Community safety champion receives recognition for work in scams awareness

Community, Democracy and Local Affairs, Health and Social Care
Cllr Noel Brown, centre, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health presents certificates to Stan Jones, left, Chairman of the High Wycombe and District Neighbourhood Watch and Geoff Pegg, right, Director of Operations in recognition of their work in standing up to scams.

Mention the words Neighbourhood Watch anywhere in the High Wycombe area and the name that comes to everyone’s lips is Geoff Pegg. On Thursday, Geoff’s hard work and commitment to raising awareness of scams to local residents singled him and the Wycombe group out forrecognition and praise from theCounty Council.

Geoff, Director ofOperations at the Wycombe District Neighbourhood WatchAssociation was presented with a certificate at the County Council’s Annual General Meeting,registering the group as an official Friends Against Scams organisation.

FriendsAgainst Scams is a National Trading Standardsinitiative which aims to protect and preventpeoplefrom becoming victims of scams byencouraging communities totake a stand by empowering them to recognise and know how to deal with potential scams.

The presentation also recognisedGeoff’s significant personal commitment to the cause and his work in overseeing thetraining ofmembers of theHighWycombe group to proactivelygo out and speak to local communities about how to protectthemselves.

With nearly 700 schemes and twice as many coordinators, the Wycombe Neighbourhood Watch Associationis one of the biggest voluntary groups in the county with much of this growth due to the dedication of Geoff and his colleagues. In addition to traditional street schemes Geoff has encouraged a scheme at Bucks New University and in a number of residential care homes. Since he became a Scam Champion in November 2016 Geoff has trained 961 Friends at 42 separate events.

Noel Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health said: “If you mention Neighbourhood Watch in High Wycombe, people instantly think of Geoff which isa suretestament to his tireless workfor many years across thedistrictin the name of community safety.

“I’m sure I can speak on behalf of all the residents of High Wycombe and beyond who have benefitted from Geoff’s efforts to say thank you. Without a doubt these efforts have helped numerous people from falling victim to devious scams.”