Archive for category: News

Volunteer Opportunity: Help Support Wildlife-Friendly Grazing at Lark Rise Farm

The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) is seeking volunteers to support a new conservation grazing initiative at Lark Rise Farm, near Barton.

A flock of hardy Hebridean sheep has just arrived on the farm to help manage and restore species-rich grasslands. Their grazing plays a vital role in promoting biodiversity and improving habitat conditions for a range of wildlife. To support this, we are now looking for Livestock Lookering Volunteers to assist with basic welfare checks.

What does the role involve?

Volunteers carry out simple daily visual checks on the sheep, ensuring they have access to water and feed, that fencing is secure, and observing for any signs of ill health or safety concerns.

No prior livestock experience is necessary, just an interest in the outdoors and a willingness to observe and report. An initial briefing and training will be provided, and ongoing support is available from CRT staff.

Flexible and meaningful volunteering

The rota is designed to be flexible and can be adapted to suit individual availability, even checking the sheep once a month would be a great help. Volunteers must be aged 18 or over.

This role offers a fantastic opportunity to connect with nature, support sustainable farming, and become part of a passionate community, working to protect and enhance our local landscape.

For more information and to apply, please visit:
https://crt.goassemble.com/opportunities/91469-livestock-lookering-volunteer-2025-06-17 For queries, please contact: ku.oc1777312207.trce1777312207ht@re1777312207etnul1777312207ov1777312207

 

 

Rebecca Dutton

PR & Policy Officer

01223 651215

Several meetings have been held between the Parish Council, Business groups, the GCP, M Group and CCC Street works over the last few weeks. Following on from these meetings and subsequent discussions, changes have been made to the works and management of traffic flows during future phases.

Currently we are still in phase one with New Road closed to traffic. M Group have added teams, will work extended hours and work weekends over the next ten days or so to complete the New Road section to a level where the road can be reopened. Modifications to a 90 m section close to the 40/20 mph transition at the Burwash/Kings Grove end had to be made and as well as remedial work to install new ducting for street lights along the entire length. The 90 m modification builds the shared pavement out into the road narrowing of the carriageway. This is a better design and is welcomed as it should impact traffic speed entering the village and 20 mph zone. New Road is expected to be open by 16th June at the latest.

The next phases of the Greenway project include the Kings Grove/Burwash Manor entrance area, drainage repair along New Road near to The Hoops, and new layout for School Lane and High Street junctions to include removing the slip road. These will be phase two and phase three of the project.

Detailed discussions and walk through took place with M Group and CCC Street works. It is essential that traffic management around these works minimizes disruption to business and that they can take place under 2-way temporary lights and not 4- or 5-way lights as originally proposed. We believe a way has been found to work under 2-way lights across all sections allowing traffic flows along Comberton Road, New Road and High Street. There will be restricted access on School Lane at some stage for a short period of time. All relevant parties will be informed when that happens.

Just a reminder that No Parking is still in force on High Street to ease traffic flows and will continue during the rest of the works.

Plans are still available on the GCP website and your Parish Council has hardcopies of these. However, these are subject to minor changes. The GCP also plan to present the traffic management to the public for the rest of the scheme. We will let you know when they have a date for that.

Contact the Parish Council if you have any questions.

Hello Everyone,

As of April 2025, the total number of phishing scams reported to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) reached over 41 million since its launch in April 2020. This has resulted in 217,000 scams being removed from across 393,395 websites pages by the National Cyber Security Centre.

Insight revealed by Action Fraud shows the top industries impersonated in reported phishing emails were streaming services, tech and telecommunication companies, with some posing as various UK government schemes.

Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting service, launched a phishing awareness campaign to urge the public to beware of phishing scams and report all emails and messages if they look suspicious.

Spam calls and suspicious text messages can be reported too. By using 7726, a free service offered by mobile network providers, customers can forward suspicious text messages, which helps the removal of scam websites and allows networks to block users sending scam text messages. Between April 2020 and April 2025, more than 27,000 scams were removed as a result of being reported using 7726.

Superintendent Amanda Wolf, Head of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau at the City of London Police, said: 

“We know it can be difficult to spot fake messages or tell if a call is genuine. Criminals can change tactics fast and use the technology available to constantly create genuine looking emails and messages or facilitate calls that feel authentic – all designed to trick us and try and steal personal and financial information.

“Every phishing email reported helps us gain a better understanding of the tactics being used and enables us to tackle it head on by identifying malicious URLs trending in phishing emails and texts – they can be taken down and disrupted, preventing further activity. The more reports received, the more people we can protect, preventing them from becoming victims.

“Don’t get caught out, Stop, Think Fraud, and make sure you report suspicious-looking emails or messages if you receive them. You can forward emails to ku.vo1777312207g.gni1777312207hsihp1777312207@trop1777312207er1777312207, or forward spam text messages to 7726.”

 

Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Economy and Society Resilience, said:

“Since 2020, over 41 million phishing attempts have been reported to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service — a powerful sign that the public is staying alert to online threats, helping to protect themselves and others.

“But cyber criminals aren’t giving up – they’re constantly finding new ways to trick people into clicking malicious links, sharing personal information, or handing over money.

“That’s why it’s more important than ever to stay alert. You’ll find clear, practical advice on how to spot and report scams – and how to stay secure online – on the NCSC website.”

 

What is phishing?

‘Phishing’, ‘quishing’ or ‘smishing’ is when criminals use fake emails, text messages, QR codes, or phone calls to trick victims.

The goal of a phishing message is to encourage the victim to click a malicious link, or scan a fraudulent QR code, which usually leads them to a genuine-looking website, designed to make victims part way with their financial and/or personal information. Criminals will use well-known brands or organisations the victim already has a connection with, like a bank or tradesperson, to make fake emails seem genuine and more convincing.

 

How can you protect yourself?

If you’ve received an email that doesn’t feel right, STOP! 

·  break the contact – don’t reply, click on any links, call any phone numbers or make any payments

·  check if it’s genuine: contact the organisation directly using an email address or phone number you know is correct, e.g. from your utility bills, via a search engine, on the back of your card or by calling 159 for banks

·  before you delete the email, forward it to ku.vo1777312207g.gni1777312207hsihp1777312207@trop1777312207er1777312207

If you’ve received a text message that doesn’t feel right, STOP! 

·  break the contact – don’t reply, click on any links, call any phone numbers or make any payments

·  check if it’s genuine: contact the organisation directly using an email address or phone number you know is correct, e.g. from your utility bills, via a search engine, on the back of your card or by calling 159 for banks

·  forward the message for free to 7726

If you’ve received a call that doesn’t feel right, STOP! 

·  hang up

·  check if it’s genuine: contact the organisation directly using contact details you know are correct, such as those on a utility bill, official website, the back of your card or by calling 159 for your bank

·  don’t trust the Caller ID display on your phone – it’s not proof of ID

·  report it by sending a text to 7726 with the word ‘call’ followed by the scam caller’s number

For more advice on how to protect yourself from fraud: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk/

If you’ve lost money or provided financial information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

You leave your house, upset. You can’t remember why, but you’re wearing your slippers and no jacket. You don’t have a phone, or any money with you.

You end up in a street that’s familiar to you, but you’re not sure why. It’s now dark. You turn and face one way, then another – then struggle to remember where exactly it was that you came from. Was it two streets away? Three? More than that?

This is the reality for many people living with dementia or Alzheimer’s in Cambridgeshire. There are more than 10,000 people in our county doing so.

Over the past year we’ve highlighted many examples just like this, and thanked kind-hearted members of the public who have taken time out of their day to help the vulnerable person, called us and helped reunited them with their loved ones.

Do you know someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s? A smart wristband will be issued to hundreds of the most vulnerable members of our community as part of a new project.

This week is the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Action Week and we’re highlighting these new wristbands and the Herbert Protocol.

Have you heard of it? It’s a scheme we support that can help find people with dementia if they go missing.

It encourages family and friends to keep a document that will help officers in the event a loved one goes missing by collating key pieces of information, such as a physical description, familiar places, health details and an up-to-date photo.

To read more about the new scheme, and to complete our new Herbert Protocol form for a family member or loved one and register your interest in a dementia wristband, see our website.

Kind regards,

Following on from our meeting between Peter Blake (Interim Director of GCP), Jonathan Camp (Senior Project Manager GCP), business leaders, farmers representatives, and local councillors last Friday, it was agreed that New Road should remain closed until Greenways works are completed on that stretch (phase 1).

A further meeting was held (Thursday 24 May) with the GCP team, Milestone Area Manager, CCC Streetworks and Permitting team, Barton Business and Barton Parish Council representatives. The contractor (Milestone Infrastructure) revealed that New Road works will now not be completed until 11 June as they had to action remedial work and redesign sections near to trees. Plans for phase 2, 3 and 4 were also discussed. Robust talks and some hard truths presented to the participants from Barton representatives with subsequent intervention from CCC Streetworks Manager, means that action to speed up remedial work on New Road will happen. A detailed review of plans for the next phases (2, 3 and 4) will be worked on over the weekend and Bank Holiday for a face-to-face site visit and review next week.

Barton Parish Council would like to thank Lisa Reddup (our District Councillor) and Chris Morris (new County Councillor) for their support in ensuring these meetings with the GCP take place.