What does a scheme Coordinator do?

While Neighbourhood Watch schemes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and the reasons for starting schemes may differ, the below are the activities that most scheme coordinators undertake:   

• Contact their neighbours in their scheme area to invite them to join.
• Ensure their scheme is registered on the ourwatch.org.uk website and their membership and scheme information is kept up to date.
• Encourage members to also sign up to the scheme on the website, however if they are unable to do this, make sure that ALL members are supported, irrespective of how they joined the scheme.
• Act as a point of contact with residents, their local policing team, other local coordinators and partners to receive and cascade information relevant to their scheme members.
• Get to know their neighbours, particularly those who are vulnerable or isolated, and ensure information reaches them through their preferred method of communication.
• Signpost their members with community safety concerns to the most appropriate organisation.
• Encourage their members to report suspicious incidents and / or criminal or anti-social behaviour to the police or local authority.
• Promote personal responsibility for community safety by sharing crime reduction information and encouraging members to improve their home, on-line and personal security.
• Promote neighbourliness by encouraging members to keep an eye on each other’s homes and possessions, giving special consideration to supporting vulnerable neighbours.
• Support their local police and other agencies to identify local issues and solve problems where there are community concerns.

As a scheme Coordinator, you may wish to do more and arrange events or other local activities to bring your neighbours together and help tackle local issues of concern to them. How much more you do is dependent upon the time and commitment you are prepared to give.