we need to take action early to stop kids from embarking on a life of crime before it’s too late.

“The old parties are falling over each other trying to be tough on crime, but nothing is being done do stop young people getting sucked in to a cycle of crime.

“Ministers know that programmes to divert kids away from crime work, and are even happy to promote such projects. However, they have failed to fund them properly in favour of punitive policies that grab headlines but achieve little.

“It is time for a new approach to youth justice which both prevents crime and confronts young people with their actions if they do break the law.”

You may have read last nights Grimsby Telegraph and seen the online responses. The 73 responses were mostly attacking the North East Lincolnshire Council. In many ways the article appeared as though we were anti-smokers.

The headline used in the report was “No Butts for Litterbugs”, which I am sure antagonised many smokers. Then, it went on to say ‘Litterbugs have been fined almost £3,000 in a day of prosecutions for dropping cigarette butts. In total, 15 people were fined at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court in just one day after dropping litter on the streets of North East Lincolnshire’.

It was reported that I said: “Our community wardens will start proceedings on anybody caught dropping litter.
“This is necessary to make our streets safer and litter-free, so we can all take responsibility for the local environment, and bring back a sense of local community spirit“.
Spencer Hunt, North East Lincolnshire Council’s Service Manager for Safer Communities, said:
“Litter is unsightly, brings the whole appearance of our neighbourhoods down and reinforces people’s perception that our area is in decline.
“The council and its partners are working very hard to improve the face of North East Lincolnshire so the stance of zero tolerance fines for littering and graffiti will continue in a bid to restore pride in our communities and neighbourhoods.”

Unfortunately the newspaper article did not report any of the other good work which has been carried out by Community Wardens and our Council So far this year the Community Wardens have removed 54.8 tonnes of fly-tipped waste. They have also removed 32 burnt out vehicles and 31 abandoned vehicles. The Community Wardens have engaged 69 schools to deliver educational packages, and they also undertake diversionary activities throughout the school holidays with the aim of cutting down Anti-Social Behaviour. The Wardens have also removed 9,820 examples of graffiti on various properties across the Borough – this is only a few examples of the other work that is being done by the Wardens to improveour local environment!