Innovation and reach - Sam Pritchard
Sam is a dedicated Coordinator from Lancashire and the judging panel was impressed and commented “Love the innovative reach into schools and link with the older generation.”
Sam’s nomination: Samantha Pritchard, who works full-time and has a young son, has transformed lives since she started living in our village Halton (near Lancaster) a few years ago. She has set up Halton Neighbourhood Watch, which meets regularly and whose main aims are to tackle loneliness and litter.
She initiated a scheme to support those living alone whereby children from Halton and schools in Lancaster produce homemade cards with positive messages. She personally delivers these to mostly older people who live alone and rarely see others. She is especially active over the Christmas period but continues with the card scheme at other times, including Valentine's Day. She set up a special Facebook page. Fighting Loneliness, One Village at a time, starting with Halton and nearby Caton and Brookhouse.
A highlight of the year is an event where she brings together the children who produced the cards and the recipients. She gives children games and activities and the older people card and other games, as well as refreshments. And she is always active in seeking sponsorship to pay for the events so they are free of charge to those who attend.
Crime prevention - Meir Factor
Meir is a Coordinator for the Shorim in West Midlands and Coordinates the Neighbourhood Watch as part of his work in the community.
Meir's nomination: We are nominating Meir for an award due to his extraordinary dedication and leadership in coordinating the Shomrim BPCP neighbourhood watch team. Over the past 12 months, Meir has successfully organised an impressive 2,380 hours of late-night and early-morning patrols within the Higher Broughton area in Salford. This achievement demonstrates his exceptional organisational skills and unwavering commitment to community safety.
Meir's ability to ensure that each night at least two volunteers are patrolling the neighbourhood is a testament to his meticulous planning and coordination efforts. These patrols play a crucial role in maintaining vigilance and promptly reporting any suspicious activity to the police, thereby acting as a vital deterrent against potential criminal behaviour.
Meir's collaboration with the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) local neighbourhood team exemplifies his proactive approach to community policing. By fostering a strong partnership between the volunteers and the police, Meir has ensured that the neighbourhood watch team operates in harmony with law enforcement efforts, significantly enhancing the overall effectiveness of crime prevention measures in the area.
In recognition of his remarkable contributions, unwavering dedication, and the significant positive impact he has made on community safety, we proudly nominate Meir for this award. His work not only sets a high standard for community service but also serves as an inspiring example of how individual initiative and collaboration can lead to meaningful and lasting improvements in public safety.
Community health and wellbeing - Lyn Doll
Lyn is a Coordinator in Humberside.
Lyn's nomination: Lyn is there for everyone in her street and beyond. If you cross paths with her she welcomes you into the street community. She helps those who are ill -practically with lifts to and from the hospital and ensures they have other practical support. No -one is lonely due to Lyn who arranges community meals out. She actively puts on charity event at her home for Macmillian and other charities. All of the local community have knowledge of what is happening locally and we all benefitted from the police home security items.
We are all blessed to have her, every community needs a Lyn.
Young volunteer award - Louis Johnson BEM
Louis is 17 years old and has been volunteering in the local area for 5 years.
Louis' nomination: His way of helping our elderly neighbours is by making sure they are ok. He does their gardens for them, and also volunteers at a hospital.
Louis makes sure the street he lives in his safe and keeps an eye out for things and reports them. Louis has just had major surgery, but he immediately went and cut the elderly neighbours gardens because he wanted them to be happy. He loves volunteering locally.
Special recognition award - Brian Alred
Brian’s nomination: Brian has been a member of Neighbourhood Watch for over 28 years. For most of those years he has been the street co-ordinator for his own scheme, Area Co-ordinator, a Committee member for Crawley NW, and the Crawley Representative to the Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation. His neighbourhood has consistently been one of the lowest crime areas in Crawley.
He is a keen photographer and has photographed, free of charge, many NW events including at National level, and Sussex-wide at primary schools for Junior NHW, together with operating the JNHW certificate factory which has processed around 3,500 children.
He is very knowledgeable on a range of subjects, and freely offers technical advice to members, has taken part in JNHW and Junior Citizen, designed and delivered a NW programme tailored for Brownies, Cubs and Scouts, and given many public presentations including to community groups, especially on Fraud and Cybercrime, for which he has designed and printed up to date guidance on how to protect yourself against these threats, which has been very well received.