Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Watch Association

The association in Northants covers over 900 square miles and has over 1200 local based coordinators, which covers approx. 40,000 households, reaching out to their communities.  The aim of our association is to support and develop local residents in their communities.  We do this is various ways and pride ourselves on our network of partners, including local councils, policing teams and community groups.  We love to welcome new members, residents and partners to our network.

In 1983, Northamptonshire Police set up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme which was seen as one of the first in the country. Five years later, in 1988, the Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Watch Association was formed to establish and run the scheme as an independent organisation.

Our main aims are to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime, improve safety, and encourage neighbourliness and a supportive spirit across our communities. That means that whilst combating crime remains our core aim, we also help out in other important ways to help protect our communities, such as supporting the elderly and vulnerable.

We promote good citizenship and greater public awareness through Neighbourhood Watch groups; increase public participation in the prevention and detection of crime and anti-social behaviour; reduce the fear of crime; improve police/community liaison, and increase public and community safety.

We are a dedicated and loyal band of volunteers that operates an independently constituted not-for-profit association: run by its members, for its members. We have a powerful and growing network of groups with Area Support teams at the district level: approx. 1,220 recognised schemes in Northamptonshire that cover some 40,000 households. Our emphasis is on the strengths of our voluntary work at grassroots level, be it an individual street scheme; an individual housing estate; a single village or parish, or a small to medium sized town.

The county population is circa 750,000 in an area of over 900 square miles. The reach of our network recognises that much of our county is rural, with the added aspect that the county is landlocked and borders eight other counties. Usually residents in a neighbourhood, who support the aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Watch, agree amongst themselves that they will come together and form a local scheme. This might be a single street or set of streets, a housing estate, a wider community or town. The ability to support each other and share involvement as a team is the key to successful and enduring schemes.

All approved local Neighbourhood Watch Schemes are located in one the six Neighbourhood Watch Districts across Northants. This structure gives us the flexibility to match the diversity of our districts, whilst providing the unity needed to achieve our aims of supporting safer and stronger communities.

Although the organisation of Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Watch is independent of the police, it enjoys a strong partnership with the county police force at grassroots level up to senior management and the Chief Constable. In addition, there is a strong relationship with the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and other naturally affiliated bodies such as Fire & Rescue, Trading Standards, and Crimestoppers

A successful and effective network of partnerships has also developed with statutory authorities: parish and town councils, as well as the new Unitary Authorities that will replace the District and County Councils.