Opinion: Can you make a difference?

Recently a fantastic group of ladies from HSBC took a day out with backing from their bosses to clear a particular litter hotspot at Stanground Lode where it meets the footpath between Whittlesey Road and Church Street. A huge number of bags were filled and the area was given a new lease of life.

Three months on and the litter has returned, prompting one resident to comment that there was no hope for us. Coincidentally another resident contacted me to help arrange for bags (and their collection) so they could clear the mess again.

So yes, is the resounding answer there is hope, we just need to find more people to stand up and make a difference.

Now, these are just two stories of residents. There are hundreds of people across our fine city like this working hard to not let the rot set in. Most of whom neither seek nor get the recognition they deserve. Doing litter picks, running community centres, shopping for neighbours, the list is endless and vital.

If you, like them, are concerned about the state of our communities, be it the way our areas look or how there are people not receiving the support they need, then please ask yourselves “what can I do to make a difference?” It doesn’t have to be huge; start small and see where that leads you; you might surprise yourself!

Another big concern with people across the city is the increase in antisocial behaviour and crime, with the added frustration of a 101 and webchat service that is simply not fit for purpose. Now it would be easy to blame the police, but the sad reality is a woeful lack of investment by our Conservative government to provide the necessary funding for the Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

Our area is underfunded due to an increase in population that just hasn’t been taken into consideration. This leaves our communities under protected and our hard-working police officers overstretched without sufficient backup when things go wrong.

We have a situation currently where we are told by the Police that no one is reporting incidents, when they are shutting down the webchat service due to call volumes and keeping people holding for over half an hour on the 101 service, people understandably give up and then in the future see no reason to bother even trying.

It is vitally important that you do still try, but also encourage your friends and neighbours to do so as well, please don’t assume that someone else is reporting an incident so you don’t need to. In order to prioritise the force’s reaction to an incident one of the factors they look at is the number of calls about it.

Our Police and Crime Commissioner is up for re-election next year (assuming he stands, none of the previous incumbents has done so). It would be good to see what he can achieve between now and May to improve this vital service.

No wonder we are being told that crime figures are coming down, is it fewer crimes or just less reporting of crime?