Anti-theft screws drive community collaboration

SEVERAL local organisations have made the number plates of more than 100 residents more secure thanks to a pop-up “Safe Pla8day” in Leopold.

Hosted by Bunnings Leopold and organised by Greater Geelong’s Neighbourhood Watch, community groups ranging from Bellarine SES to the Ocean Grove Barwon Heads Lions Club came together to install more anti-theft screws into 150 residents’ number plates.

Ocean Grove Barwon Heads Lion Warren Halnon said the club’s participation on the day fell in line with its values and did not hesitate to assist with the initiative.

“We serve, that’s our motto,” Mr Halnon said.

“We managed to get a few individuals to help out quite willingly and it was a fantastic day in general.”

As cars were coordinated by Victoria Police officers, drivers had anti-theft screws inserted on their number plates at no cost.

The special screws make it extremely difficult for car number plates to be stolen.

After an abundance of cars were serviced with new screws, volunteers on the day quickly started to get more and more vehicles coming through the service lane.

“Many people were very appreciative of the work done, some even quickly returning with their sons, neighbours and friends’ cars to also get them changed,” Mr Halnon added.

“Good thing we started doing a lot more screw insertions because it made the process a lot quicker.

“There will be another chance for people to head to Bunnings Leopold soon to have this work done for free, as the success of the day was duly noted by the organisers and everybody who volunteered.”

Mr Halnon said the most memorable part of the day was the camaraderie that was built over the course of the day between several locally-based groups.

“We got to meet and collaborate with people from other parts of our region which is beneficial in so many ways,” he said.

“The police were also magnificent in the role they played on the day, but the main thing is always the shared experiences with those groups, everyone rolled their sleeves up and just got into it.”