Making the Beech Neighbourhood Watch scheme work well for us all can be easily summarised in two words: Communication & Networking.
We have 14 local co-ordinators who meet once a year and each one liases with about 15 houses in their localities. I look after the Lower Wellhouse Road Area and also act as the main co-ordinator for the village. Beech Parish Council provides funding for our activities and we have a section on the village website, www.beechvillage.org.uk
The planned method is to have a single point of contact with the police, which will be Colin Britchford. He will then communicate alerts and information to each of the thirteen co-ordinators. They in turn will feed this information into their areas. Also they will feed back to Colin and the police any sinister events. This is where a database will be invaluable to ensure wide and efficient coverage.
In order to facilitate the two-way communication of information and alerts received from both the police and residents, we have generated a residents’ database. This database is for the sole use of your Beech Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators and its access will be strictly controlled in order to protect your privacy, which has been achieved over the past nine years and over 95% of the homes are now on our contact list.
The Database will only contain the following information:
- Your name, address and postcode
- The name of the person in your household to whom YOU wish all Neighbourhood Watch communications to be addressed, plus one alternative contact name if available
- The telephone number to be used for all Neighbourhood Watch communications plus an emergency number if you wish.
- Your Email address, if you have one, which is the most efficient means of communication. Over 60% of the homes in Beech have signed up for the e mail service.
It is fully appreciated that some residents may object to releasing their telephone numbers if they are already ex-directory but it should be emphasised that this database is solely for the use of your Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators in order to allow them to keep YOU informed.
The networking is for all so please keep your eyes open, stay in contact with your neighbours and report anything suspicious to your Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator or directly to the police.
Colin Britchford
Main Coordinator
colin@britchford4419.freeserve.co.uk