2. Getting involved
If you’re not in touch with your local Neighbourhood Watch or Home Watch group and don’t know how to reach it, use our postcode search to find it quickly and easily. If there is a group in your area you will be able to contact the scheme coordinator to find out about joining their scheme.
You may also want to contact the representative for your region who can help point you in the right direction. Go to Your Region and select your region.
Starting a scheme
If there’s no scheme in your area, you might like to think about starting one yourself. The first step is to talk to your neighbours, see who might be interested and find out how they’d like to improve the area. To make things easier, we have some useful letters and flyers in our Members Area designed to help you introduce yourself and encourage your neighbours to join you.
Swedish researcher Erika Sallander has produced a useful guide on setting up Neighbourhood or Home Watch in flats and other kinds ofbuildings with multiple family occupancy - Neighbourhood Watch in Multiple Family Dwellings. It is aimed at local organisations rather than individuals, but it contains helpful suggestions around conducting a survey of residents in advance of setting upa scheme.
The postcode search on our website will help you find your local Neighbourhood Policing Team. The police don’t run Neighbourhood Watch, but they will have useful information. They'll put you in touch with someone who can help you start a scheme and find local resources. This will be either one of their own officers or someone at the local Neighbourhood Watch Association.
You can get a new scheme started without necessarily committing to running it yourself. Once you’ve got enough interest from local people, you can select someone to become the group's coordinator.
Remember, you can start a group with a lot of interest or just a little. Many schemes start small and then grow once residents see what it’s all about. The main thing is to make a start.
Register your scheme
Our website is intended to be a hub for Neighbourhood Watch and Home Watch schemes in England and Wales, helping people make contact and find helpful information. If you already run a scheme, why not register with us? That will make it much easier for people in your area to find it through our site, using our postcode search. You’ll also become part of a network of schemes across England and Wales, making it easier to share information, exchange ideas and even ask for help if necessary.
Visit Your Region to see what’s going on in your region.
Find out more
To find lots more information on joining, starting or registering a scheme download the full version of this toolkit.
Read the next toolkit, Running a scheme.
