For the Attention of:-

Dear Parklands Way NHW Members, Graham Freeman, John Dibley Borough co-ordinator.
cc: Epsom & Ewell NHW Police Team,

STREET CO-ORDINATORS RESPONSIBILITIES.

It is now almost 9 months since we joined the Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) scheme and I, being appointed Street co-ordinator, feel it is time I carry out some of the responsibilities as your street co-ordinator.

So far my main responsibility has been to forward all Surrey Police Notices and Trading Standards Alerts to all members on our street (Parklands Way) auctioned via Email which you have been receiving via the blog titled Epsom and Ewell NHW.

On Friday 28th September 2012, I attended the NHW Surrey Police Co-Ordinators Launch meeting held at Stoneleigh Baptist Church Hall where Inspector Craig Knight outlined responsibilities of a Borough, Area and Street Co-ordinator, and it was at this point I had learnt that my responsibilities as Street co-ordinator is more than just forwarding Police notices, and as such, I have detailed some of some of my responsibilities which has to be carried out by myself and with your support help make our towns, borough and streets a Safer Place, with of course the great help we get from Epsom & Ewell NHW Police team.

At the Police Launch meeting, Inspector Craig Knight opened his presentation which certainly brought home his dedication and commitment towards Neighbourhood watch, and before I go any further, appreciate if you would kindly listen to this video clip below by Inspector Craig Knight if you have not viewed this before.

Please click on video clip below and for full screen view

please click on the small square box located at the bottom right.

Please oblige and take a little time to read this brief outline note on street co-ordinators responsibilities.

What does a Neighbourhood Watch

Street coordinator do?

The role of a Neighbourhood Watch Street Co-ordinator varies across the country, in general the role is to set up and maintain a Neighbourhood Watch scheme within a specific street, (in my case covering 10 homes on Parklands Way, Worcester Park Surrey).

The following are generally recognised as the main duties which Street co-ordinators manage:

Encourage vigilance amongst scheme members and actively encourage the early reporting of suspicious incidents to the police. Always working closely with Surrey NHW Police.
Receive crime information from the Neighbourhood Watch messaging system via (Sam Page & her team) and distribute these messages to scheme members via Email.
Encourage scheme members to be aware of and put into practise crime prevention measures, such as security devices. (Details of suggested devices will follow later).
Keep a check on vulnerable households and provide advice to members about dealing with callers at the door. See Cold Calling advice, information pack with stickers will be forwarded by me directly to your door.
Circulate newsletters and other relevant information to street members. (Mostly via email).
Welcome newcomers to the neighbourhood and invite them to be part of the NHW scheme.
Supply each scheme member with Neighbourhood Watch and crime prevention literature, such as Neighbourhood Watch window stickers. (already auctioned).

Neighbours uniting and acting together means dozens of eyes and ears are ready to pick up on anything happening in the neighbourhood that could cause worry or concern, and provides a support network, especially for the more vulnerable, enabling residents to feel safer.

Our Epsom & Ewell Neighbourhood Watch covers all of Epsom, Epsom Common, Epsom Downs, Langley Bottom, Stoneleigh, West Ewell, Nonsuch Park, Horton, East Ewell and part of Worcester Park. Our aim is for all of us to work together.

Everyone who joins a Neighbourhood Watch scheme plays an important part in making our neighbourhood a safer, more friendly and pleasant place to live in.

Further Responsibilities may also include:

	*Expanding the program and maintaining a current list* of participants and neighbourhood residents, including names, addresses, home and work telephone numbers, and vehicle descriptions.
	I plan to make a start on my street co-ordinators responsibilities outlined above, and as such wish to commence with Stage 1 mentioned below.

PARKLANDS WAY. (Stage 1 proposal).
(Telephone/contact list of all our Neighbours on Parklands Way).

Fortunately all our 10 homes on Parklands Way are well located giving a visual view of our entire road from either top or bottom of the street with traffic only coming through via Grafton Park Road.

My home (Benny & Betty) at 5 Parklands Way is mid-point between the 10 houses and fortunately we have a good view of the road and homes from house No. 5 to No. 10 which can be seen from our kitchen or lounge windows making it easy to observe anyone visiting the area either by van, car, on foot or any other means. Houses No. 1 to No 4 being at the lower end can only be viewed from our top bedroom window.

Point of Concern.

There are times when a neighbour would be away from their home, either out at work, shopping, visiting friends or on holiday. Under these circumstances, if I would see a visitor, builder or anyone try to make entry to one’s home whilst one is away, it would be my duty to check this out carefully if the visitor does not leave the premises almost immediately.

There has been an occasion when a builder came to one of our neighbours home whilst I observed both neighbours cars were not on their drive. Seeing the builder make his way into the house gave rise for concern and as such I immediately phoned my neighbour at work only to be told that the builder was granted permission – forgot to mention this to me in advance. Fortunately I had our neighbours work number.

Another incident a neighbour had their cars parked on their drive way and both cars were stationary for over two weeks, obviously one would assume they were on holiday and certainly this was the case.

As a suggestion, I feel it would be a good practice for all our neighbours to notify me or their immediate neighbour if and when they may be away for a long time and if they grant permission to builders to carry out work during their absence, this must be brought to my/close neighbours attention.

To help avoid any future confusion or doubts as to who is allowed into one’s homes in one’s absence, and in case of emergency one needs to be contacted if problems experienced, I would be grateful if all our neighbours would kindly provide me with your home telephone number and mobile number and car registration numbers which will be held in confidence and only used in emergency.

I have attached a profoma for you to fill in your details and to be forwarded to me if you have no objections and in agreement with this proposal. Your details will be held in confidence.

Equally, if one has no objections, once all details received, I will complete the address form and give each one a copy so we all can be in contact with one another if and when necessary, normally in an emergency.

If anyone objects and does not want their details shared with other street members, make this known to me and your name will not be included on the general form.

If the majority feel this is not a good idea sharing personal details with each other, no problems all I would suggest is to liaise with your immediate neighbour if and when you may be away for a long period so he/she can keep a watchful eye on your property. Some of us do keep each other advised if and when we are away for long periods.

NHW Website v/s Blog. (Stage 2 in progress).

Currently all NHW Police notices are forwarded to you via a blog which posts the most recent notice right on the top followed by previous postings below which can be accessed any time.

To improve on our current method of posting Police notices, we have decided to replace our blog with a proper website which is in its early stage of planning. I am pleased to inform you we have formed a small team consisting of Graham Freeman from NHW Epsom Police who is the driving force and always ready and willing to help in every way inmaking our streets and homes a Better Place. John Dibley NHW Borough co-ordinator who needs no introduction, Neil Clegg our new neighbour at No. 10 Parklands Way (see below) and myself Benny de Souza.

NEIL CLEGG - Furthermore it gives me much pleasure to notify you how lucky we are to have Neil Clegg in our team as his professional line of business involves web design, web hosting, IT hardware/software specialists, Network Management web-master etc. A million thanks to Neil for offering his full support in helping us build a good website which hopefully will be used by the majority of our NHW members. We also have Samantha Page from the Surrey Police who will work alongside our team as she is responsible for posting Police Notices.

For the record, the domain name of our new website registered is www.epsomandewellnhw.co.uk (easy to remember)!!

Our objective of the new website will first have to be user friendly and easy to access important information. We hope to prioritise various categories of Police notices by level of importance by introducing Colour coding.

Before final launch of the new website, we will give our members to view the development site Stage 1 and at this point we would welcome any further suggestions from our street members.

P.S. When I first set up the blog for our street, one of our neighbours said to me 'Benny I do not want to access the site with too many clicks' - great comment and I immediately made changes to the blog. If any of you wish to provide your views or suggestions right away, please do so by sending me a message on my email address bennydesouza@btinternet.com

Our blog was intended for use by just members on Parklands Way. On record to-date, 8,212 members have viewed our blog sites, old and now replaced with the new one, as such we would welcome suggestions from any other NHW members.

OTHER INFORMATION.

Trading Standards

Stop Cold Calling

Sticker Pack

It's not just your average residential street that cold calling traders target, there has been an increasing number of reports from residents of mobile home parks, many of which are elderly.

Don't forget you can turn you own property into a No Cold Calling Zone by using one of our stickers!

Click here to find out more about the stickers.

You can pick them up from Council offices, Police Stations and libraries. You can also call to request one on 03456 009 009

Dear Members, I have received the above Cold Calling Sticker Packs (obtained on request from Samantha Page) for each of our members on Parklands Way which I will distribute on Saturday 16th or Sunday 17th February 2013. Please do use the stickers on your front door or window, inside and outside as recommended.

All other issues I have in mind, will be discussed at our meeting to be scheduled very soon.

Thanks for taking time to read this posting and I look forward to receiving your personal address details as per profoma attached below in PDF or Word format. If you have any problems opening the attachments, do let me know and I will hand deliver a hard copy. Telephone 0208 330 2542.

Thanking you.

Benny de Souza

(NHW Parklands Way Street Co-ordinator)

Link to Police Co-Ordinators Launch Meeting
for background reference.

New blog in operation.
http://epsom-ewell-neighbourhoodwatch.blogspot.co.uk/

Information for residents about our no cold calling sticker scheme

Are you fed up with receiving visits to your home from cold calling traders?

Are you concerned about rogue traders calling on your elderly or vulnerable neighbours, seeking work?

If so, say "no" to cold calling doorstep traders with a Surrey Trading Standards door sticker.

We work closely with Surrey Police and other agencies to help reduce incidents of distraction burglary and rogue trading. Our sticker initiative is designed to empower residents, giving them the confidence to deal with cold calling traders.
We are committed to protecting Surrey residents, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, from being taken advantage of by rogue traders. We want to reduce the fear of crime and prevent residents from feeling pressurised on their doorsteps to make decisions that they may not otherwise make.

Pick up your free pack which includes a sticker to display on your property to send a clear message to cold calling traders. We expect all traders to respect your wishes but if they don't, they may be liable to prosecution for ignoring you request to leave and not return.
This initiative is a county-wide extension of our existing network of 'No Cold Calling Zones'. Whilst the existing zones will remain in place, we ask that residents in the zones pick up and display a new sticker on their property.

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Epsom & Ewell Neighbourhood Watch (NHW)

Street Co-Ordinators Responsibilities

Information for residents about our no cold calling sticker scheme