| Welcome
to the Neighbourhood Home Watch pages for Laurel Walk,
Kempston, Bedford. Throughout these pages we hope to
be able to keep you up-todate with local news for the
local Neigbourhood HomeWatch.
Neighbourhood
HomeWatch is all about caring for each other. Neighbours
uniting and acting together means that dozens of eyes
and ears are ready to pick up anything happening in
the neighbourhood that could cause worry or concern.
Its not about being nosey or interfering. It's about
being a good neighbour and caring about your community.
Home
Watch, sometimes called Neighbourhood Watch, has been
operating successfully in the United States of America
since the first experimental scheme in 1968. It is relatively
new in the UK with the first scheme starting In Millington,
Cheshire in July 1982.
We
need neighbourhood and home watch schemes for the UK
to make safe and secure local communities. Local home
watch schemes, in particular, are essential for fighting
local crime, improving home security and increasing
the well being of UK citizens. |
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Bedford
& District Home Watch |
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Neighbourhood
Watch is for everyone. Neighbourhood
Watch is also about bringing people closer together
and involving them in local life. A stronger community
spirit grows as people get to know each other and
look out for one another. Anyone can join a Neighbourhood
Watch team and everyone can play a part in its achievements.
And any community or neighbourhood - however large
or small - can set up a scheme. A scheme can be made
up of just a few houses in a street, or a few households,
the residents in a square or a whole estate. Each
scheme can be different - you don't even have to use
the stickers in your windows. Schemes aim to meet
the needs of the members and their neighbourhood.
They are run by members and belong to the members
- so the members make a real difference to improving
the quality of life.
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| Neighbourhood
Watch means working together.
Neighbourhood Watch means no one is alone. Your neighbours
will look out for you. Your family. Your home and your
street or estate, and you will do the same for them.
Neighbourhood Watch schemes also help the community
to keep a check on people in the neighbourhood who are
more vulnerable. Children and young people, the elderly
and the frail, and people who have had their home broken
into before can all benefit from having an extra eye
kept on them. As well as receiving support from scheme
members, people belonging to Neighbourhood Watch can
make contact with other local watch groups. And the
police, local councils and other community and voluntary
organisations all support Neighbourhood Watch. |
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How
does it work? Every
one who joins a Neighbourhood Watch scheme plays an
important part in making their neighbourhood a safer,
more friendly and pleasant place to live in. One of
the most important things scheme members do is to
look out for activity in the neighbourhood that seems
suspicious or unusual and then report it to the police.
Some things you see may help the police to solve or
prevent a crime - and so stop some- one becoming a
victim: When you join a scheme, you are given advice
about the sort of things to look for. But it is important
to remember, when you see something that concerns
you, to dial 999 and let the police check it out -
you must never challenge someone behaving suspiciously
or put yourself at risk. The police may also offer
other advice, from simple idea's like seeing that
circulars, newspapers and letters cannot be seen in
letter boxes while householders are away on holiday,
to promoting crime prevention schemes and home security
measures such as marking property with a postcode.
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| Thinking
about doing something ?
Have a look at Project
Solo.... |
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Everyone
is valuable. A
local coordinator runs each local scheme. He or she
is chosen by the members of the scheme and acts as
a link between them, the local police and council,
other watches and community groups. The link goes
in both directions. As well as reporting suspicious
activities or seeking help and advice from the police,
the coordinator will hear from them about incidents
likely to affect the neighbourhood. These could be
about burglars operating in the area, reports of bogus
door-to-door "salesmen", car thieves at work, or local
drug dealing, for instance. Some members may be part
of a support committee that shares the work. Others
can keep an eye on the more vulnerable people in the
neighbourhood, contribute to the schemes newsletter,
help to arrange events or approach local business
for support- or simply do the most important job of
all - looking after others in the community. Everyone
in a Neighbourhood Watch scheme plays an important
and worthwhile part in making their community safer.
Every member is valuable and every task they do contributes
to bringing people in the community closer together.
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For residents
who have a problem with graffiti contact Amanda Murrell
on 01234 227328 for free graffiti wipes or email: Amurrell@bedford.gov.uk
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Watch
the Laurel Walk Web Cam Live |
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