NHW is a good way for local people to get together and to help each other with regards to making neighbourhoods a safe place in which to live. This usually starts simply by sharing information on crime and communicating effectively with the police and the council.
 

How to Start a Neighbourhood Watch Group in East Renfrewshire

We have a prepared brief on how to establish and manage a NHW. Here are some of the areas that you may wish to consider:

Decide On a Clearly Defined Area
It is important to decide on the size and the area where your Group will operate. Although Groups can be of any size, our experience is that anything from a few to 40 households is a manageable number for one coordinator. If you have a much larger number in mind, you may require to split the area into a number of groups and enlist the help of other coordinators.

When making the decision, you should bear in mind: Natural Boundaries (roads, woodland etc) and the number of households.

Questionnaires to Residents
You may wish to distribute questionnaires to all the households in your chosen area, although if you have a few neighbours in mind there will be no need to consider questionnaires.

Click here to download the Questionnaire in PDF format.

If you have distributed questionnaires between 3 and 7 days after distribution, you should collect the questionnaires.

Experience has shown that if you leave the collection much longer than one week, many of the questionnaires will have found their way into the bin. Although you could ask residents to forward their completed questionnaires to you, you will find that personal collection generates a much more positive response.

Download Handbooks
When your Watch has been launched, you can purchase Neighbourhood Watch window sticker(s) / Street signs if you wish. (Presnetly being re designed Jan/2013) The handbooks are small A5 size and provide relevant information and local contact numbers. Both of these items are provided free of charge.

Many Insurance Companies offer a substantial discount on home insurance for members of Registered Neighbourhood Watches.