Awards In this feature l consumer protection l scams l illicit cigarettes Holding out for a hero CONFERENCE 2015 Celebrating the super men and women who have gone the extra mile to promote trading standards issues and protect people in their communities Mike Weatherley Ynys Mon Citizens Advice Bureau kent community wardens Julie Grant CTSI chief executive Leon Livermore presents Mike Weatherley with his award Louise Baxter SAFER Project & the Feeling Good Theatre Company Lee Russell Matt Allwright Former intellectual property (IP) adviser to the government, Mike Weatherley, received a Hero Award for the significant contribution he made to consumer protection during his role in parliament. Weatherley was tireless in his role as IP adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron in the coalition government, going far beyond his remit as a member of parliament to promote the interests of copyright, intellectual property and trading standards. It was the first time such a role had existed in the UK and Weatherley produced four reports that received international acclaim. They also helped to secure future funding for trading standards, both locally and across the country. Weatherley has recently championed trading standards work tacklingIP crime and supported the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit. He successfully lobbied the Home Secretary, the Prime Minister and the Intellectual Property Office to secure an additional 3m in funding, thus securing the units future until 2017. In accepting his award, Weatherley said: Trading standards is a fantastic organisation that performs essential functions that can, unfortunately, be undervalued. I hope this government will recognise the great work of trading standards and improve its budget, to assure the continuance of its remit at the coalface of the battle against counterfeiting and piracy. I am immensely proud to have been given this award from a department whose work I hold in the highest esteem. NatWest Joanne Bannaghan Click images above to read more CTSI chief executive Leon Livermore (left) and CTSI chairman Mark CTSI chairman Mark McGinty presents the McGinty (right) present the award to Ynys Mon Citizens Advice Bureau awards to two of kents community wardens Ynys Mon Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) received a Hero Award for the Community wardens received a Hero Award for the significant significant contribution it has made to consumer protection in Wales. contribution they make to consumer protection in Kent. Ynys Mon CAB and Anglesey Trading Standards have built an Kent County Council community wardens work in partnership with effective, trusted partnership identifying scams. They have worked trading standards, police and local authorities, and have campaigned to on national events such as National Consumer Week and Scams prevent and reduce scam crime for the past 13 years. The community Awareness Month providing education to local communities on how wardens support and protect 1.46 million residents, living in 128 local tosay thanks, but no thanks to cold callers. communities, every day. The organisations work together to run events such as a recent While working on the Stop the Scammers project, they visited more drop-in session at Holland Arms Garden Centre, where hundreds of than 1,500 scam victims who had been identified on a suckers list. people were taught about scams and the things to look out for. During these visits, the wardens completed a questionnaire with each Ynys Mon CAB has made a significant contribution to the policy and resident, giving insightful feedback to monitor the progress of the campaigns work of Citizens Advice, and its close relationship with local project and to provide the National Scams Hub with the information trading standards has been vital to national campaign success. needed to tackle national scams. The wardens also deliver training on scams awareness and how to report it to bank and post office employees, ensuring an effective and successful referral process is in place. So far, they have assisted at training sessions for more than 400 Royal Mail postal delivery workers. Wardens now also visit scam victims identified after this training. CTSI chief executive Leon Livermore (left) and CTSI chairman Mark McGinty present Julie Grant with her award Julie Grant received a Hero Award for the significant contribution she makes to campaigning against illicit cigarettes. Louise Baxter accepts her Hero Award In April 2012, Julies mother, June Buffham, died as a result of a fire from CTSI chairman Mark McGinty at her home, which a coroner linked to illegal Jin Ling cigarettes failing to self-extinguish. Grant is now a consumer champion, campaigning on social media, and supports the work of trading standards nationally. Louise Baxter received a Hero Award for the significant contribution she She worked with Lincolnshire Trading Standards and the fire and has made to consumer protection in East Sussex over and above her rescue service on a campaign launched last year supporting the professional role. release of a hard-hitting and graphic video to drive home how quickly Baxter is the team leader for the National Trading Standards Scams afire can start and spread, often with fatal consequences. Team (NTSST) and has worked for East Sussex County Council for Grant has also featured on BBC Radio Lincolnshire and done morethan 12 years. NTSST was set up a few years ago by Baxter, after interviews with local news channels and newspapers, all supporting she discovered that people were being put onto suckers lists and the cause. In December 2014, she appeared on BBC Ones Fake Britain scammed out of thousands of pounds. The team has been a fundamental programme, telling her mothers story and generating greater public support system for consumers, in particular for the most vulnerable awareness of the illicit cigarette trade. members of communities. Baxter has driven the NTSST to be the success it is today by endlessly campaigning and raising the profile of scam victims, and encouraging companies including well-known banks and postal services to join the cause. Baxter has engaged with more than 20 national partners, who now supply their intelligence to the team, which targets their campaigns around fraud and fraud prevention. In these difficult economic times, she has managed to encourage localauthorities to take on extra work, despite their dwindling resources. TheNTSST works with more than 154 local authorities, each recognising the importance of supporting scam victims. Representatives of NatWest receive the banks award from Leon Livermore, CTSI chief executive (left), and Mark McGinty, CTSI chairman (right) NatWest Bank received a Certificate of Commendation for the significant contribution it has made to consumer protection in Wales. During the past year, NatWest has been working with trading standards staff across Wales to educate its bank staff and customers about doorstep crime, scams and other frauds. Representatives of the SAFER project and The Feeling Good NatWest has worked hard to help its customers gain a greater Theatre Company accept their awards from Leon Livermore, understanding of consumer fraud and it has started to implement a referral policy for safeguarding and fraud-prevention purposes. Along with its contribution to consumer protection, the bank also showed an interest in getting involved with CTSIs Young Consumers CTSI chief executive (left), and Mark McGinty, CTSI chairman (right) The Scams and Fraud Education for Residents (SAFER) Project receiveda Hero Award for the significant contribution it has made to consumer protection. A separate Certificate of Commendation was awarded to the Feeling of the Year competition, which challenges students aged 14 to 17 years Good Theatre Company and the Princes Trust team, while individual in a knockout consumer quiz. certificates were presented to Carrie Wilson, Lanson Moore, Rebecca Finch and Angie Cawthra, for their work on the SAFER Project. The SAFER Project, part of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, has had unprecedented success over the past two years in raising awareness of scams, frauds and doorstep crime among olderresidents, and in arming them with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves. The team successfully negotiated strategic partnership relationships with West Yorkshire Pharmacies, NatWest, Barclays and Royal Mail to deliver training to 1,160 employees on the front line, who are in the best position to spot vulnerable victims of fraud. NatWest counter staff recognised the signs of fraud when dealing with an elderly Wakefield resident who had been sending money off to scam mail. After working closely with the individual, the SAFER Project discovered he had given 164,000 over four years to a bogus Spanish Lee Russell receives his Hero Award from CTSI chairman, Mark McGinty (left) lottery. The victim has been supported by the SAFER project and was referred to West Yorkshire Polices economic crime unit. He is also beingoffered ongoing support through the teams established network Superintendent Lee Russell received a Certificate of Commendation for of volunteers. the significant contribution he has made to consumer protection in Kent. Russell has been the police lead for the partnership between Kent Police and Kent County Council trading standards for more than The SAFER Project has organised more than 600 workshops, through which it has engaged with more than 6,100 of the most vulnerable members of the community to make them more scam aware. 15years. He has established an effective partnership between trading The Feeling Good Theatre Company and the Princes Trust team were standards and other key authorities, delivering strong consumer each awarded a Certificate of Commendation for their huge contribution protection strategies and reductions in illegal substances. to the SAFER Project. The Princes Trust team in Dewsbury was the first Russell was instrumental in the development of the Kent Community group to pilot the intergenerational scams and fraud awareness project, Alcohol Partnership (KCap), led by trading standards, which brings and has since delivered its own educational workshop to a group of together a wide range of public service and commercial partners, older, visually impaired people. For 15 years, the Feeling Good Theatre Company has put together professional, witty and unique artistic performances that have helped educate and prevent many older potential victims from falling for scams. with the aim of changing attitudes towards alcohol use among young people. KCap has brought about significant reductions in alcohol-related antisocial behaviour in many Kent communities. Russell has worked tirelessly with trading standards in Kent to deal with the issue of novel psychoactive substances, which have been linked to at least three deaths and numerous other serious incidents in the county. Kent Police and trading standards officers from the county council and Medway Council visited 22 shops in the area, and removed thousands of these products from the market using the General Product Safety Regulations. Matt Allwright accepts his Hero Award from CTSI chairman Mark McGinty Consumer champaion Matt Allwright was awarded the CTSI Media Hero Award for his consistently high level of consumer journalism, which has drawn sympathy to consumer victims, attention to scams and helped to bring down rogue traders. His trademark programme is BBC1s Rogue Traders, which is now in its 15th year, but he is also currently presenting Watchdog with his old sparring partner, Anne Robinson. His consumer journalism and engaging manner as a presenter have drawn high viewing numbers to many popular consumer programmes on television schedules for nearly 20 years, including Scambusters, CTSI chairman Mark McGinty presents Joanne Bannaghan with her award Brassed off Britain, Rogue Restaurants, Christmas on the Frontline and The Secret Tourist, among many others. Other recent BBC projects include Youve Been Scammed, Fake Britain, Food Inspectors and A worker with a Cheshire East housing association has received a HeroAward for her role in foiling a suspected scam. Joanne Bannaghan, a trust link officer for Peaks and Plains Housing TheHousing Enforcers, which he co-devised with Two-Four Productions. Speaking of the win, Allwright said: I cant believe Ive received an award as a trading standards hero because I dont really deserve it. All I Trust, was visiting an elderly woman in June last year when she do is the job that I love, supported by a fantastic team who look after me discovered that a builder was working at the front of the property. brilliantly and provide me with stories backed up with evidence and help The woman, who lived alone, had been cold called by a man who offered to jet wash her driveway for a reasonable price. But he also convinced her that immediate work was needed to replace roof tiles and improve the damp course, saying he would do it for 25,000. Concerned by this, Joanne contacted a local builder, who informed from trading standards. Its something I really believe in, something I hope desperately changes peoples lives and makes a massive difference, so to receive an award for it is the icing on the cake. I really appreciate it so thank you very much indeed to CTSI. her that the work should cost much less. She took the mans car registration details and within 24 hours he was arrested and interviewed by police and Cheshire East Trading Standards. He is now being prosecuted for fraud and consumer protection offences. The case is due at court in October. Joanne received the award for her significant contribution to consumer protection. Credits Published You might also like Images: Sam Atkins Monday 3 August, 2015 Hero awards August 2014 To share this page, click on in the toolbar