Watchword
Southend Neighbourhood Watch
Southend Neighbourhood Watch is a voluntary community safety organisation designed to promote community spirit within the borough. The idea is to improve community safety and reduce or prevent crime and anti-social behaviour by acting in a neighbourly manner by developing close liaison between households in a neighbourhood and the local police. It aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents to the police and by fostering a community spirit.
Objectives
- To prevent crime by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
- To assist the police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and the prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
- To reduce the fear of crime by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly amongst the more vulnerable members of the community.
- To improve the quality of life for members
Contact us on southendnhw@aol.com or telephone 01702 464199 if you would like to be part of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area. If there is an established scheme in your area we can put you in contact with the Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator. If there is no scheme in existence we can advise you and assist you to establish a scheme. Neighbourhood Watch relies on participation of the neighbours who live in area, whether this is a close, a road or a block flats.
2011 Neighbourhood Watch meetings
Southend Central (Victoria, Milton and Kursaal wards) Date TBC
Bournes Green Neighbourhood Watch Association Date TBC
Westcliff and Leigh Neighbourhood Watch Association Date TBC
Prittlewell & Westcliff Neighbourhood Watch Association Wednesday 11 April 2012, 7.30pm venue to be confirmed
Eastwood Neighbourhood Watch Association Monday 5 March 2012, 7.30pm at Eastwood Community Centre
Leigh and Chalkwell Neighbourhood Watch Association Thursday 3 April 2012, 7.30pm at Leigh Town Council
Southend Foreshore Watch Monday 19 March, 8.15 pm at Leigh Sailing Club
NHW meeting minutes
Prittlewell Neighbourhood Action Panel minutes - Tuesday 13 December 2011
Chalkwell Neighbourhood Action Panel minutes - Tuesday 22 November 2011
Leigh and West Leigh Neighbourhood Action Panel minutes - Monday 9 January 2012
Milton Ward Neighbourhood Meeting minutes - Thursday 19 January 2012
Leigh Crime Prevention Panel
The Leigh Crime Prevention Panel is Home Office appointed and its membership is drawn up from local community groups including the police, Southend Borough Council, Leigh Town Council, residents' associations and Neighbourhood Watch. The Panel’s area of operation includes Leigh, Eastwood, Westcliff and Prittlewell. Meetings are held bi-monthly with an annual meeting in July.
Recent measures introduced and initiatives supported by the panel include signage installed along the cinder path aimed at discouraging and preventing underage drinking; the purchase of a camera for the police to record crime including graffiti and criminal damage; the purchase of bottles for ‘the message in a bottle scheme’ and Neighbourhood Watch signs for the Sheltered watch scheme.
The Panel, with the valued support of the Lions Club of Leigh-on-Sea, organises an annual poster competition, now in its eleventh year, for primary schools. The purpose of the competition is to involve children from an early age in crime prevention and to educate them about the effects of crime on their community. The awards are presented by the Mayor of Southend in the council chamber which is always full of excited children accompanied by their teachers, parents and grandparents.
Message in a Bottle scheme
Neighbourhoood Watch is also responsible for the supply of the Message in a Bottle scheme also known as the emergency information scheme. The Message in a Bottle scheme is aimed at people on long-term medication and has already proved a great success in the UK and further afield in countries such as Canada and Australia.
The “bottle" is a small plastic container, which is kept in the fridge and contains details of the person’s next of kin, medical condition, allergies, medication and doctor. This information can be easily found in an emergency and acts as a simple but effective lifesaver.
Inside each bottle there are two special stickers known to the emergency services. These are put up in the person’s house, one on the outside of the fridge door, the other inside their front door, but they can be easily found in an emergency. The door sticker should be located where it cannot be seen from outside
The scheme is fully supported by the Southend Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, Southend Police, Essex Fire and Rescue Service, and the Ambulance service.
For information about the Message in a Bottle Scheme contact Mick Holland on 01702 464199, or Email southendnhw@aol.com
Scam Watch
Scam Watch aims to educate residents about online scams and how to protect themselves, and encourages them to report any suspicious messages they receive to help make others aware.
There are countless scams on the Internet but if you are cautious and know what to look out for, you’ll always be one step ahead of the criminals.
The majority of email providers and financial institutions offer a way for you to report any scams that you receive. If you receive a suspicious email, forward it to the relevant company or organisation which can be found here.
Southend CDRP is keen to collate email and web addresses that allow scam and phishing reporting. For more information please contact Mick Holland via southendnhw@aol.com
Allotment Watch
The Allotment Watch scheme is aimed specifically at allotment plot holders across the Borough. In common with other variants of Neighbourhood Watch, it operates by encouraging, in this case, plot holders to work together through self-help to take steps to reduce the incidence of crime and anti-social behaviour on allotment sites.
Each allotment society in the borough has a nominated point of contact to whom alert messages are circulated via email. Their role is to then disseminate the information to members in whichever format works for the group.
An additional element to the scheme is the deployment of the Community Safety Roadshow on a rolling programme to allotment sites. The philosophy behind such deployment is that mechanical equipment either collectively owned by the society or by individual plot holders, can be electronically tagged to render it less attractive to thieves. Other items such as hand tools can be marked with conventional property marking equipment.
An Allotment Watch toolkit has been created and can be downloaded, here.
Business Watch
You have probably heard of Neighbourhood Watch but not Business Watch. The principal is much
the same - it's about keeping a look out for each other and reducing crime in the area in
the process.
How does it work?
- As a group, you will be kept informed of any criminal activity that could affect your business
- You will be kept abreast of current crime trends
- By being kept informed, you will have a better chance of reducing crime that could affect your
business
- By working together as a Business Watch Scheme, criminals will feel less inclined to operate
in your area
What is in it for me?
- Less crime means better profits
- Crimes should be reduced
- Crime alerts can be speedily circulated to members
- Suspicious activity can be quickly reported to the police
- Guide to minimum ages for sale of products
Click on the image below to download 'Mind Your Own Business' - a step-by-step guide to help protect you and your business from identity fraud.
For more information download our Business Watch toolkit or call Community Engagement on 01702 464199; 07799008801; or email
southendnhw@aol.com
Sheltered Watch
The scheme was launched in the early part of 2007 and is aimed specifically at senior citizens residing in the Borough. The fundamental aim is to reduce the incidence of crime amongst our older residents.
The key features of the scheme are as follows:
- Keeping sheltered housing staff aware of crime issues that could impact on theirresidents through the use of the careline service
- Giving informal talks to pensioner groups, societies and residents in sheltered housing
- Identifying vulnerable older people with a view to enhancing their home security with the HandyVan service
- Providing postcoding materials to make property less attractive to thieves
- Running miniature Roadshow sessions in sheltered housing complexes
- Encouraging the use of the Nominated Neighbour scheme
Park Watch
A Borough wide scheme covering all parks, recreation grounds, public gardens, open spaces and cemeteries was launched during 2005. The Southend Park Watch scheme works in much the same way as conventional Neighbourhood Watch with park users and visitors to the cemeteries being asked to be aware of crime and anti-social behaviour issues and to be aware of any such behaviour to the police.
A quarterly meeting is held at Southend Civic Centre where users and other interested parties can meet to discuss issues and to establish possible strategies to address wrongdoing etc. Each meeting includes an open forum when the parks officers and police can engage with park users etc on matters that affect specific locations.
In addition to the quarterly meetings, three dedicated parks management groups meet to discuss the ongoing projects at Bournes Green Park, Priory Park and Southchurch Park East. These dedicated groups are engaged with their specific park as follows. These projects have the full backing of Southend Borough Council
Southend Park Watch Parks Database
Substation Watch
Please contact Substation Watch if you have concerns about substation vandalism, fly tipping at sites, or suspected unauthorised access to substations or contact the relevant emergency and power cut number for your area.
UK Power Networks Substation Watch
www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk Tel: 0800 587 3243
Foreshore Watch
The Foreshore Watch scheme was launched in July 2005 to act as a forum for beach hut owners, yacht club members, local sea scouts and people who used out seven miles of coast for work and leisure time. The scheme members meet every two months at Leigh Sailing Club with Essex Police Marine Unit PCSOs, police officers from the local Neighbourhood Policing Team and a representative from Southend Pier and Foreshore Department.
Recently, representatives from Benfleet Creek and River Roach yacht clubs have joined the scheme as part of a move to keep neighbouring clubs aware of crime and anti-social behaviour issues that might affect them. They, in turn, reciprocate. Members are kept in touch via e-mail, this being the most effective mode of contact.
New members are always welcome – contact the chairman, Mick Holland on southendnhw@aol.com If you would like to attend the next meeting, details are posted below.
Date of next meeting: TBC
Contact details for Essex Police Marine Unit and local policing teams whose beats include parts of the Foreshore:
Marine Policing Unit 07968 574 809
Central (Milton and Kursaal wards) 07817 968 114
Leigh & Chalkwell 07866 545 291
Shoebury 07710 086 590
Thorpe 07976 325 346
Documents: Foreshore Watch Toolkit