Request for inputs to plans for an Association to support Neighbourhood Watch in Lambeth

Request for inputs to plans for an Association to support Neighbourhood Watch in Lambeth

From Philip Virgo as development lead for Neighbourhood Watch in Lambeth

A planning meeting on March 31st tasked me to contact all Neighbourhood Watch participants in Lambeth to let them (you) know what is planned, ask for your comments and invite you to get engaged. Please reply to this alert if you would like a copy of the full meeting report as sent to Group Conveners

In January Love Lambeth reported that the 5,000 respondents to a survey of council priorities in the face of budget pressures put “tackling violence and anti-social behaviour” top. Next came street cleaning and looking after vulnerable children.

The Development Team for Neighbourhood Watch is working to launch an Association in time to support the activities of Neighbourhood Watch Groups in Lambeth from June 1st (first day of National Volunteering Week) onwards.

The aim is to then put the national vision of “Watch, Connect, Act” into the Lambeth context of rebuilding “befriending” networks (including for child support and youth engagement), using Street/Estate groups to look out for vulnerable neighbours, including those too frightened of being scammed to access on-line services or respond to e-mails, texts or phone calls or visits from strangers, supposedly from health, welfare or other support services.

Nationally over 1.3 million households are registered with the Neighbourhood Watch Alert network. Most are members of over 60,000 street/estate groups which reach many more via links to tenant and resident associations and local whatsapp or facebook groups. Most groups are supported by Associations.

Lambeth does not yet have an Association but the 120 groups in Lambeth already reach over 2,000 households via the Alert network and a further 13,000 via local links. The network, shared with Met Engage, is growing at about 5% per month.

The other local priorities identified by the Association development team are to:

make sense of how to report what to who: police, trading standard, council.

understand what action is then likely to be taken, by who, and how to complain if is not.

rationalise the plethora of consultation and co-ordination meetings

The actions under way for which we are seeking comment, support and participation are to:

Create a website carry links to relevant and authoritative guidance, local, regional and national.

Your Action: Visit lambethnhw.co.uk and comment to development@lambethnhw.co.uk

Create a Lambeth NHW Community Safety Channel on Travel Guardian (free UK safety app with over a million downloads, partnered with Susie Lamplugh, Just Women, AIDA, Childline/NSPCC, Hestia, White Ribbon and others both nationally and locally).

Your Actions: Download Travel Guardian. Explore. Volunteer to help set up local groups and load information.

Identify those willing to help plan practical co-operation at both street/estate and ward/community level for launch during National Volunteering Week.

Your Action: Visit Neighbourhood Watch Week then let us know what you plan.

Identify those willing to work with parents, schools, sports and youth groups. police and council to organise youth engagement programmes for launch after the exam season.

Your Action: please reply if you are interested in helping or participating

Survey topics for Lambeth-wide co-operation to organise/secure action. Flytipping, Shoplifting, Parcel Theft, Graffiti, Speeding and action on “nests” of criminals in HMOs or cuckooing are common topics for SNP meetings.

Your Action: Visit your entry on the Met Engage/Neighbourhood Watch Platforms and update your entry for the groups of interests (e.g. “Community Speedwatch”, “Cycle Watch”, and “Dog Watch”)

Create one or more Business Watch Groups in co-operation with those supporting/protecting businesses in London, both on-line (e.g. London Cyber Resilience Centre and Report fraud) and the physical world )

Your Action: please update your entry if interested in joining and reply if interested in helping

To provide any other feedback, especially if you disagree with the plans and/or would like to join the leadership team, please reply to this alert and/or e-mail development@lambethnwha.co.uk.

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Message Sent By
Philip Virgo
(NWN, MSA, London, Lambeth)