Projects and initiatives
No Cold Calling scheme
Launched in West Putney in February 2007, the idea behind the No Cold Calling scheme is to prevent distraction burglars entering elderly and vulnerable people's homes and limit the number of rogue/bogus traders operating in the area. As part of the scheme each household is given a pack of information about the pilot, which includes a window sticker stating they are in a 'No Cold Calling Zone', a telephone notepad, giving them the non-emergency number to ring and an incident reporting pad to note down details of any callers. In addition to this, street signs are erected on the lampposts in the area of the zone.
An area of the Dover House Road Estate, covering approximately 600 households, was selected for the pilot scheme. These are traditional terraced and semi-detached houses with many elderly people living in them. The scheme proved very successful, even producing a result in the first week when a caller claimed to be an officer from the Television Licensing Authority. After the resident reported the incident we contacted Television Licensing who confirmed the caller as bogus. A description of the bogus caller and his method was then circulated to Trading Standards and the Police. There have been several more successes of this sort during the scheme.
An evaluation, carried out six months following the launch, proved the scheme a great success. 62% of residents had no cold callers at all in the first six months of the scheme. This success has served to help make 69% of residents feel safer in their homes and a huge 87% of residents to acknowledge the effectiveness of the scheme. 96% of residents wanted the scheme to continue - an overwhelming response to the success of the scheme. The Council agreed and the zone was made permanent.
Following the success in West Putney, a new scheme was launched in Tooting in February 2008. The scheme encompasses Blakenham Road, Coteford Street, Cowick Road, Defoe Place, Lessingham Avenue and Ruislip Street. A total of 210 homes are included within the zone. With the Tooting zone another great success, a second Tooting zone (Graveney Ward) was launched in December 2009. The new scheme encompasses Abbey Close, Carlisle Way and St Benedict's Close and covers 190 homes.
