What is NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH?

Stapeley Parish Plan had as one of its recommendations the adoption of Neighbourhood Watch throughout the whole Parish. Whether you live on the Cronkinson estate or in the rural part of the Parish you are part of a community and unfortunately, regardless of size, your community may be a likely target for crime.

It is easy to shrug it off and assume it won't happen to you, that nothing can be done or that it is someone else's problem. However, you can make a difference and the success of Neighbourhood Watch proves getting together with your neighbours can assist in cutting down local crime.

These days we all lead busy lives and as a result communities can become fragmented. Neighbours can live next door to one another for years without ever really getting to know each other.

Neighbourhood Watch can revive the local community, because it is not just about reducing burglary figures and crime, it is about creating communities that care. It unites people with a common goal and can make a contribution to improving peoples' lives and reducing the fear of crime in an area. The activity of Watch members can ignite a new community spirit and a belief in the communities' ability to tackle problems.

Home Watch began in this County in 1982, when it was known as Home Watch and was subsequently adopted as a national initiative as Neighbourhood Watch. Over 160,000 schemes are currently active in the UK, helping to prevent crime and disorder in over 6,000,000 households. Although known nationally as Neighbourhood Watch, Cheshire Police still use the title Home Watch for the update bulletins that appears on this website. To read the latest Bulletins click on Home Watch. Helpful information about the latest initiatives both in and around our Parish can be found in the Parish News page.

Home Watch involves:

• Neighbours working together in an atmosphere of mutual assistance.
• The recognition and reporting of any suspicious incidents.
• The use of Crime Prevention methods in the home.

The main benefits are:

• Getting to know your neighbours! Everyone supports each other - increasing Community Spirit and bringing people closer together.
• Home Watch areas are more likely to deter potential criminals; helping to reduce crime.
• Detection rates increase due to intelligence passed on from neighbours.

More generally the scheme can improve the liaison between the community and the police; it can reduce the fear of crime and disorder especially amongst the elderly and overall create a better quality of life for everyone!

If there are any residents within the above areas and have not yet joined the scheme and would like to do so, could they please contact me.

We are also looking for volunteers to act as co-ordinators in those areas of the Parish that have yet to be covered. The duties of the co-ordinator are not onerous: they include the recruitment of new members; looking after the homes of any members on holidays, etc.; the distribution of intelligence, literature, etc. provided by the Police. The availability of a computer is useful, although not essential, to provide communications with police and Members via e-mail.

Bob Llewellyn