COMMUNITY Associação Safe Communities Portugal General Meeting on 25th July 2019
Meeting with the new GNR Faro Territorial Commander (for the Algarve) Tenente - Coronel Pedro Oliveira in May 2019
Safer Communities Portugal
David Thomas
Vaughan Willmore takes a look at the work of Safer Communities Portugal and how it’s helping to keep residents and tourists safe, and on the right side of the law.
The best options for older people and people with pre-existing conditions; What you can do to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
At a time of national crisis, where do you turn for information and advice?
There is also a terrific ´True or False´ section to help people debunk some the myths that typically exist on social media about the virus, and an excellent plain English guide to what constitutes an acceptable reason to journey outside of the home, for example, to buy food and medicines.
If the issue concerns the UK then it’s most probably BBC News. However, for those of us still wrestling with the Portuguese language, there’s no national broadcaster to guide us, which makes the work of Safer Communities Portugal (SCP) so important to so many people. As founder, David Thomas explained, “Over the years we have become a trusted and reliable source for expatriates, partly because we only deal in facts and the reporting of official information”. During the many challenges of the last few weeks, David and the team have kept in close contact with Clive Jewel, the British Vice Consul in Portimão, and key government agencies. The SCP Facebook page is typically updated four or five times a day, and a whole range of useful information aimed at helping us all to be clear about what’s expected of us, so we stay safe and how we can help others do the same. If you need to know any or all of the following: How to live together at home with an infected person; Whether it’s a good idea to wear a mask and how to do so correctly;
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The SCP website is a great place to look for such information and much more.
As Rotarian and Algarve resident Chris Garner recently noted: “What I really appreciate about SCP is that the information they provide is very accessible, timely and relevant and, at this time particularly, having information you can rely upon is so important”. The origins of SCP can be traced back to when David emigrated to Portugal in 2005. Drawing upon his vast experience in policing, David was able to develop positive working relationships with local and national security agencies, and share his perspectives of good practice in crime prevention and community engagement. It was in October 2011, and following discussions with the GNR, that David created Safer Communities Algarve as an online platform offering crime prevention information and services to the public. In the years since, it has been formally registered as a non-profit Association – the only one of its type in Portugal - and renamed Safer Communities Portugal to reflect its reach into all areas of the country.
