Money News

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has teamed up with Age UK by funding the purchase of specialist telephones which prevent scam callers from connecting to potentially vulnerable individuals and in turn, preventing fraudsters from deceiving older people out of money via telephone scams.

The specialist devices have an inbuilt scam calling blocker, preventing known incoming scam numbers from being able to connect to the client’s home telephone number.

March is Free Wills Month, and Carers in Bedfordshire and McClure Solicitors have teamed up to offer a free service, all year round.

Free Wills Month allows those aged 55 and over to get a solicitor-drafted (or updated) will for free.

A Cranfield postman living with a brain tumour, and his wife, also a key worker, are taking centre stage in a charity’s campaign to find a cure for the devastating disease.

Matt Shanley, 46, and Julie, 36, who works in Thames Valley Police’s control room, are helping the national charity Brain Tumour Research celebrate its Wear A Hat Day campaign for 2021.

‘Make Things Right’ will help residents raise complaints if they are unhappy with their landlord and struggling to get problems resolved, with clear advice on how to progress issues to the Housing Ombudsman if necessary.

Robert Smith, of alternative rock band The Cure, is selling off prints of his original artwork to raise money for Heart Research UK.

Robert became a patron of the charity in 2020, following his involvement with the charity’s anonymous heART project over the past 2 years

Andrew Poole, an Army veteran living in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, will be pulling on his boots next month to March in March. This is the annual fundraiser for the UK veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress.

Local charity Carers in Bedfordshire is supporting Carers UK’s campaign. This launched today (Wednesday 10 February) and calls upon the Government to address the financial hardship faced by many unpaid carers.

Carers UK is calling for a £20 a week supplement to the Carer’s Allowance, which would help carers manage both the higher costs of caring and the lack of services available to help them stay in work.

Citizens Advice research has found that more than one in six people are struggling to afford their broadband during the third lockdown.

This comes at a time when people are more reliant on broadband to work, teach their children and order essentials.

Bedfordshire’s frontline services have issued a warning to residents across the county as criminals seize the current opportunity of the pandemic to use the vaccination programme to create new scams.

These scams could cheat people out of their life savings and put people in danger.

Buying or rehoming a cute puppy may seem a good idea and a welcome addition to a family, but Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents to be aware of illegal imports.

Last week, officers had to quarantine an illegally imported puppy because it had not received a rabies vaccination before coming to the UK. The second time in four months they have had to take such action.