East October 2015

News Ipad gifts for

young patients REPRESENTATIVES from Pro- Health Therapy Rooms in Maid- stone have handed over equipment worth £4,000 to the Riverbank chil- dren’s unit at Maidstone Hospital. The moneywas raised through a charity evening at The Townhouse Hotel in King Street, which cele- brated the company’s third birth- day. The event, attended by about 150 clients, featured a charitywax- off, a raffle and auction, a barbe- cue, fire breathers and more. ProHealth owner Nicola Elliott

said: "We were able to buy 12 Ipads, cases, security stations and iTunes vouchers and we hope that the children on the ward will get lots of enjoyment from them.” Health play specialist Vicki Bel-

ton said: “The Ipads will be used as a distraction tool to keep the children calm and happy whilst on the unit and Iknowthey will really enjoy them.”

Garage agreed

PLANNING permission was granted for a detached garage at The Old Rectory, Church Road, Otham. The scheme will see the loss of two trees – a holly andswampcy- press – but Maidstone Council’s planning officer report said neither warranted protection.

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Campaign to clamp down on scammers

AHIGH-profile campaign is being launched in Maidstone to alert res- idents to the dangers of scammers. Recent research has revealed that scammers are making more than £10 billion per year from a variety of scams, tricking unsuspecting householders out of their savings and

hard-

earned cash. The youngest known victim in Maidstone is 47 and the eldest aged 98 – but many victims are so embar-

rassed at having been duped, they are unwilling to admit it. Martin Sherwood (pictured), community warden for Bearsted, Harrietsham and Lenham, spent two hours with one elderly lady who said she had been too afraid and embarrassed to tell her family what had happened. He said: “It’s important that these

things are talked about openly in families so everyone is aware of what is going on and what kind of

tricks are out there.A reluctance to discuss it is one sure sign that some- thing is going on and people need to be aware of that.” Information packs, including a

DVD, are available as part of a na- tionwide alert “Think Jessica”, based on the story of one elderly lady whowas conned out of cash. Jessica was repeatedly tricked

into sending cash and making money transfers to criminals in the space of five years. When she died, aged 83, shewas stillwaiting for her promised prizes – and almost 30,000 scam letters were removed from her home. “Her family tried to make her un- derstand she was being scammed but the psychology the criminals used was so powerful that she re- fused to believe it,” said Martin. Although scammers tend to tar-

get the elderly and vulnerable, no- body is immune, he said. In one part of the country, a 17-year-old was tricked into parting with money. Kent County Council and the Trading Standards Institute have

joined forces with Action Fraud in the “Think Jessica” campaign and Martin, along with other commu- nity wardens, has advisory leaflets on the differing types of scam. These include lottery and prize

draw scams, clairvoyant scams, cat- alogue and brochure scams, courier scams, bank and building society scams, PPI scams, parcel delivery scams and prize-holding scams. If you have been caught out once,

the dangers intensify as scammers make lists of the people they have tricked – called “suckers lists” – which they then sell to other scam- mers worldwide, resulting in more mail and fake phone calls. They even create convincingwebsites. Martin said: “You do not have to

get into any discussions over the phone with anyone – and never give out personal information. Keep your business your business.” The Maidstone community war-

dens are happy to spend time ex- plaining the types of scams to concerned residents. Details of your local warden can be found on the KCCwebsite, www.kent.gov.uk.

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