Neighbourhood Watch supporters across England and Wales have been responding rapidly to the Covid-19 crisis making a positive impact within their local communities, such as partnering with other organisations in their community and getting in touch with their neighbours through a variety of methods to identify those at risk and those that can offer support.
How coordinators can support their schemes
We appreciate these are challenging times for all of us and as such, we have noticed a large uptake of people wanting to join local schemes and because of this, we have put together a small guide on responding to new members and how to access our system to approve them as members, along with an example “new member welcome message”.
To thank you for all the hard work that you are doing and continue to do in your communities we launched a Thank you Campaign. Consider using our resources to thank you those who have volunteered in your community.
Community actions to consider:
- set up a Calling Tree
- sign up as a NHS Volunteer Responder
- join forces with a Covid-19 Mutual Aid group near you
- connect with your neighbours with this Neighbourhood Watch Calling Card
- connect with your neighbours with this Kindness Card
- If you are, or you know someone who is, facing loneliness have a look at our Loneliness Toolkit or stop to Have a Chat to someone
The Calling Tree
Supporting our neighbours and wider community who are not connected on social media can be a challenge. Why not setup a phone tree in your area? Find out more here
Sharing community initiatives
If you want to share what you are doing in your area you can:
- Submit a story here. We will be promoting stories we receive on our COVID-19 response pages and via all our channels including our website and social media
- Share what you are doing on social media and tag in @N_watch on twitter, or @ourwatch on Facebook, and use the hashtag #communityresponse.
As the days and weeks go on we will share these positive stories and ways communities are adapting to this new world.
Community Action Response
We are working alongside other community organisations to coordinate a Community Action Response, led by the Eden Project, because of the unprecedented challenge that coronavirus presents for people in every neighbourhood in the UK. The Community Action Response asks for everyone to think of others; consider your actions and be kind; connect and reach out to your neighbours; make the most of online groups; support vulnerable or isolated people; and only share accurate information or advice. We will be sharing more on this as and when we can.
