The Midland Sinfonia

Saturday 3 November 7.30pm

St Lawrence Church, Alvechurch

Tchaikovsky Serenade

We are now looking forward to our 2018-19 season; we are reverting to having our concerts on Saturday evenings with the doors opening at 7pm for a pre concert drink. We are very lucky to have a splendid professional orchestra here in Alvechurch. Concerts feature a wide variety of music from all eras. If you have not got the new programme then do pick one up in Alvechurch, the Artrix, Bromsgrove Library or have a look at the details on our website, www.midlandsinfonia.co.uk, or indeed download a copy.

Tickets: on the door £15.00, in advance £14 from ‘Gin & Pickles’, The Square, Alvechurch or online at www.midlandsinfonia.co.uk.

FT students and schoolchildren accompanying an adult free.

For more information: or 0121 447 7040

Come and meet your community police support officers.  They will be in the parish council office at 80 Hewell Road on Thursday 11th October 2018 between 10am and mid-day.

PCSO’s Stuart Taylor and Ryan East will be here to listen to residents and provide advice.

Just pop in – we look forward to seeing you.

Royal Mail want to raise awareness of scam mail in the local community.  Royal Mail never knowingly deliver scam mail, they know the distress that it can cause when received.  This type of mail is illegal and targets the most vulnerable in society and Royal Mail want to put a stop to it.

Typically, scam mail involves professional fraudsters sending convincing letters that are designed to trick people out of money or other valuables.  Scam  mail can include bogus competitions and fake prize draws.  This mail mostly originates from overseas and is hard to detect.

Royal  Mail hope to reduce the impact of scam mail on its customers by the introduction of a new industry-wide code of practice; a new clause in their bulk mail contracts; and by working with other postal operators in the UK and around the world to share intelligence and take steps to prevent it entering the UK.

You can contact Royal Mail if you are concerned that someone you know is receiving scam mail:

• Write to Royal Mail at FREEPOST SCAM MAIL enclosing any items that are suspected of being scam mail;
• Call the Royal Mail Scam Mail Helpline on 0800 0113 466;
• Email

ScamMail poster

BURGLARY.

How secure are your doors?
If you are unsure whether your front door, back door or patio doors are secure enough to prevent intruders, use this quick checklist to find out how safe they really are .
Front door

• Five lever mortice deadlock (if door over 44mm) ? check they are British Standard 3621 or European Standard EN12209
• Avoid glazed panels, replace with toughened glass or laminated glass panels
• Fit a spy hole
• Fit a door chain or limiter
• Check hinges are secure – use good long screws and consider hinge bolts

Letter boxes

• Install them no closer than 400 mm from the door lock
• Never fit a letter box to the bottom rail of a door
• Consider an internal cover plate or letter basket (with the bottom removed to prevent mail theft)

Back door

• Use 5 lever 2 bolt sash lock halfway up the door (British Standard 3621 European Standard EN 12209)
• Supplement sash lock with mortice rack bolts at the top and bottom of the door
• Avoid glass panels, use laminated panels fitted from the inside and consider grilles as well
• French doors (a burglar’s favourite!)
• Use mortice rack bolts
• Or, consider surface-mounted locking bolts
• For extra security, consider mortice sash locks
• If your doors open outwards, use hinge bolts

Patio doors (a burglar’s favourite!)

• Use extra locks if not fitted with a multi-locking system
• Anti-lift devices to avoid door being lifted from its track

Wooden doors

• British standard nightlatch – this is used to make sure the lock is dead locked
• Mortice deadlock – Frameguard: London bar: fits round the yale lock and straight down frame.
• Brum bar: flat strip lock in the middle of the door frame
• Hinge bolts: fit a hinge side below and above hinges of wooden doors
• Lock guard over mortice lock. This prevents door from splitting out (stops anyone being able to jam door)

UPVC doors

• Multi-lock three point locking system, 2 hooks, 1 top and bottom of the frame, with a latch and deadlock in the middle of the door
• You can’t fit anymore locks to UPVC doors due to the structure of the door
• Consider using a small window alarm which beeps when you enter the room
• Letterbox cage: fits to the back of a letterbox, needs a padlock to keep it secured
• Letterbox homeguard: which is made of a fire retardant material. So can resist fire if a firework is put through the door, and also blocks people getting in

Do not leave keys hanging inside the letterbox, under plant pots or doormats – these are the first places a burglar will check
Locks and bolts are only as good as the doors they are fitted to. Make sure weak rotten woodwork is replaced, and that the frame is well fixed.

Preventing burglaries is a priority for PC 1503 GINDER the Hagley and Rubery Safer Neighbourhood Officer.