Last Friday (21 October), PCC Mark Shelford met with local community groups in the Bath and North East Somerset area.

The PCC started his day meeting Swallow Charity at one of their community cafes in Radstock. The charity supports teenagers and adults with learning disabilities and provides them with the opportunity to gain useful work experience and catering skills in the café's kitchen and front of house.

The café also runs a regular youth group every Friday evening and everyone who helps with the running of this group are volunteers.

PCC Mark Shelford then met with B&ANES Age UK to discuss his role as the national APCC lead for Economic and Cybercrime as well a how his team and the organisation can work together to prevent older and vulnerable people becoming victims of fraud.

In the afternoon, PCC Mark Shelford met with the Chair of the Lansdown Crescent Association and Chair of Circus Residents' Association to listen to their concerns regarding anti-social behaviour in Kingsmead Square.

The PCC encouraged the residents to always report incidents to help inform the police's and multi-agencies' preventative work and discussed CCTV and ongoing communication with the Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Finally, the PCC was interviewed by local radio station Radio Bath to discuss ongoing work happening to deliver Police and Crime Plan priorities. The interview will be available to listen to on: https://radiobath.com/  

PCC Mark Shelford: "I thoroughly enjoyed my most recent engagement day in Bath and North East Somerset and it was great meeting such a varied group of community groups and local residents.

"I was particular impressed with the work of Swallows Charity, both in terms of the opportunity they provide to local residents and the work the volunteers do with young people in the area."