REPORT TO PICKMERE PARISH COUNCIL
20th July 2021
AGENDA ITEM 9.5 LAUNCH OF NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH SCHEME IN PICKMERE
1 REPORT
1.1 Pickmere Residents Association in conjunction with Cheshire Police have launched a new
Neighbourhood Watch scheme in Pickmere.
1.2 The Association have provided the following information in respect of the scheme.
Details of the Neighbourhood Watch launch were in the last edition of the Pickmere Press (April
2021), which reaches all households in the parish. It was also announced on the Pickmere Press
Facebook page (22 March).
The scheme covers the parish and anyone can join via the:
a. Residents’ Association Facebook group – residents in this group were asked in early
March if they would like to have a separate Facebook group for the NW scheme and an
overwhelming majority wanted the information to be shared in the existing group.
b. Residents’ Association WhatsApp group – details of how to join were shared in the April
edition of the Pickmere Press.
c. Residents will be able to join via the OurWatch website, this had not gone live (at the
time of writing), but the necessary leaflets have been supplied to the RA, and they will be
distributed to every household in the parish one the same day or shortly after the June
edition of the Pickmere Press is posted, which will provide more information.
Neighbourhood Watch’s Central Support Team provides support to Associations, local groups
and members to grow, diversify and develop the Neighbourhood Watch movement. This
includes the provision of guidance and toolkits on Neighbourhood Watch related matters,
national liaison with key partners to support the growth of the Neighbourhood Watch
movement and sharing effective practice by local areas.
To support the communities, members, and coordinators within a regional area, there are what
is known as Associations. These are run by locally based volunteers and their role is to support
and develop Neighbourhood Watch within a localised area. For us, this is Cheshire
Neighbourhood Watch. The RA runs the local scheme and work with our
association. Networking and sharing of information also takes place with the award-winning
Mobberley NW scheme, to help strengthen the movement and share best practice as they have
been established much longer and cover a much greater area.
The Scheme coordinator in Pickmere also liaises with the PCSO to share any information may
be valuable to our local policing team (and vice versa), share ideas & plans to gain their input
and suggestions from a policing perspective and will be working with our PCSO to deliver some
online zoom meetings to cover specific NW topics. These online sessions will then be advertised
via the Facebook group and the Neighbourhood Watch website email (for those who choose to
sign up).
A campaign will be run during the month of June, tackling burglary and covering the following
topics:
Burglary prevention
Protecting your contents
Protecting your boundary
Protecting your main building
Resources and toolkits
Burglary reporting and support
1.3 A recent update on the scheme has been provided, as follows:
Since the leaflets were distributed in June a further 38 residents have joined the NW
scheme (via the leaflets), 95% of these members are not in the Facebook group and
now receive a weekly email from the coordinator, which includes the following:
Weekly Cheshire NW newsletter
Pickmere crime statistics (monthly)
Details of scams and crime information shared by our local police authorities
Information, tools and resources from Pickmere NW campaigns
National & local Neighbourhood Watch news and information
Any other relevant information
There are 169 members of the Facebook group & a further 66 members in the village
WhatsApp group. New memberships are growing steadily on a bi-monthly basis,
usually after the Pickmere Press goes out as more people see there is an active
scheme in place.
An order has been submitted for Neighbourhood Watch window stickers for
distribution to members and it is hoped that a number of Neighbourhood Watch signs
can be erected around the village, subject to confirmation from CEC on the use of
lampposts etc. A recycled and re-usable twine material will be used for this purpose
(following Pickmere Against Plastic guidelines).
2. RECOMMENDATION
2.1 That the report be noted be and the launch of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme be welcomed.
J Steel – Clerk to the Parish Council
