Highly trained teams are hunting properties that are easy to break into – luckily they are police officers giving home security advice to absent minded residents. 

Waltham Forest’s police Safer Neighbourhood Teams and the Council’s community safety team have worked together to produce hundreds of cards which can be used to identify how a home is vulnerable to burglars. 

The Safer Neighbourhood Team officers patrol the borough until they spot a vacant home that could be easily broken into.

They fill in a card and post it through the letter box to advise the owner how to secure their property more effectively. 

Although burglary is down in Waltham Forest over the last year,research shows that most homes that are broken into during the summerare targeted because doors or windows are left open. 

The new scheme is a simple but effective way of tackling a very upsetting crime.

Each card has a number of tick boxes about problems like windows being left open. Police officers will tick the relevant box and post the card.  Residents are likely to be a bit surprised to find these cards lying on their doorstep, but it’s better than coming home to find you’ve been robbed by burglars. 

To find out more about home security ring the Council’s Community Safety Team on 020 8496 3000 or your Police Safer Neighbourhood Team on 020 8556 8855

Hard working schools in partnership with the Council have implemented plans to reduce congestion, improve road safety and encourage walking to school.

All 88 schools in Waltham Forest successfully introduced their travel plans, one year ahead of the government targets.Waltham Forest Council’s School Travel Planning Team hosted a celebration event at the SCORE centre to mark the achievement and identify and reward schools with particularly good plans.The event was attended by schools’ representatives, senior councillors and council officers. 

 Performers ranging from clowns to jugglers and trick cyclists kept everyone entertained.

Over the past 20 years the number of children travelling to school by car has almost doubled and account for at least one in five cars on London’s roads between 8-9am and 3-4pm during term time.The Council also wants to encourage young people to socialise with their friends and get some exercise on the way to school as well as cut congestion and car use.In the last year there has been a 4.9 per cent drop in the number of pupils who travel to school by car.

The aims of the school’s travelplans are to:

•  Reduce traffic congestionaround schools and encourage people not to use cars on the school run
•  Increase the number of children walking, cycling andusing public transport while travelling to and from school
• Raise awareness of road safety and the health and environmental benefits of using alternative transport for the journey to and from school