Getting New People/Communities Involved

East
Stevenage Dog Watch, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Stevenage Dog Watch is an innovative NHW scheme, which has gone from strength to strength during its first year. It brings together dog walkers and people who enjoy walking to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community. By feeding back information to the Police on suspicious activity or environmental issues to the local authority, dog walkers are helping to address quality of life issues in Stevenage.

East Midlands
Sherwood and Mapperley Park NHW Association, Nottinghamshire  
Historically, the area suffered from high levels of crime and fear of crime; residents were scared to leave their homes at night and lacked trust in the Police.  The Association has effectively addressed anti social behaviour in the neighbourhood and has recruited harder to reach groups to NHW. The association uses a wide range of communication tools, from electronic messaging and written publications to a NHW contact point within the local police station.

North East
Junior Neighbourhood Watch, Stockton-on-Tees
The Junior Neighbourhood Watch (JNW) has been a trailblazer of good practice for engaging young people in Neighbourhood Watch and their local community.  It was set up in partnership with Cleveland Police and in recognition of the need to engage young children in community safety.  The JNW is made up of five primary schools, each school represented by approximately 20 children in their own distinctive Watch group.  Extra-curricular activities (both classroom and outdoor based) encourage Watch members to engage in and promote awareness of community safety.  The activities are enhanced with the inclusion of key community figures and services (the Police, Fire Service, RNLI) who act as an information source and positive role models.

North West
Tameside (St Peter’s Ward), Greater Manchester
This Group covers an area with a significant BME population.  Asian communities had shown resistance to joining or setting up NHW Groups, but they now actively participate. For example, the local Mosque operates at Tannoy System in 250 homes.  Although primarily used for religious purposes, it is now also used to send out crime reduction and safety information and to spread knowledge about current dangers (bogus callers, active criminals in the area, or scams targeting vulnerable people). Through partnership with the Mosque, these messages are also being translated into relevant languages to reach individuals who may not be speak or understand English.

West Midlands
Streetly Youth4em, Walsall
The Streetly Community and NHW Group established the Streetly Youth4em, in partnership with local Councillors, the NHS, Youth Services, the Police and local Friends of the Park. Initiated as a result of local concerns about anti-social behaviour, this has proved to be an innovative example of Neighbourhood Watch branching out into different areas of work. The Group has provided young people with a ‘focus’, deterring them from engaging in anti-social behaviour; changing community attitudes towards young people and encouraging interaction between younger and older generations. Once fully established, the forum will be run by young people themselves.

London
Eaglesfield Park Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, Greenwich
The Group was formed in 2006 in response to significant problems with anti social behaviour and vandalism in the local park. The group has addressed these problems through both its vigilance in reporting incidents and by successfully engaging with the Police and a range of local authority departments to highlight the problems and lobby for resources. Whilst the group takes a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to anti social behaviour, it recongises its linkages with the lack of youth provision locally and has successfully campaigned to bring resources for young people to the area. The group is an excellent example of how taking a strategic approach to anti social behaviour can produce results.

North East
Hunters Gate Neighbourhood Watch, Ushaw Moor, Durham
The Group has instigated significant changes within its local community through effective lobbying, at the heart of which lies extensive community consultation.  The Group developed as a response by residents to the high levels of anti-social behaviour occurring locally.  Since much of the behaviour was fuelled by on-the-street alcohol consumption, the Group established relationships and worked in partnership with key organisations (the Police, local council) to identify the problem retailer and opposed plans for the opening of an additional retailer by way of petition.  Their lobbying of this issue has been so effective that in 2009 they were given a mandate by the village of Ushaw Moor to represent the whole community and are in the process of conducting a local needs analysis through a village-wide survey and developing the group into a village-wide Neighbourhood Watch.

Yorkshire & Humber
The Groves, Hull
The Groves NHW is an award winning group that has successfully stood up to those engaged in criminal activity/anti-social behaviour and provided young people with positive activities in which to become engaged, as well as brought about significant improvements to its local area.  Residents living on the edge of the City Centre in a largely industrialized area were not getting the support to which they were entitled and in this environment crime and anti-social behaviour flourished.  The Groves is an object lesson in how these issues can be addressed by identifying their root causes and working with the Police and the local authority to ensure that local people’s concerns are recognized and acted upon.

Mobilising Local Communities and Generating Community Spirit

East
East Herts NHW, Hertfordshire
The rural communities that make up much of East Hertfordshire are often isolated from services and other people living and working in the area. This isolation can lead them to feel more vulnerable to crime and a lack of Police presence and difficulties in communicating crime warnings and prevention messages can intensify this fear. The East Herts Rural Intelligence Gathering System (RIGS) has sought to provide an effective and instant means of communicating between the rural community and the Police, through the use of pagers. This has helped break down communication barriers that can exist in isolated rural communities, helping to strengthen their relationship with and trust in the Police, and has brought the local community closer together.

East Midlands
Beeches NHW, Uppingham, Rutland
The Beeches NHW has been an integral part of the Beeches Residents Association since it formed 15 years ago. It has established the largest neighbourhood watch email alert group in Rutland (covering 130 households), and is a good example of how NHW can foster a sense of community spirit; organising community events and linking in with other groups and forums in Uppingham. One of the more unusual initiatives has been the purchase of a community defibrillator, with 15 residents trained to use it.

North West
Peel Estate Home Watch, Greater Manchester
This Group has provided a focus for community participation and improving local quality of life. Strong local partnerships with the police, school, housing and regeneration officers have helped the Group secure funding and support for a range of environmental enhancement projects.  As well as ‘designing out’ crime and anti-social behaviour, activities promoting home security and ‘neighbourly support’ have brought local people together, developing community spirit and a new level of pride in the estate.  Meetings regularly attract 10% of all local residents and information is cascaded through local networks to those identified as being most vulnerable and isolated.

West Midlands
Larchwood, Stafford
Larchwood NHW was set up by a group of residents who wanted to maintain and enhance the quality of life on their cul-de-sac, working with the Police and the local authority. The group has established the cul-de-sac as a formal Neighbourhood Watch area and a no cold calling zone. They have also enhanced its appearance by planting flowers and regularly hold social gatherings to foster a sense of community.

West Chadsmoor Community Partnership, Staffordshire
The Partnership aims to build strength in the community by establishing a well networked structure of multi-agency involvement. The area suffers from social and economic deprivation as well as apathy from local people to resolve issues in their neighbourhood. Uniquely, the partnership was initiated by a 17 year young man taking responsibility as the Area Coordinator and aiming to develop a community awareness partnership for the area. A good working relationship has been developed with Staffordshire police and there has been a reduction in anti-social behaviour, which has started to build community confidence in local agencies.

Yorkshire & Humber
Sovereign Park, York
Sovereign Park is a smart modern estate, embracing a wide range of housing types, providing homes for a wide variety of people.  As well as providing a relatively recent example of setting up a NHW scheme, the Group provides a really good case study in mobilizing the community and engaging with the Police and local authority.  Proposals to improve design issues on the estate are being developed, adoption of the estates roads, footpaths and open spaces by the City Council is well advanced and partnership working with the neighbourhood policing team couldn’t be more effective.  Communications are also a strength, with an estate website, community notice board and local newsletters.

Neighbourhood Watch Adding Value to Existing  Resources

East Midlands
Harborough Be Safe, Market Harborough
Harborough Be Safe helps the elderly, the vulnerable and victims of crime, especially distraction burglary, by providing a free-of-charge service to improve home security, as well as offering one-to-one support on security and crime prevention matters. Not only does this serve to reassure the victims, which has a very important impact on their well-being, but the work of the group is also helping to prevent and support the detection of distraction burglaries. In 2009 the scheme was nominated as one of the top three groups caring for victims in the national Inside Justice Awards.
Police and Community Support Group, Leicester
This is a well respected organisation acting as a conduit between the police and the local community. Rather than working as individual NHW schemes, a bigger impact has been achieved by joining together as one group and working in partnership with the local police station, to deliver crime prevention and community safety interventions. The Chair received a Community Crime Fighter Award and has also attended a meeting with the Prime Minister at Downing Street. By applying a common sense approach the Group has managed to develop a strategic alliance with community partners; galvanizing support to make a real difference in the area.

North West
North Cumbria BAT Scheme
The scheme has secured long-term support from North Cumbria Police and is embedded in its PCSO team and Community Volunteer Scheme.  The prominent role of local PCSOs brings a solid foundation around which NHW groups and individual volunteers can influence, deliver and cascade information, raising awareness to tackle doorstep crime.  Volunteers receive a high level of support and local knowledge helps target those most vulnerable to doorstep crime.

West Midlands
Featherstone NHW, Staffordshire
Joined up working has become a defining feature of this Group and it increasingly works with a diverse range of partners within the village, district and county. The involvement of the Staffordshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Officer and Watch Liaison Officer has supported the linking up between Neighbourhood Watch activity with other local or national community safety initiatives. The result of these efforts has been an expansion of the reach and impact of NHW in the village of Featherstone.

London
Wandsworth Council Community Safety Division
The Community Safety Division has coordinated NHW activity across the Borough for many years and can provide groups with support and advice on a range of topics, including setting up a group, communications, sustaining resident interest and campaigning for resources. The Division has recently provided a number of its NHW coordinators with training opportunities including fire safety and domestic flood training from London Fire Brigade and training from the NHS on dealing with flu pandemics. Through this work the Division is facilitating the up-skilling of NHW volunteers and producing a pool of people who could potentially assist vulnerable neighbours (and statutory services) in an emergency situation.

North West
Chadderton NHW, Oldham
Through the staging of workshops and seminars with guest speakers, Co-ordinators of the Chadderton Home Watch have gained a clear understanding of the Criminal Justice System from sentencing to probation; they know what and why judges sentence the way they do, and they know what a probation officer can and can’t do. Co-ordinators have spread this information to their NHW Groups, helping them to better understand their role and to have a greater appreciation of all aspects of the Criminal Justice System.

West Midlands
Mid Warwickshire NHW Association, Leamington Spa
The Association believes that joint action is a major step forward in the fight against crime and therefore  works closely with Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Police and the District Council, offering them valuable support in the form of volunteer time. The Association is closely involved in local decision making and offers important advice and support to local groups. It encourages members of the community to enter into the spirit of partnership working; promoting community confidence and safety. The Association is considered by partners as a key resource in achieving positive impacts and has developed a pool of resources and volunteers who drive forward crime reduction projects.