Neighbourhood Watch is the best known and most effective example of the Community working together to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime and improve quality of life.  Over 155,000 NW schemes operate throughout the UK covering up to 25% of households.  The concept of NW was brought back to the UK in 1982 from the USA by a group of British Police Officers who had visited Chicago.  The first scheme in our country was set up in the village of Mollington in Cheshire in response to a spate of burglaries and was an immediate success.  The good news travelled fast and surrounding areas were quick to adopt the idea.  From thereon, growth was dramatic establishing NW countrywide.  It is now the largest voluntary organisation in the UK.

To find out if your area has a NW scheme you can click on this link or you can contact the office 01634 792131.
If there isn’t and you would like to set up a scheme, the Association is there to give you lots of help and advice.  We will send you an information pack and our Liaison Officer will also be pleased to come and talk to you.

• You will need to ask your neighbours if they also want a scheme, we can help you with a questionnaire or arrange a public meeting.
• If your neighbours agree we will register you as an official scheme and supply you with street signs,information packs and crime prevention literature for all of your new members
• Schemes can be as large or small as you want.  They can cover all of the households on an estate or just half a dozen houses in a cul-de-sac.  It depends on the area and what the people living there want.
•  A scheme is generally led by a volunteer coordinator whose job is to get people working together to make sure things get done.
• You may wish to form a committee which meets occasionally to plan which problems to target and what action to take.  Scheme keep in close touch with the Police to share information and advice.
•  Most crime is opportunist, committed on the spur of the moment or when a car or a house is left unlocked.  This means that there is enormous scope for reducing chances for criminals. For more information on setting up a Watch Click here