Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network
(England & Wales)
17 June 2011
Tweeting not Twitching – Neighbourhood Watch unveil plans for a new future
A push for younger members and more communities to get involved with Neighbourhood and Home Watch was launched todayas the group moved to update its curtain-twitching image.
In a bid to attract new members the national body representing Neighbourhood and Home Watch (NHW) groups unveiled their plans for appealing to a new generation of members, to mark the start of Neighbourhood and Home Watch Week.
One central element to the Network’s plans to be more transparent and engage with a new audience is the launch of their online resource, The new website has been developed as a communication hub filled with campaign ideas, posters, advice guides and case studies.
To complement this drive to improve integration, a new Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualification to train a new generation of volunteers is set to begin this week.
The week long campaign also marks a new era for the movement in working with the private sector to help support the movement’s ambitious plans. Towergate Insurancewho is Europe’slargest independently owned insurance intermediary have been named as the Network’s primary sponsor.
Jim Maddan, Chair of the Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, said:
“While anti-social behaviour and other crimes remain a serious concern for local communities, groups like Neighbourhood Watch which act as a collective voice for safer neighbourhoods are needed more than ever.
“I want to congratulate the great work already achieved by NHW coordinators and volunteers across the country. But we know younger people think we’re just curtain-twitchers, so today we’re embracing new ways of bringing communities together. That means keeping people safe and informed using Facebook and Twitter as well as tried and tested methods. The website usesstate of the art mapping, messaging and reporting facilities which are free for coordinators and NHW organisations to use and make modern methods of organisation, marketing and social networking easy for grass roots members to access.
“We all have the right to feel safe where we live which is why we want to see more young members and diverse communities taking joint responsibility to make their neighbourhoods safer.”
Minister for Crime Prevention and Anti-social Behaviour Reduction Baroness Browning said:
“Neighbourhood Watch is a great example of how communities can come together to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and make our streets safer.
“But it’s important we keep this movement alive by encouraging new and more diverse membership, as well as embracing new and different ways of communicating.
“We know people lead busy lives and it is not always easy to spare the time to attend a regular meeting or get involved all of the time. That is how the new website can help. By logging onpeople can keep up to date with what is going on in their area, as well this it canhelp groups to keep in touch and share information online.”
David Kester, CEO of the Design Council said:
“The new online Neighbourhood Watch services are a great example of the Design Out Crime programme at work. Local communities, policy makers, and the police have worked with designers to innovate and combat crime. The Design Council is delighted to have supported the project and congratulates the Home Office and the teams for re-thinking this important public service.”
Deputy Chief Constable Rob Beckley ACPO lead for Citizens in Policing, which covers volunteers and partnerships, said:
“The work being carried out by Neighbourhood Watch coordinators and volunteers across the country is vital in creating safe communities. The community are our eyes and ears and it is great that so many people have, through Neighbourhood Watch, taken responsibility for preventing crime and helping each other. By using the most up to date technology available we can support communities in achieving that ambition, keeping them up to date about what is going on, sharing and receiving information in the fastest and easiest way possible.”
The new website is designed to help the public find and join their local group or even set one up, but allows users the flexibility to simply get useful crime prevention advice without having to actually join. It will also enable the existing 173,000 independent groups across the country to come together by providing advice and templates for coordinators in running groups.
Malcolm Elsworth from Electric Putty who designed and configured the website said:
"We were delighted to get the opportunity to work with the Design Council on the newNeighbourhoodWatch website. It was a technically challenging, multi-agency project but the process was both exciting and fulfilling. We feelprivilegedto have been part of the team behind the Our Watch website and most of all to have helpedNeighbourhoodWatch collect their schemes together on a searchable map of the UK and the Brand Centre which is an entirely bespoke piece of functionality."
VISAV Limited designed and developed the Neighbourhood Alert system working closely with Nottinghamshire Police and has been tasked by the Network to build in specific Neighbourhood Watch management tools. Volunteers are being recruited, vetted and trained to use the system which puts the control and management of local schemes in the hands of local NHW members. Since Nottinghamshire Police’s lead, other forces in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire have adopted the system
Cumbria Neighbourhood Watch has recently launched the Cumbria Community Messaging system and has brought together the police, Neighbourhood Watch, Community Safety and Business Watch.
Neighbour Return also utilises the Neighbourhood Alert tools to enable community members to help search for people who are suffering from Alzheimer’s and have been reported as missing. The project is developing software, including a smart phone application which will help coordinate searches with community volunteers including Neighbourhood Watch members and the police.
Notes to Editors
- The new website can be found at with Neighbourhood Watch events taking place found here.
- For more information, details or requests for interviews, please contact Kate Daisley (Operations Director) on 07827 837729 or Jim Maddan (Chair) at Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network on 07979 773612.
- As a case example of younger people leading NHW in their area, please contact Natasha Hardy who has recently been elected as the Chair of York Community Group. Natasha is 20 years old and is currently studying Law at Northumbria University. Natasha can be contacted on 07523 216735.
- The Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, in partnership withthe SafetyNet Associates Group,have developed and successfully gained full accreditation for a brand new BTECqualification: "BTEC AdvancedAward for Community Advocates".For information about the Safety Net Associates Group: For Information about the NationalNeighbourhood Watch Academy, including the new BTEC qualification: or contact Jon Kennett on 07799 332633.
- A case study of an innovative way of communicating and working together for the benefit of the wider community is the Neighbour Return Project. Neighbourhood Watch members, or others, who opt in to this scheme agree that if someone with dementia has been reported as missing in their locality, they will receive a text and, if possible, they will then help look for the person in their immediate neighbourhood. This is a partnership project between Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, the Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK, Local Authorities, the health service and the police. For more information please contact the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Communications Department 01865 782195 and ask for Dr Rupert McShane.
- For more information regarding the Design Council’s Designing Out Crime project with NHW please click here for more information.
- For more information about Neighbourhood Alert please contact Mike Douglas, Managing Director of VISAV on 07771 557788.
- Towergate Insurance is the Network’s primary sponsor. For more information please contact Kelly-Ann Knight on 07717 866190
- For more information about Electric Putty please contact Melanie Burke or Malcolm Elsworth on01273 677557