Column: Do your homework and help beat the scammers

People need to be aware of the tricks these fraudsters use, so it is great that Ashfield Citizens’ Advice is raising awareness throughout Scam Awareness Month.

In the last financial year, 1,200 people in Ashfield went to Citizens Advice after falling foul of a financial or legal scam.

Citizens Advice Ashfield is urging people to do their homework before parting with their cash – including checking that supposed stockbrokers are on the FCA register or supposed solicitors are in the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk/sam18/ for more information on how to avoid being scammed.

Summer is well on the way now and luckily the weather has been brilliant recently for getting outside and enjoying some fresh air.

Hopefully the sun will shine throughout June, while Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is running the 30 Days Wild challenge.

This encourages people to do ‘something wild’ every day of June, not only so they can appreciate wildlife and nature around us, but also to improve health and wellbeing.

Research run alongside the campaign shows that people feel measurably better being outside for a bit every day.

More than 1,000 people have already signed up and you can get hold of a free pack at www.wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild.

Finally, a heart-warming tale.

So many people of a certain age feel left behind with the huge innovations in digital technology in recent years.

One such person was my constituent Martyn, who took it upon himself to learn more and decided to take some classes at West Nottinghamshire College.

He achieved the European Computer Driving Licence qualification and is now at a level where he can help other learners in his class when they need guidance.

His tutor David Griffiths said that this is particularly helpful if there is a larger than usual class containing absolute beginners.

Well done Martyn.