ATTENTION to detail is perhaps a good principle for home security. There has been a spate of thefts from garages and unprotected cars in the last week. In fact, Thursday night, March 21, springs to mind in particular.

Thieves took some bikes and left evidence that they had snooped around in various places in the north part of the valley.

One hallmark is that they chose to do little damage in the process; where bikes were secured within a garage, they were left. An unlocked car had been searched, the satnav was not taken, nor a worthwhile sum of parking money. Inexplicably, a long out-of- date debit card, used only for scraping ice off the screen, was taken.

In another incident, it is clear that an intruder had passed through the garden from front to back, though nothing was missing.

Mark the date, if you would, and, though there is little chance of recovering anything you now find missing, you should still report any details to the police, as it may help them in investigations.

Redevelopment of the notorious Handy Cross roundabout is currently progressing, according to information gained by the Parish Council. It is expected to involve the removal of the beige surface and replacement with an all black surface and, most critically, new road markings.

Whether the Highways Agency achieves a perfect solution to the controversial lane organisation to make a safer passage for Marlow Bottom seems disputable, but I personally have always felt that much of the confusion would have been eliminated had the markings been maintained indisputably visible, even if not in line with everybody’s opinion of the most appropriate route. I’m quite sure the fading marks do not comply with the principles of the Police Drivers’ Handbook.

NICARAGUA has not figured at all in this often geographically wide-ranging column in the last 18 years I have been writing it. Over the years, several young people have gone from the valley to various other parts of the Americas, to Asia and Africa. Now Lorna Zacharek, an ex-Borlase’s girl will be spending two months in Nicaragua, living and working with local communities to fight poverty. As part of a Raleigh International Trust team made up of UK and in-country volunteers they’ll be tackling issues surrounding education, health and the environment. The family is not new to charity. Lorna’s grandfather, Alan Greening, you may remember, walked the coastline of the Isle of Wight, some years ago, for charity, shortly after heart by-pass surgery, I seem to remember. Uncle Martin did the Three Peaks last year.

Lorna says “Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere with many communities lacking even basic amenities such as clean water and safe sanitation. Past voluntary teams have helped build gravity-feed water systems to begin to combat these problems, collaborating with the local communities and teaching them to maintain these systems so that they are sustainable. We only work with projects and people who have specifically requested our help to ensure we meet their needs directly and on their own terms.”

Obviously, Lorna is seeking donations, not particularly to support her personal enterprise, but more importantly to support the Raleigh ICS programme to enable as many young people as possible from the UK and overseas to volunteer on similar projects in the developing world and help to fight poverty not just now but in the future. Raleigh is a government funded programme for voluntary development work overseas.

Lorna went on to say “I really appreciate all your donations and on my return from Nicaragua plan to share my experiences of all the work being done out there so please stay in touch.

“Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, while saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

“So please dig deep and donate now!”