Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network shortlisted in prestigious 2011 Nominet Internet Awards

23 June 2011

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The Neighbourhood and Home Watch Networks new website to engage with the next generation of members has been shortlisted in the annual Internet awards, competing for recognition in the UK and global Internet community.

Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network (NHWN), the national organisation representing Neighbourhood and Home Watch members across England and Wales, has been shortlisted in the NominetInternetAwards 2011, which highlights UK companies, charities and individuals which are making a difference on, or through the Internet.

Under the category, Nurturing Powerful Local Partnerships, NHWN has been shortlisted for the ground breaking and innovative new website http://www.ourwatch.org.uk/

The website was officially launched on Tuesday by Baroness Browning, Minister for Crime Prevention and Anti-Social Behaviour during National Neighbourhood and Home Watch Week (18-26 June 2011) but has been available for members since March 2011.

Baroness Browning praised the push to get more people involved in the scheme:

“Neighbourhood Watch is a great example of how communities can come together to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and make our streets safer.

“But it's important we keep this movement alive by encouraging new and more diverse membership, as well as embracing new and different ways of communicating.

“We know people lead busy lives and it is not always easy to spare the time to attend a regular meeting or get involved all of the time. That is how the new website can help. By logging on people can keep up to date with what is going on in their area; as well as this, it can help groups to keep in touch and share information online.”

The website was born from extensive user research and work undertaken by the Design Out Crime programme, delivered by the Design Council on behalf of NHWN who have been making communities safer for the last 29 years. The project was based on using design to help communities become safer and looked at how the movement could enable themselves to develop for the next generation of members.

Although, NHWN now has a Board of Directors, no central authority is in charge overall. Groups are set up locally by community members who want to make their neighbourhoods safer. Because every community has its own specific needs, it’s important that each group remain free to take action it sees fit.

Creative Director of the transformation was designer Michael Wolff who worked initially with the design agency Spencer Du Bois and then with NB Studio to create and develop the identity to appeal to a modern, younger audience, whilst not alienating existing members. He said:

“When dealing with a grassroots organisation it is important that the simpler the expression of an idea is the better. The identity needed to convey the core value of the organisation which is the warmth and collective sense of community. The insight into the word “Our” in Neighbourhood made that sense of community central to the new way the organisation aimed to be inclusive, whilst it was important that the design was clean, clear and relevant for today.”

Using those brand guidelines, third sector specialists Electric Putty were approached to develop the Our Watch website.

The website provides a suite of tools aimed at both existing members and potential new ones. Key amongst these is a searchable database which enables users to quickly find their local schemes and see these plotted on a Google map.

As no definitive national database existed, Electric Putty worked closely with VISAV Limited on a system which automatically populated the website from the scheme information added into their Neighbourhood Alert system. This put the administrative ownership of collecting the data in the hands of the individual scheme co-ordinators rather that the Network's small support team.

Another key feature of the new site is the 'Brand Centre'. This provides registered members with the ability to produce professional, engaging and 'on brand' publicity material and print these directly from the website, whilst taking into consideration the cost of printing and so keeping colour to 2 tones and allowing extensive customisability, including the choice of logo as per local preference.

Malcolm Elsworth from Electric Putty said:

"It was a technically challenging, multi-agency project but the process was both exciting and fulfilling. We feel privileged to have been part of the team behind the Our Watch website."

The website management tools provided by the Neighbourhood Alert system enable members and coordinators to self-register, update their own information, report anti-social behaviour, review crime statistics and receive important information from the police, emergency services and other information providers and partners. The time spent on administration is reduced to an absolute minimum and is delegated to administrators across the country.

Mike Douglas from VISAV Limited said:

“The huge take up and adoption of the state-of-the-art internet tools by Neighbourhood and Home Watch members across England and Wales do not stand up to the old perceived stereotype of a typical Watch members. We have found that many are forward thinking, I.T. savvy and keen to learn. We have been amazed with how effectively and quickly coordinators use the scheme management tools built into the system.”

Neighbour Return also utilises the Neighbourhood Alert tools to enable community members to help search for people who are suffering from Alzheimer’s and have been reported as missing. The project is developing software, including a smart phone application which will help coordinate searches with community volunteers including Neighbourhood and Home Watch members and the police.

Jim Maddan, Chair of the Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network said:

“This project with the Design Council, Electric Putty and VISAV has been fundamental for the movement to remain sustainable in the digital age. The extensive project has placed Neighbourhood and Home Watch as the leading voluntary organisation which can help build strong, friendly, active communities where crime and anti-social behaviour is less likely to happen.”

The Nominet Internet Awards, which aims to highlight organisations or individuals who have undertaken specific projects which raise Internet industry standards and showcase best practice, were reviewed by an independent panel of judges chaired by the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, and included Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet International, Dr Vicki Nash at the Oxford Internet Institute and Professor Sonia Livingstone from the London School of Economics.

Lesley Cowley, CEO of Nominet says:

"Each year we are impressed by the variety of ways the British businesses, charities and individuals continue to innovate to make the Internet a safe, accessible and helpful place for us all. The Internet has the power to have a positive impact on society and these shortlisted entries represent a small, shining proportion of the phenomenal work taking place in the UK."

The awards are run in partnership with the NominetTrust, a body which supports initiatives that contribute to a safe and accessible internet. The Awards highlights projects which are making the Internet a secure, open, accessible and diverse experience for all. The winners will be showcased at the next InternetGovernanceForum (IGF) meeting in Kenya, and will be held up as key examples of Internet innovation from the UK, while bringing together, and improving, the global online community. For the full list of shortlisted organisations, visit the Nominet Internet Awards website http://www.nominet.org.uk/about/internetawards/?contentId=8452.