Has anyone out there have been involved with a neighbourhood watch scheme? We are having loads of problems with anti social behaviour in our area and it has been suggested, but I'm not sure if it will make a difference.

You need to speak to your community policing team. It can be a pain to organise and I think you have to pay for all the signage yourselves (not 100% on that one)

We have had a meeting with the Police and the co ordinator from the Neighbourhood watch scheme and they both say we will get a better response from Sheffield Homes etc if we are a recognised group. They say we can get funding (as they have charity status) for things like putting bolts on doors.

Is there a recognised Tenants' and Residents' Association (TARA) that covers your area/estate? Could you link in to them?

I believe a representative has been invited to the next meeting.

There is some general information on Neighbourhood Watch at http://www.home-secured.com/ (http://www.home-secured.com/content.asp?pagerequested=227530&title=Neighbourhood_Watch).

I became involved in a neighbourhood watch scheme when I lived at Heeley. Unfortunately someone pinched our neighbourhood watch signs!:( I gave it up after a while because we worked hard organising meetings etc, and Police/council attendance was minimal, resident attendance was even poorer, and then your neighbours would stop you on the street demanding to know what you were going to do about grafitti/vandalism etc. God forbid that they would make the effort to turn up to the meetings to have their say! It ended up being the same old faces at each meeting. I'm afraid apathy was rife. Hope your venture is more successful!:thumbsup:

That's what I was afraid of - neighbours who do all the moaning have not yet bothered to attend the meetings. I don't mind giving my time but I need to know it is going to make a difference in our community.

I became involved in a neighbourhood watch scheme when I lived at Heeley. Unfortunately someone pinched our neighbourhood watch signs!:( I gave it up after a while because we worked hard organising meetings etc, and Police/council attendance was minimal, resident attendance was even poorer, and then your neighbours would stop you on the street demanding to know what you were going to do about grafitti/vandalism etc. God forbid that they would make the effort to turn up to the meetings to have their say! It ended up being the same old faces at each meeting. I'm afraid apathy was rife. Hope your venture is more successful!:thumbsup:

same here on arbourthorne - it was just our faces at the meeting, all 8 of us - never anyone interested enough to come along and support us.
we are still going, but dont have meetings - the cost of the hall for hire was only about a tenner, but was a waste of money cos we just talked about stuff we had chatted about that week whilst on the street.
it did give rise to several groups - the fishing pond group is an ongoing success thanks to a couple of families hard work :thumbsup:
and we did do the fun day for several years before giving up due to apathy from the estate :(


you can find out about grants etc from Voluntary Action Sheffield on division street - they are a huge source of help and info - they can put you in touch with courses for things like accounts (for when you get some cash coming in).
there is also the lottery fund - there are certain criteria to fulfil but if you look at their website you will see what to do.

you can also ring your local [police station to find out which neighbourhood watch area you come under (i beleive there are area groups that could advise you on your nearest nhwg who may be able to help you set up your own watch.

good luck - if you have enough right-minded people, you should do ok :)

I'm in our local neighbourhood watch scheme. It's not been set up very long but seems to be working very well. We get a little newsletter every so often and updates if anything has happened. I think the scheme is probably successful because there are quite a few people who have the time and interest to make sure it does work. We also have a co-ordinator on each street which makes contacting someone very easy and everyone tends to look out for each other. For example, the first person out after the bin men have been puts the bins away for the 4 or 5 houses around them, that way there isn't a bin outside indicating no-one is at home. It's one of those things where having a 'nosey' neighbour is a bonus!

There were problems in the south the city with the police not sending officers to meeting despite requests to do so to discuss specific problems. I dont know if this as been solved.

Thanks for your comments. The Police are attended the next meeting - allegedly. I think we are going to give it a go because we are going to have to do something and this seems our best option at present. Glad to hear it is working for some communities, any advice you can give will be gratefully received.

well were i lived before we had a neighbourhood watch and it worked great ,we had lots of problems with youths but we all kept a eye on them and and damage to belonging went down .we used have have meets one a month but as the trouble calmed down it was only a meet when we needed one.