Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is a well-established community initiative which operates across the whole of the country with around 4 million members. It is a free, confidential service and it is up to residents how involved they want to be. It helps reduce the opportunities for crime by deterring would be thieves and vandals and assists in establishing a community spirit so that everyone can contribute to the well-being of the neighbourhood by mutual co-operation.

Neighbourhood Watch provides a more formalised way to inform the Police of any suspicious activity and Watch Groups have frequent contact with their local policing teams meaning that crime alerts can be quickly circulated. The regular flow of information raises awareness, helps make members more aware of local crime problems and provides the opportunity to prevent members from being victims of crime.

Many home contents insurance companies offer a discount to members of registered Neighbourhood Watch groups and property prices can rise in areas where there is little or no crime.

You don’t have to be actively involved to participate. Many members simply register their e-mail addresses with their local Watch Group so that they can receive crime alerts and crime prevention advice via their computers in their own homes.

Neighbourhood Watch is about local people working together to create a safer, attractive, friendly place to live, a neighbourhood where crime is less likely to happen and people are less likely to turn to anti-social behaviour. Having a local Neighbourhood Watch Group will lead to a greater shared awareness of local problems and a better understanding of practical steps that can be taken to tackle them.

In response to residents flagging that we should have an estate-wide Neighbourhood Watch, the Channels development is now recognised as a Neighbourhood Watch ‘District’ (which includes the existing area of Jigger Gardens in Aqua Verde).

It’s easy to get involved by joining our Watch Group, and there is also more information about Neighbourhood Watch generally in the official Members Guide.