Raise crime prevention awareness

Running any of these events will help raise crime prevention awareness in your local community. We’ve graded each event to show:

• the level of difficulty (easy/medium/hard)
• the potential cost (£0 - £££)
• whether it is a face-to-face event or online event, or could be either

Support your local police to run a bike-marking event

(hard / £ / face-to-face)

Give out burglary prevention leaflets 

(easy / £ / either)

Do a home security check

(easy / £ / in person) 

Join a Neighbourhood Watch crime prevention webinar

(easy / £0 / online)

Run a 'Tea and Tech' session 

(hard / £ / in person)

Think about involving the Volunteer Police Cadets, Scouts, or Girl Guides. It’s a great way to build that bridge between younger and more mature people, in a positive and proactive way. Consider asking the Trading Standards team at the council for practical support, too.

Get cyber-savvy with your neighbours

(medium / £0 / online)

Contact your local Neighbourhood Watch Association or email enquiries for details of your Cyberhood Watch Ambassador. They can help you plan a local awareness-raising activity.

Did you know…? You can see cybercrime insights and a cybercrime toolkit with a wide range of easy-to-follow guides here.

Become a SCAMchampion

(easy / £0 / online)

You can also join a free awareness session in your local area. These are 45-minute interactive sessions run across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You’ll learn about:

• different types of scams
• how to spot and support a victim
• what you can do as a Friend to raise awareness and protect your community against scammers

You can become a SCAMchampion by completing a 10-minute extra training session. This will allow you to run local Friends Against Scams awareness sessions. SCAMchampions also have access to resources. You can learn more about scams and how to identify them, and spread that knowledge among your community.

Work with your local police to organise a weapons sweep

(medium / £0 / in person)

Local police teams in your area conduct weapon sweeps to look for weapons hidden in and around your community. They do this to reduce weapons or items that could be used as weapons on our streets. Police welcome members of the community to join them on this task. They do an initial safety briefing, give you PPE and put you into groups. You won’t be doing this task alone. You’ll be in groups, with local officers supervising you. Even if you don’t find any weapons, it’s reassuring to know that these proactive activities exist to keep your community a little safer. Contact your local policing team to find out how you can get involved.

Download the ACT terrorism app

(easy / £0 / online)

Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) encourages communities across the country to help the police tackle terrorism and save lives by reporting suspicious behaviour and activity.

The ProtectUK App, formerly the ACT App, is an easily accessible information platform, containing the potentially life-saving information needed to ensure that individuals and businesses are prepared should a terrorist attack ever happen. Search ProtectUK in the App or Google Store to download, or view the FAQs. Use Neighbourhood Watch Username: nwatch@urim.app Password: Urim123$

The ACT Awareness E-Learning accessed via the app is a free resource to help you understand the role we can all play to prevent terrorism by protecting and preparing ourselves and others. It contains advice and interactive activities, including how to respond to suspicious items or activity and what to do in the event of an attack.

To find out more about how to help someone who might be at risk of radicalisation, visit actearly.uk If you have any information about suspicious activity or behaviour, please report it. Use their secure online form at gov.uk/ACT, or call 0800 789 321. If you have any worries about reporting, take a look at their FAQs.

Share the police StreetSafe tool on social media

(easy / £0 / online)

Do you belong to a local WhatsApp or Facebook group? Do you want to ensure people feel safe in your local streets? You could promote the StreetSafe tool to your local group. Here is some text you can use:

Are there streets near you where you don't feel safe? Do you avoid an alley or pathway at night because of poor lighting or bushes blocking the view? Does the sight of graffiti or abandoned vehicles in your area make you feel unsafe? Has the behaviour of others caused you concern, e.g., have you been followed or verbally abused?

Even if a crime has not been committed, your safety and wellbeing are being affected. You can report it anonymously via StreetSafe. StreetSafe is a service provided by the police on the police.uk website. It allows you to report streets in your neighbourhood where you don't feel safe and say why.

StreetSafe is not for reporting an actual crime – it’s for reporting your concerns about your local environment or the behaviour of the people there. You can tell us how it affects your wellbeing and the safety of you and other residents.

Did you know…? You can watch Neighbourhood Watch's StreetSafe webinar recording or a short video to learn more about the service.

Support your family and friends to protect their password

(easy / £ / either)

Did you know…? You can find out more about protecting your password on ourwatch.org.uk/passwords