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2009 GNWA
ANNUAL REPORT
Grampian Neighbourhood Watch Association
This report is based on the Annual General Meeting, with supplementary
information added to explain the background to the various issues.
Review
of 2009
This has been our busiest and
most successful year since we began four years ago. Aberdeen Safer Community Trust started the wheels turning (with key support from ACVO (The Aberdeen Council of Voluntary
Organisations)). The partnership with ABSAFE has grown steadily over the years with highlights such as
the Blue Sky Thinking Day which gave us the opportunity to look hard at ourselves and plan for the future.
This year ABSAFE set up the ‘Older and Wiser’ event of September at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.
Three days of presentations to 200 maturing residents explained all about home security. As a result,
numerous new watches are being set up to make their areas more pleasant to live in.
GNWA contributed
£2500 toward the cost of the theatre hire and several GNWA members took part and wrote the script.
Grampian is a large area to cover, some 2720 square miles. The GNWA committee has travelled to
many places in the past year, starting watches, attending meetings and presentations in Laurencekirk, Peterhead, Elgin, Inverurie,
and of course Aberdeen. Forays outwith the region have been to Edinburgh and Perth for National NW meetings,
Cumbernauld for a government-sponsored conference, and Inverness to support the startup of a NW association for the north
and west of Scotland. It looks as if there will be no let-up in 2010 as requests for new watches continue
to roll in. There are two pre-requisites for such a busy schedule
of support work for watches - money and people. Our funds have been steadily diminishing and a big effort
is being made to attract income to allow us to continue at the same rate in 2010. People are also a problem,
as there have been just seven to do all the chasing around. At the AGM, the committee was re-elected and
one new member joined us. Emma kindly volunteered to look after our finances. We would
like to have more members from the Shire. Unfortunately, we still do not have the details of all the existing
Shire watches. We only know of watches which contact us through the website. It also
means that we have a smaller pool of watches from which to draw helpers, and we are unable to support watches which we know
nothing of. The picture in Aberdeen City is much cheerier, because
the partnership with Absafe utilizes volunteers from GNWA.
The GNWA committee comprises mainly members
who live in the City. One of our aims for 2010 is to attract more committee members from the Shire.
The Moray arm of GNWA is being steered and supported by our chairman, with initiatives such as a reward scheme for
secondary school pupils who come up with good community safety ideas.
Community Engagement All the
work of GNWA summarised above can be described as valuable community engagement. However, the
true level of Neighbourhood Watch is that of people living in houses or flats in streets. The planning,
the meetings, the fundraising is all work done to support watches by co-ordinators of watches. There
is no organisational structure ‘above’ the level of watches. It is all ‘below,
which is a difficult concept for those who think in terms of hierarchies. The ‘power triangle’
in Neighbourhood Watch has to be inverted to understand NW, each ‘higher’ level having more power to support the
watches. This has given rise to various misconceptions.
The relationship between NW and the police is sometimes thought of as paternalistic. The reality
is that NW is crime prevention at the grass roots of society. The police love it; it prevents crime and
it is free.
At the AGM there was mention of watches which have
failed, or are ‘sleeping’. This can be what we call a ‘Yo-Yo’ effect
- a watch is set up because of a local problem; the problem is solved or goes away; the watch loses
its impetus. Or the co-ordinator may retire or move away. In Grampian, perhaps as many
as half of the watches have become inactive – Alerts and reports are not being distributed, the police bulletin is not
received.The main stumbling block
is that people do not know how little work is involved in being a co-ordinator. A retiring co-ordinator
should, in seeking a replacement, make this point clear and explain how to contact GNWA if someone later decides to take on
the watch..It is best if a retiring
co-ordinator can find a replacement within the watch. GNWA will help as much as possible in the search.
If nobody volunteers, the good of the watch is not all lost. The members will still have their knowledge
of home security. The names of failed watches should be kept on a database for future reference.
The watch can ‘free-wheel’ for a considerable time. Individual members may keep in touch
with NW through the website.
There have not been, until now, comprehensive guidelines
to help co-ordinators run a watch, that is, keeping it running after the PC has given his or her talk and gone away.
So have a look at ‘Guidance’ on the Website !
Website www.grampiannwa.org.uk This is a Do-it-Yourself charity website which has sufficient features for our present
needs at a modest cost. We hope you find it helpful and informative, with options to respond to us.
Combined with Email, we have excellent means of communication.Of course, not everyone has decided to go for electronic communication (PC or Laptop). This report,
for example, goes out also by post. In the opposite direction, members and non-members can write to us
at no cost using just “ FREEPOST GRAMPIAN NWA “ on the envelope.An in-depth review of the site was carried out last summer. Neighbourhood Watch is an information
system. So it was decided to continue the wide-ranging presentation on home security against theft,
home protection against callers and home protection by theft by other means (phone, mail, email, internet). Two
aspects were given special consideration. ow long should an item be left
on the site ? - For as long as members need to know about it. If
a type of threat is unlikely to ever happen again, the item will be removed. On the other hand, if a house
has not suffered a break-in since it was built, that is no reason to stop locking the door when going out !
ow are items selected for inclusion ? - Anything which helps NW achieve its
objectives will be considered. We don’t just enter ‘news’. Where there
is a threat, we make suggestions as to how to recognise it, deal with it, and recover from it should anyone be caught out.
Sensationalism is out.Who decides what goes onto the website and so on ? - The website is owned and
run by the GNWA committee. They decide on content and wording, but anyone is welcome to participate.
The Standing of GNWA as a recognised Crime Prevention
Charity
AoSNW -
the Association of Scottish Neighbourhood Watches, in the concept of the inverted hierarchy, has the greatest potential
to support NW in Scotland. Again, those who are involved are co-ordinators of watches. GNWA
has been represented at AoSNW with trustees and ordinary committee members from the very start. Support
for NW from central government and relations with other national bodies are handled by AoSNW and Lisa Toon, National Development
Officer and her assistants at Stirling.
OSCR
- GNWA is a charity, recognised by the Inland Revenue and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Our charity number is SC037170. Being a charity confers no financial gains directly; we have to
join the queue like all other such bodies when it comes to funding. Our accounts are examined annually
and reported to OSCR. DPA - Because
GNWA holds details of its members (name address and contact details) we are registered under the Data Controller.
(£35 per annum)
ACVO -
The Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations has been the prime support in the formation and development of GNWA.
Assistance has been invaluable on startup, funding, meetings, and events.
GRAMPIAN POLICE - GNWA depends heavily on the police for information and guidance
on all aspects of Crime Prevention. At least one officer attends all our committee meetings.
Financial support from the police has been most welcome. Support from the police takes too many
forms to mention. In Aberdeen, the Wardens are being initiated into the magic of Neighbourhood Watch.
At the AGM Inspector MacInnes spoke highly of Neighbourhood Watch as a key asset in crime prevention. He
also commented that the name itself was not the best possible. This is a point which has exercised our
minds for some time, but it is difficult to find a suitable alternative. Any suggestions ?
CRIMESTOPPERS - One of our earliest
supporters with a generous donation when GNWA was starting up. The correct use of Crimestoppers is something
we strive to impress on watches.
TRADING STANDARDS
- With the extending of NW into the fields of Scams and Bogus Callers, a valuable source of information
is TS. This also works in the other direction, with reports on the migration of bogus callers being fed
back to TS.
VICTIM SUPPORT
- Work with VS is something we must work on in the future.
In Conclusion, May I thank everyone for their interest in and support of NW. The extent to which GNWA can support
the watches in Grampian is limited to some extent by the amount of support that the watches give GNWA. There
are very few of us activists, and are concentrated around Aberdeen. The reason for this is that the movement
grew out of local associations in the City. Now, there is no reason for this, and in fact we need desperately
to have NW activists in the towns and villages and rural areas of Grampian. When we say ‘activists’,
we don’t mean drum beaters, but individuals or groups who can find out about venues for meetings and their costs, highlight
local events where we could have a stand, advise on local radio and newspapers in which we might advertise, and so on.
There’s nothing difficult in what we ask.Towns such as Inverurie, Stonehaven and Banchory ought to have their own local NW associations. We
will support the setting up and running of groups anywhere in Grampian.The AGM was no better attended than on previous years. We have been using the Citadel on account
of its central position and quality refurbishment last year. Let’s know if you would prefer another
venue. Business Plan for 2010 - Publicise NW and increase awareness of what it offers.
- Obtain funding
for 2010.
- Establish long-term funding.
Objectives for 2010 - Achieve an up to date
register of watches in Grampian, active or inactive.
- Create and print leaflets to introduce
NW to the general public.
- Start 10 new watches.
- Revive 2 ‘sleeping’ watches.
- Present ‘Older and Wiser’ in at least one locality.
- Extend the committee
with members throughout the region.
The bottom line is that Neighbourhood Watch Works
. David Mackay,
Chairman, GNWA
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