The national Neighbourhood Watch Scheme has selected its top five schemes for the 'Support a Watch' programme, and ours is one of them.
South Terrace, with our 33 residents, competed with the large, civic and metropolitan Neighbourhood Watch schemes around the country - and found itself along side Bristol, Bedfordshire and London as a chosen project.
The distinction of our bid was the way in which we are using social networking to create and maintain a cohesive neighbourhood community - one that is inclusive without being intrusive - and that can offer other schemes advice and support in the use of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and News blogs.
That is why it is important to maintain our momentum as a Scheme trail blazer. If you have not joined our Facebook group, why not? You can set up an account simply and with privacy. Should you seek confidentiality, having opened your Facebook account - simply:
- click the 'padlock' button - top right,
- click the first two boxes marked 'privacy shortcuts';
- set them to 'only me' in the 1st box, and 'strict filtering' in the 2nd.
Do share the link to our scheme, and watch these pages for its future progress.
Here is the full version of our bid -
South Terrace Neighbourhood Watch
South Terrace Neighbourhood Watch, Darlington, started in January 2013, is leading the way in scheme coordination by social media. They have 100% membership across the 33 homes on South Terrace, and communicate with members via their Facebook group, blog and email.
The use of Facebook means that messages can be sent to residents and picked up in ‘real time’, which has enabled the police to circulate effective crime warnings. At the same time this method respects the privacy of people who do not want to share their email address.
The Darlington Terrace scheme’s blog, started in February 2013, enables the scheme to reach members who do not use Facebook (including older residents in a local sheltered housing complex) as well as allowing for more in-depth discussion of events and issues. It has worked very effectively and received over 1,100 hits in four months. This has led to better communication between local residents who may not wish to share their personal details with each other.
Why do they need your support?
They aim to forge an even stronger partnership and improved communication with the Neighbourhood Policing Team, using a variety of social networking methods, particularly Twitter. They would also like to have more interaction with other Neighbourhood Watch groups in the local area and beyond, and use the internet and social networks to reach younger people and minority groups and to develop an inclusive scheme that could serve as a national model of good practice.
They need some help to develop their present work with social media. They would like someone with expertise in this area to assist them to evaluate their work so far and expand it further to include Twitter and to provide a template for other Watch groups across England and Wales who may see this as a good way forward for the future.
What do they need?
- Funding for or guidance from a ‘Social Media Management Consultant’ or similar, to support them in setting up, operating and extending social media communications for the South Terrace scheme.
- Feedback from and discussions with other schemes that have used social networking to their advantage.
- Evaluation of the initiative at the end of the pilot phase.
- Promotion of their social media ‘template’ to give other schemes the opportunity to learn from their good practice.
Contact
If you are able to help, please contact Stephen Twist on 01325 480954 or by email.
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