Darlington Neighbourhood Watch Association (DNHWA)

Darlington Neighbourhood Watch Association (DNHWA)

For your own benefit please read all of my letter below.

Hello, and welcome to the 13 people who have joined the Neighbourhood Watch Network in the last 7 days. Many of you do not live within the Borough of Darlington but in order for the NW Network in London to provide you with the support you need to make your home and family safe, you have been assigned to Darlington Neighbourhood Watch Association, (the only Association currently operating in County Durham). It is entirely free of charge. The Network has only 12 paid employees, the rest of us are volunteers and yet it is the most effective group in the UK fighting crime. My name is Richard Beaumont and I am Chair of DNHWA and MSA (Membership Support Administrator) for County Durham.

With the exception of those who have been recruited into an existing local Scheme you can remain a single member of DNHWA in your street. But we strongly recommend that you share the protection we provide with your neighbours by creating a Scheme for your street so that your neighbours can receive the updates on scams and fraud the Network will send you by email; and local crime reports from the Durhan Police Force with whom we colaborate through their website “keepinthe know”. Some people join us through this website.

It is important that we have your telephone number in case you change your email address without informing us, or it may have stopped working without your knowledge. You will no longer receive the warnings the Network are sending out. I will be notified if this happens and I will be asked to contact you by phone to advise you of your situation. 

The purpose of DNHWA is to provide all our members with support and advice on any issues you may have involving threats to your home and family and others in the street. If you would like to enjoy the much increase protection of having all your neighbours working together as members of Neighbourhood Watch and looking out for each other to protect your street from crime, you would start your own Scheme. This is set up by you volunteering, via “ourwatch.org.uk,” to become the Coordinator for the street you wish to represent and name it. You will then request from me pamphlets, like the picture below, to introduce yourself to your neighbours as the Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator for their street and invite them to join us. Tell them it is free to join with no charges for continued membership and explain how to volunteer as a member, in the same way you did it.

I will help you set up your Scheme and, apart from the initial canvassing of your street to recruit new members, there is is very little to do on a weekly basis, if all your members are linked to the Network. You may wish to encourage the doubters by sharing some of the more interesting emails you get with them.  You should assure them that the Network is fully committed to the securty of their data, it is what we are about. Our whole purpose is to protect people from online crime. When you have recruited no more than 24 people (that will be the most you will cope with initially) I will erect a sign in your street stating “THIS IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH AREA”

If your neighbours trust each other they will inform their near neighbours that they will be away from home on holiday and ask them to keep an eye on their property. It would be wise to give one neighbour their front door key in case of emergency. And, if they see a van or other vehicle parked at that property with dubious activity going on there, they will call the police.

Contact me when you are ready , through the Network Reply System which you should now see and leave me a message.

With regards Richard