NNHW Week Press release
15 June 2009 020 …
LAUNCH OF NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH WEEK
Giving communities even more tools to protect themselves from criminals is the new focus of Neighbourhood Watch, Home Office Minister Alan Campbell announced today at the launch of a dedicated week focussing on the issue.
A new-look website, improved training schemes as well as online groups and schemes specifically for young people are just some of the initiatives being put into place by the Neighbourhood Watch with the help of £1million of government funding.
This money will also be used to provide grants for smaller community groups to improve home security for elderly and vulnerable people in 90 priority areas across the country.
Mr Campbell launched Neighbourhood Watch Week at the headquarters of Leeds Community Action and Support Against Crime which works with Neighbourhood Watch and local police forces to reduce burglary by installing security devices in the homes of burglary victims or those who are at risk of becoming victims.
Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:
“Overall crime has fallen by 39 per cent since 1997 but we know we are facing new challenges and we are using all of the experience and knowledge available to us to tackle them head on.
“Neighbourhood Watch shows what can be achieved when local communities work with the authorities to help people feel safer in their homes. That is why we are backing their work with £1million to help them strengthen their organisation and increase their numbers especially in areas and communities that are most at risk.
“I want to thank the thousands of volunteers who are already working hard to help their neighbours and I am looking forward to seeing that good work expand into even more areas.”
From today the official neighbourhood watch website will include new pages for every county in the country where each scheme can register their details, share information and co-ordinate events. Each local page also contains a single point of contact for their local police force and a county liaison within the NHW organisation.
Marion Lewis, Chair of the Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, said:
“Almost four million households are part of Neighbourhood and Home Watch. Schemes exist in cities, towns, and villages across the country, and we know that many more people who are not members would join a scheme if there was one where they lived.
“We want to see Neighbourhood Watch spread to new places and involve new people and so I welcome the funding the Government has announced to support us in critical capacity building over the next year, around important issues such as training and communication.
“Neighbourhood Watch Week provides us with the opportunity to highlight the benefits of being in a scheme in forming close local networks, and reminds people about the impact they can have on crime reduction and community cohesion when they come together as neighbours.”
Some of the measures being looked at to increase NHW membership include establishing a Junior Neighbourhood Watch scheme which gives children information about crime prevention, personal and road safety.
Virtual Neighbourhood Watch schemes will also be set up on the group’s website – www.mynhw.co.uk - to allow people who might not be able to attend regular meetings, such as university students, to join a group online, share localised community safety information and get crime prevention advice.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. According to the 2006/07 British Crime Survey, 16 per cent of households currently belong to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in England and Wales. This equates to an estimated 3.8 million member households.
2. During the visit Mr Campbell saw a demonstration of Leeds Community Action and Support Against Crime’s Crime Alert system which allows members of the public, and in particular, Neighbourhood Watch schemes to register online and receive email or SMS alert messages when there is suspected criminal activity underway in their area.
3. In April the Home Office announced that it was awarding Neighbourhood Watch a total of £1million from the £15million Securing Homes: Action Against Burglary Fund (SHAAB). £500,000 will be used for capacity building and to increase membership numbers. The remaining £500,000 will be used for grants to smaller community groups to improve home security.
4. It was also announced that a £6million Safer Homes fund would be set up for community groups to bid for grants which they would use to pay for local handy-people to visit up to 45,000 homes of people who are less likely to have good home security, such as older people and people on low incomes, and install security devices such as window locks making those houses more secure.
5. For more information contact the Home Office Press Office on 020 7035 3535 .