Harvest Food Bank

The Harvest Thanksgiving Service will take place in Garvald Church on Sunday 31st October at 9.30 am. We would like to collect donations for the Food Bank from anyone in the Church or Village who would like to help. There is a green plastic box sitting in the bus-shelter beside the Village Green where donations of non-perishable food or toiletries may be left at any time. The box will be emptied regularly and everything transferred to the Church from where it will be taken to the Food Bank after 31st October. We had a fantastic response last time we did this so please help with anything you can spare.

27th October – Thanks so much for all the donations so far – please keep them coming

New Mobile Mast in Garvald

A few people have been asking when our new mobile mast will become operational. Detailed below is an update from the company that is involved in its build and installation.  Vodafone and O2 are mentioned on the Government Web page as possible network operators but, until it goes live, we will just have to wait and see (   https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-4g-infill-programme-progress-update/ )

New Mobile Mast in Garvald

After a mast is built there are several steps that we need to go through in order for it to become operational. Shareable fibre infrastructure connecting the site to a fibre hub must be installed. For the mast in Garvald, this work has been completed. Power must also be supplied to the site: for the mast in Garvald, this is scheduled to take place towards the end of the year. After power and fibre are in place, there is the final installation of radio units and associated equipment to connect to the fibre and power, and the rigging of antennas connecting the feeders to the equipment on the ground. We then have the final testing and integration of the site into the mobile network operator’s network before the mast is operational. Due to the nature of this process, I cannot give you a confirmed date when the site will be live, but I will provide you with updates on the timeframe after each step in the above process.

The Garvald children’s Hallowe’en party is back!

It’s taking place from 4-6pm on Sunday 31st October at the Village Hall. All young ghosts, witches etc are welcome; look out for posters around the village soon!

The children will be guising in small groups accompanied by adults. If you are happy for the children to come to your door please put out a pumpkin or other Hallowe’en decoration so we know they are welcome.

Contact Meg (Beehive Cottage)or Chiara (Broomfield House) for more information.

Police Scotland Introduce Lone Officer Verification Checks

Lone police officers to offer verification check to members of the public

The following message has recently been circulated by Police Scotland

Police Scotland is immediately introducing a simple officer verification process to provide reassurance to any member of the public who may be concerned about whether or not they are being spoken to by a genuine police officer working alone.

The move follows the understandable public concern surrounding the horrendous murder of Sarah Everard

On duty officers operating on their own will now proactively offer to carry out a verification check for anyone they come across who appears to be concerned for their safety. A member of the public can also request that a verification check be done.

Although police officers normally work in pairs in Scotland and it is very rare for a lone police officer to approach a member of the public, there are occasions when this could happen.

The new process, introduced on Saturday, 2 October, will allow for the officer’s personal radio to be put on loudspeaker and for an officer or member of police staff in a Police Scotland Control Room to confirm that the officer is who they say they are, that they are on duty and the reason the officer is speaking to the member of the public.

The Control Room will then create an incident number which can be displayed on the officer’s mobile phone or radio to confirm the broadcast message details.

In the even rarer situation where a lone off-duty officer has to become involved in an incident, the officer will call 999 and allow the member of the public to speak to the control room on the phone. Uniformed colleagues will also be dispatched as quickly as possible.

The full message can be viewed here
https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2021/october/lone-police-officers-to-offer-verification-check-to-members-of-the-public/
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Message Sent By
Willie Clark (NHWN, National Co – ordinator, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland)

Memorial Bench for Leigh Thomson

After consultation with East Lothian Council, permission has been granted for a bench to be placed in Garvald Park in memory of Leigh Thomson. Leigh’s friends and family have clubbed together for this bench and hope it will be a lovely addition to the park.

The bench should be mounted soon on the base that has recently been laid and ELC’s Landscape & Countryside Section have already approved its position.