OurWatch – the National Neighbourhood Watch Network – carried out a survey in Summer 2020 and the findings have just been published.
The Neighbourhood Watch National Crime and Community Survey 2020 results can be downloaded via this link.
There’s a lot of results and charts in there, but it’s well worth flicking through if you are involved with Neighbourhood Watch. And if you’re not involved already, perhaps the findings which show the positive impacts and benefits of Neighbourhood Watch will convince you otherwise.
Have a read and perhaps discuss your thoughts via our NEL Neighbourhood Watch Network Discussion Forum.
Here’s from the Executive Summary in the report:
There is a clear link between Neighbourhood Watch and how safe people feel in their local areas. Neighbourhood Watch members are much more likely than non-members to think that crime has decreased and significantly more likely to be satisfied with their personal safety.
Neighbourhood Watch is an effective means of raising people’s awareness about crime prevention and encouraging people to take action to protect themselves. The majority of NW members, and over half of non-members living in Neighbourhood Watch areas receive crime prevention information from Neighbourhood Watch, with a high proportion of both members and non-members usually acting on the advice they receive.
Neighbourhood Watch improves how people feel about their neighbours and increases neighbour’s willingness to help each other out. Neighbourhood Watch members are consistently more likely than non-members to feel part of their neighbourhood, to feel they can trust people who live in the area, to perceive that there are people who would be there for them if they needed help and less likely to feel left out, isolated or lonely in their local area.