Help 'Watch' your Neighbourhood

Isle of Wight Neighbourhood Watch is appealing for more people to act as Co-ordinators in local watch schemes.

A scheme needn’t be large, just a few houses in part of street, or a block of flats can be set up as a scheme.

The IOW NW Secretary Mr John Pullen reiterated more are needed to assist the Police by working with them to keep communities safe from anti-social behaviour and other low level crimes, this type of crime puts pressure on Police resources. “Neighbourhood Watch is becoming increasingly important to help reduce burglary and other crime,” he said. We are lucky on the Island in that the Police have introduced the ‘Safer Neighbourhood Teams’ who work with communities.

‘There is little work involved, you can make a big difference.’ A coffee morning can be all it takes to kick a scheme off

Recruiting and retaining volunteers can be difficult. We work quite hard to encourage people to come forward and set a scheme in their area, but people are often put off the idea of responsibility despite being attracted by the initial idea. People have busy lives, so the numbers available to do something can be in relatively short supply, he admitted.

However it is not agreat deal of work once you set it up and your only responsibility is to keep your eyes and ears open.
One of the first jobs is to knock on neighbours’ doors and take the contact details of those that want to be involved, as well as passing on a welcoming pack. This will contain contact details so the right people can be contacted when required.

An additional benefit is that members of a registered scheme can often claim a discount on their household insurance, we are taking a proactive approach to get people from being interested to setting up a scheme up, although the process can involve some leg work, the effort is rewarding.

Anyone interested in setting up a scheme should contact Isle of Wight Neighbourhood Watch Association Secretary either via 01983 281250 or pullenjd@hotmail.co.uk  OR one of the Co-ordinators listed here >>