February 3, 2017 2.41 pm
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Princess Anne meets team working to help victims of crime on visit to Lincoln
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal made a visit to Lincolnshire Police’s force HQ in Nettleham on Friday, February 3 to see the work of a team who help victims of crime cope and recover. She met Victim Lincs staff and talked to victims who have been supported by the specialist team. She then unveiled…
HRH Princess Anne visited the team at Lincolnshire Police HQ in Nettleham on Friday, February 3.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal made a visit to Lincolnshire Police’s force HQ in Nettleham on Friday, February 3 to see the work of a team who help victims of crime cope and recover.
She met Victim Lincs staff and talked to victims who have been supported by the specialist team. She then unveiled a plaque commemorating her visit.
Victim Lincs works in partnership with the independent charity Victim Support to ensure that people who have been affected by crime are kept informed of the progress of any investigation and get access to personalised, free and confidential emotional support and practical help.
HRH unveiled a plaque to commemorate the visit. PCC Marc Jones, Princess Anne, Olwen Edwards (Account Manager – Victim Support), Jim Peters
HRH The Princess Royal became Patron of Victim Support on October 18, 1989 and President on November 20, 2001. She regularly attends both national and local events.
Since the service was launched in Lincolnshire in October 2015 the team of eight staff help around 2,000 victims each month and receive on average 20 incoming calls every day.
The service will soon be launching a ‘Track My Crime’ system allowing victims to be able to check the progress of their investigation online.
Victim Support in Lincolnshire receives more than 14,000 referrals from Lincolnshire Police a year, in addition to those sent from other support services or victims who contact the charity directly.
HRH unveiled a plaque to commemorate the visit. Left to right is Chief Constable Bill Skelly, Olwen Edwards, Marc Jones and Chief Inspector Mark Garthwaite (EMOpSS)
HRH was invited to the county by the manager for Victim Support in Lincolnshire, Olwen Edwards, who accompanied The Princess Royal along with Chief Inspector Mark Garthwaite – who was instrumental in setting up the Victim Lincs team.
Olwen Edwards said: “It was a pleasure to host the Princess Royal today and she was very interested in the work we’re doing in the county to help people who have been affected by crime.
“Our highly trained staff and volunteers are based locally across Lincolnshire and offer free and confidential support, regardless of whether or not the crime has been reported to the police. If you’ve been affected by crime you can call the team on 0300 303 0158.”
Ch Insp Mark Garthwaite said: “It is an honour to be showing HRH The Princess Royal the work that our small Victim Lincs police staff team and our partners in Victim Support have achieved.
“From the very beginnings it was important to both organisations that the service we provided was bespoke to Lincolnshire and was the very best service for those unfortunate enough to become victims of crime.”
The service is funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones, who attended the visit and said the service deserved praise.
He added: “The work done by the team at Victim Lincs and Victim Support is making a real difference to the lives of those who have been impacted by crime.
“The staff and volunteers are dedicated to helping victims and, while it is our aim to minimize the numbers of people who fall victim to crime, it is equally important that we do everything possible to support those who do.”
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A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
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