Minutes of the Wiltshire NHW Annual General Meeting

Saturday 1st July 2017 at 10.00am

Wiltshire Police Headquarters, Devizes

Attendance

Committee

Mike Davidson Chair

Paul Sunners Deputy Chair

Gavin Ketchen Treasurer

Reg Halsall CAC West Swindon

Evelyn Halsall CAC West Swindon

Roger Clarke Minute Taker

Police and Crime Commissioner

Angus MacPherson

Wiltshire Police Representatives

Mike Veale Chief Constable (2nd half only)

Phil. Staynings Superintendent

Emma Reid NHW Liaison Officer

Local Councillors and Members of Wiltshire NHWA

Jane Sexton, Martyn Parrott, Julia Peel, Pauline Smith, Jenny Budgell, Gene Sexton, Paul Taylor, Mike Neal, Susan Rathbone, Philip Holihead, Michael Matthews, Hazel Matthews, Sue Stoker, Anna Cuthbert, Dennis Bottomley, Vivien Comley, Mike Brandwood, Les Long, Chris Pitttaway, Albert Wooldridge, Mike Blandwood, Les Long, Phyllis Thorne, Julia Reed, Roger Smith, Penelope Smithy, Carole King, Vivien Comley, Michael Neal.

Apologies

See Appendix 1

Health and Safety

Emma Reid informed all present of the health and safety regulations in respect of the building and emergency exits, etc.

Welcome

The Chairman welcomed all present and introduced members of the committee and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Minutes of last meeting

The minutes of the last meeting held on the 25th June 2016 had been previously circulated. Albert Wooldridge proposed and Philip Holihead seconded that they be accepted and they were approved by those present.

Chairman’s Report

The Chairman presented his report on the activities of the last year and hopes for the future. His full report can be seen at Appendix 2 attached to these minutes.

Finances

The treasurer reported that finances were in a stable position, there currently being £2635.73 credited to the Association in the bank.

Community Messaging

Reg. Halsall updated the meeting with the current situation of Community Messaging stating that number had trebled over the last three years to a current total of 9937 recipients with 2487 coordinators. His full report can be seen at Appendix 3

Election of Officers

In accordance with the Constitution, the Chairman, Mike Davidson, stepped down and the Vice-Chairman, Paul Sunners, took over. He extolled the hard work of Mike Davidson over the past year and proposed that he be re-elected again as Chairman. This proposition was seconded by Chris Pittaway and approved by the meeting.

The election for Treasurer took place – Gavin Ketchen being proposed by Sue Stoker and seconded by Martyn Parrott and approved by the meeting.

Anna Cuthbert was proposed as a Committee Member by Mike Davidson and this being seconded by Mike Brandwood was approved by the meeting.

Evelyn Halsall was proposed as a Committee Member by Mike Davidson and seconded by Sue Stoker and elected by the meeting.

Guest Presentations

Following a short break, the Police and Crime Commissioner, Angus MacPherson, addressed the meeting giving information on new initiatives including support of victims and witnesses through the Criminal Justice System, Restoration Together bringing resolutions between parties, and emphasizing his support for Neighbourhood Watch and that Wiltshire was a safe county and that although there had been a slight peak in hate crimes, this has now receded.

The Chief Constable then addressed the meeting, emphasising the difference in policing nowadays to that when he first joined 32 years ago.

As Chief Constable, he had to bridge the gap between the public demand and ever decreasing resources.

His officers were highly trained and although diminishing in numbers, he would be able to supplement them by an increase in the Special Constabulary and PCSO’s.

He reiterated that Wiltshire was one of the safest counties in the country.

The Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner then answered a wide range of questions from the meeting including the 101Call Centre system, reporting of crime by e-mails, drugs, alcohol, serious crimes and speed watch.

Drawing the meeting to a close at 12.20pm, the Chairman thanked the two guest speakers for their input and all members for their attendance.

Chairman

Appendix 1

Apologies

Lyn Ashby, Jack Iason, Susanne Webb, Joy Bailey-Ann, Steve Blake, Ann Marie Cooper, Kate Goodenough,Karen Johnstone Andrew Bristow, Roly Hill, Andrew Dawson. John Organ, Sue Williams, Peter Ager,Peter Szczesiak, David Whetton, Tony Sammes,Caroline Mcdonnell,Hugh Deed, Sonja Harris,Tina Johnson, Mike Sharp, Gillian Horigan,Ursula Starkie Caroline Whisler, Debby Underhill, Anne Senior, Mary Boyles, Martin Lion, Derek Fawcett. Pepita Hurd, Deirdre Riggs, Dave Sargeant,Les Brown, June Heron, Mike Sharp, Bob Campbell-Montgomery, Ursula Starkie,Cavan Moroney,Debbie Underhill,Sylvia Cordaiy, Linda Towers, Kim Wheeler-Mallows, Sheila Wilkins,Nikki Spreadbury-Clews,Christina Bundy, George Langley, Nick Crangle, Susan Holland, Pam Robinson, Raymond Collins, Lyn Snook, Ann Norman, Stephen Figures (No longer in area), Sue Fraser, Mark White.

Apppendix 3

Community Messaging Report to the WNHWA AGM - 1 July 2017

Wiltshire & Swindon Community Messaging has, since August 2014, held the details of the Membership of Wiltshire Neighbourhood Watch.

Initially the details of our membership were transferred from a database held by Wiltshire Police onto the system. At that time there were 2,655 co-ordinators and 3109 users linked to Neighbourhood Watch. Nearly three years on and we have more than trebled the number of users linked to NHW to 9936 (29 June).

As we have validated the data over time there has been a net reduction in the number of co-ordinators to 2,487. Overall this is a fairly stable position.

Mapping of schemes so that they can be seen on our web site and the National NHW site was entirely new to us when the system was launched. In 2015 I reported that only 1 in 25 of the schemes had been mapped. We have made some progress since then and 1 in 12 schemes are now mapped and we will continue to work with scheme co-ordinators to get their schemes fully identifiable on the NHW sites.

Many of the improvements are a direct result of community meetings such as the open forums that we have been doing in the last year as well as more localised initiatives. These initiatives are also helping to re-invigorate the schemes where they are taking place.

It has been a slow and sometimes hard process, but progress is definitely being made and I believe is accelerating.

So in closing I would like to remind members why it is so important for us to have Community Messaging for NHW.

  • Members control their own Data and can chose the level and type of communications they receive.
  • The Association has controlled access (compliant with the Data Protection Act) to our membership to enable us to manage our organisation better.
  • Our membership administration can support members as well co-ordinators once they have registered.
  • We can mark schemes as approved and they can be seen on the ‘Your Local Area’ sections of the Our Watch and W&SNHWA websites.
  • Members can reply and feed back directly to the sender of an Alert
  • We are able to share initiatives (such as the recent Smart Water Offer) and details of meetings more effectively with our membership.

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