Fordbridge newsletter

Only 14 sleeps until Christmas!

As the festive season approaches, excitement builds across our community. While many of us are preparing for celebrations, family gatherings, and well-earned time off, we want to remind everyone to stay safe, vigilant, and responsible. 

This season is all about joy, connection, and slowing down – and a little extra mindfulness can help keep it that way. Simple things like taking your time, keeping an eye out on your belongings while out and about, and checking in on neighbours can go a long way in making sure we all enjoy a smooth, stress-free lead-up to Christmas.

We’ll continue to be out and about supporting our community, patrolling Fordbridge and surrounding areas to keep you all safe, and reassured.

Over the set, out officers have also been working closely with Safer Travel officers on the interchange. Together, we’ve been carrying out regular patrols and engaging with commuters to help everyone feel comfortable and supported while utilising the buses.

We’ve also continued our regular patrols of local parks, surrounding areas, and known anti-social behaviour hotspots. These patrols are part of our ongoing effort to keep these shared spaces enjoyable and safe for everyone – whether you’re out for a walk, or spending some well-deserved time with your loved ones, we want to make sure that everyone feels safe when doing so.

Our presence in these areas helps deter anti-social behaviour (ASB) and allows us to communicate with members of our community, as well as helping us gather valuable information and intelligence so that we can address any worries you may have early. We greatly appreciate those who take their time to chat to us when we’re out and about – the community’s insights really do help us with shaping our patrols revolving around your concerns.  

We’ve continued to enforce the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in a fair and proportionate way, focusing on maintaining a safe and pleasant environment for all who pass through. Your cooperation and positive interactions with our teams have been greatly appreciated – it truly helps us keep Fordbridge running smoothly, especially at this time of year, and year-round.

This set, officers have popped into Lily’s Tea Parlour for a Cuppa with a Coppa – it was a great opportunity for residents to sit down with us and talk to us about what truly matters to them.

We used the event to help raise awareness surrounding Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). By having open conversations, sharing advice, and listening to concerns, we aim to empower our community and strengthen the support available to everybody in our community. 

It really has been a busy set! From our team, a few of our officers have attended a speed enforcement training course – this training allows our officers to safely and confidently use speed-detection equipment to help keep everybody in our community safe when on the road. 

Now that officers are trained on the use of this equipment, we will begin supporting our community with speed watch in areas where our residents raise concerns to us about speeding or unsafe driving – please do not hesitate to get into contact with us if you are interested in joining, or would like to raise concerns on areas where you would like to monitor.

Over the set, our team have had several arrests, where four offenders have been arrested in relation to domestic violence/assault concerns – they are currently assisting with our enquiries – we take domestic violence very seriously – this is a great result based on the hard work that our team does day in and day out. 

CRIME UPDATES.

-Other criminal damage to a vehicle (under £5,000) – ELMORE CLOSE

-Attempted residential burglary of a home – COOKS LANE

-Assault with intent to rob – ARDERNE DRIVE

-Theft of a motor vehicle – CRABTREE DRIVE

-Other criminal damage to a residence (under £5,000) – KELSULL CROFT

We have seen a recent increase in burglaries in the Fordbridge/Chelmsley Wood area - rest assured, we are working hard surrounding this issue, and I urge you to read up on the articles I have linked at the bottom of this newsletter so you can stay up to date on how to keep your property as burglar-proof as possible.

Can you help? We are still looking for volunteers to help with Community Speed Watch. Whilst monitoring our local roads and collating data over the last few weeks, I would say Cooks Lane is particularly in need of regular speed monitoring.

Is this something you would like to join in with?

Are you a resident on Cooks Lane or surrounding roads and would like to help us tackle this concern?

If the answer is yes, please drop me a reply to this message and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Helpful links

-Crime prevention advice | West Midlands Police

-Keep burglars out of your property | West Midlands Police

-How safe is your flat? | Crime Prevention | West Midlands Police

-Chelmsley Wood | Your area | West Midlands Police | West Midlands Police

Make sure to keep your eye on our West Midlands Police neighbourhood page on the above link for any community events planned - Fordbridge officers have a Cuppa with a Coppa planned on the 4th of January 2026 at Lily's Tea Parlour located on Maple Walk in the Chelmsley Wood town centre - please don't hesitate to come along.

Please stay safe this Christmas season, during our darker nights, and have a good week!