On Friday 12th November, Giles Watling, MP for Clacton, joined an officer from Essex Police for a walkabout in Jaywick.
Accompanied by Sergeant Ben Felton, the community policing sergeant who covers Jaywick, Giles participated in a foot patrol of the area, where he met with residents to discuss local issues.
Giles and Sgt Felton also had the pleasure of visiting several community projects and groups, including the Jaywick Sands Community Forum (JSCF) at their office, where Giles heard about what JSCF do in the community and what projects they have in the pipeline for the residents of Jaywick. Sgt Felton also updated JSCF on what he and his team have been up to lately, before he and Giles moved on to visit The Men's Shed woodworking project, and the CVS Tendring dance class at the Resource Centre.
For the last 12 months, Sgt Felton has been working hard to increase Essex Police’s presence in Jaywick and works closely with many community groups to do so. And, as part of a communications strategy, he sends out a weekly email to email to various groups, local politicians, and individuals to inform them about what the Police have been doing and plans for the near future.
If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, you can do so by emailing: Benjamin.Felton@essex.police.uk
Following the walkabout, Giles said: “I am always pleased to join Essex Police and they do so much for our community. Having been added to the distribution list for his newsletter recently, I know that Sgt Felton has been working hard for Jaywick and it was great to join him to see, first-hand, the valuable engagement that he pursues with residents, which will deliver real value for us all. So, I warmly thank him for that and hope that I can continue to support his work going forward.
“Ever since my election in 2017, I have successfully campaigned to ensure that the police have the funding and resources that they need, and there are now 700 more local police on patrol than there were in 2016. These are strong results, and we must ensure that the police have everything they need to keep us safe and I am determined to keep arguing for that in Parliament.”