WI members advised how to protect their homes by Secured by Design at Everest 'learning day'
The importance of enjoying a home that is secure was the subject of a talk to 100 WI members by Lyn Poole, a Development Officer with Secured by Design (SBD), the national police crime prevention initiative.
Lyn explained that SBD encourages manufacturers to make products, like doors and windows, more robust to physical attack to deter opportunist burglars and reduce crime.
Products that meet high standards of physical security can be awarded Police Preferred Specification by SBD, which is the only way for companies to obtain police accreditation in the UK.
It is products like these that SBD is keen to see installed in new developments and refurbishments as well as when homeowners want to replace their front or back door, patios doors or windows.
In her talk at the WI learning centre at Denman College, Abingdon, on Tuesday, 22 August, Lyn also offered further home security advice, such as keeping home and cars keys, handbags and purses, out of reach of the front door to stop anyone trying to ‘fish’ for these items with a rod through the letterbox.
Since SBD was launched by the Police Service nearly 30 years ago, tens of thousands of residents have moved into new homes and benefit from SBD standards of security. Also nearly 600 companies, many of them leaders in their specialist fields and operating at home and abroad, have become SBD member companies having attained SBD accreditation for their products.
Lyn’s talk was part of a wider day-long event hosted by Everest, the national home improvement company, which has achieved SBD security standards for its doors and windows.
Speakers for Everest included Martin Troughton, Marketing Director, and Billy Grant, Sales Director. They spoke about home security being fundamental to the company’s ethos and sense of well-being in the home.
They presented the findings of a recent survey by Everest of 1,000 homeowners. Almost all of the respondents said that feeling secure in their homes was important or very important to them, making home security Everest’s biggest priority.
Research by Everest has found that 63% of homeowners who had been burgled felt like their privacy had been violated and 47% felt unsafe in their own home. The impact was greater on women.
SBD is highlighted on Everest’s door and window web pages.
Amongst the other speakers were gardener David Domoney, who is one of the gardening team on ITV’s programme ‘Love your Garden’, hosted by Alan Titchmarsh. He spoke about the need for defensive planting, such as prickly plants near fencing, and shed security as well as about creating pretty floral borders.
Everest:
www.everest.co.uk
Secured by Design:
Tel: 0203 8623 999
Email:
Our promotional film: https://youtu.be/ODyknW50XXc
SBD's Lyn Poole talks to WI members about the importance of home security