It’s been a few weeks since the last bulletin, so hopefully you’ll find something new and interesting in this roundup. Watchnotes is the new name for ‘Weeknotes’. (In order to better reflect the Neighbourhood Watch focus of the e-news and the fact that I seldom manage to keep to an ‘every week’ publishing schedule!).
It’s still a regular roundup of community safety and neighbourhood watch related news, and I hope you continue to find it useful. If you’re involved with Neighbourhood Watch or another network, please share anything you find of interest with your network (and encourage others to signup themselves using the signup form here.
All previous editions of this news summary are still online.
COMMUNITY SAFETY
The PCC is seeking views on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). Please contribute to the survey (details here). Closing date is 27th April.
Have you been a victim of crime? Your experience could help shape a better justice system. Contribute your voice to the national Victims Survey 2026. Link here www.tonic.org.uk/victimsurvey2026 Closes 6th May.
Whilst we’re talking about surveys: North East Lincolnshire Council want to hear your thoughts about crime and anti-social behaviour. The annual JSIA crime survey is now open. Read more here and link to the survey is here. Closes 20th May.
A reminder that Round 8 of the Community Safety Fund (from the office of the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner) is open for applications. Has your organisation got a project that impacts community safety and needs funding? Details here. Closes 13th May
The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages a person from intervening in an emergency, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime. There’s more information (incl video) explaining about Bystander Training here (on the Ourwatch site) and people are encouraged to learn more, take free training and be able to support others in their communities. Suzy Lamplugh Trust runs free training sessions – find out more here.
Advice: Key Safes – What should you consider when buying one.
Antisocial behaviour is not a low-level offence; it devastates the lives of victims and communities and can be a precursor to more serious crime. Article from Humberside Police explaining some of the tools that are used to tackle ASB.
SCAMS AND FRAUD
We all know that scams and fraud are very significant these days. Most of us probably know a victim. But how significant is fraud?
“over 444,000 fraud cases were recorded in 2025, the highest ever and a 6% rise on 2024, averaging more than 1,200 cases a day” – excerpt from Fraudscape 2026 report.
Fraudscape is the annual review/report on the state of fraud in the UK. It’s heavy reading, but the findings from Fraudscape 2026 can be found online here. There’s also a video version of the report here.
An overview of the report can be read on Money Supermarket website here.
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Have you downloaded the Friends Against Scams App for your phone yet? It puts scam prevention advice at your fingertips. Find it on the App Store or Play Store or visit the website to learn more. The app is proving popular and currently undergoing a huge upgrade to expand the features available. Whether or not you get the app, check out the website and why not go through the online training and become a Friend Against Scams.
Neighbourhood Watch (Ourwatch) have published their 2025 report from the results of a survey alongside Avast about Cybercrime. If you’re interested, read it here.
In late March I was very pleased to have the opportunity to attend the Humberside Police Fraud and Cyber Conference at Melton Police HQ. An event full of important information about the state of fraud/scams and the work that’s going on continuously to battle this insidious crime.
The conference brought together specialists from across policing, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention to share real‑world case studies, emerging threat patterns, and practical tools to help organisations and communities stay protected. With sessions covering online scams, financial fraud, digital safeguarding, and the evolving tactics used by criminals, it was an invaluable opportunity to strengthen our knowledge and stay ahead of the risks.
Presentations on the day made it very clear just how advanced cybercrime and scammers are, and how hard it is for the individual to stay ahead of the game. It also was clear just how much work is taking place through the Police, various national agencies, local partners and others to help inform and advise the public, but at the same time take the battle to the scammers themselves.
It was interesting to ‘meet’ Daisy – an AI ‘granny’ helping to annoy the scammers! You can read about Daisy and all the lessons learned from the experiment and what it means for ourselves just here.
For specific advice visit the Humberside Police advice pages on cyber crime and scams here or visit the Fraudwatch info page here.
POLICING
A recent blog from the Office of the Humberside Police and Crime Commissionerwhich arises from the recent Crime Survey …
Police and Crime Plan Survey: Blog 3 – Perceptions of Crime and ASB
And if you like the detail, you can look at the complete breakdown of results from the survey in the report here.
“Humberside Police respond to HMICFRS report findings”. If you want to understand how local Policing is doing then take a look at the recent performance review and the response from the Police team. Chief Constable Chris Todd has also penned an open letter after 12 months in his role.
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Many Neighbourhood Watch groups have social media communication tools (WhatsApp groups; Facebook pages etc). What do you have? Ourwatch has opened a Social Media survey asking this of groups. So can you complete their survey here to update their information? Closes 30th April.
Stephen Lawrence Day is observed every year on 22 April. If you’re not familiar this with, read the Ourwatch article here to see how national Neighbourhood Watch network is getting involved. There will be a free, online seminar: on Knife crime, Safety and Young People. Read more here.
Did you know that Ourwatch, the national Neighbourhood Watch Network has a YouTube channel. Not many new videos but what is there is worth a watch. Visit https://www.youtube.com/@NeighbourhoodWatch1982/videos
Ourwatch also often shares the videos from its webinars too. There’s a page listing lots of useful videos here. The most recent was a one hour webinar on “Safety on our high street”. Have a look.
LOCAL NEWS
Sidney Sussex: Community Safety/Police drop-ins continue at the VANEL community hub (82 Grimsby Road). Timetable is here and the next session is Tue 19th May, 11-12noon. All welcome.
Watch out for Police drop-ins or engagement events in your own ward. Visit https://www.humberside.police.uk/area/your-area/ to follow your local Neighbourhood Policing Team.
Footnotes
WatchNotes 23 17th April 2026
By Karl Elliott, VANEL, NELwatch, HumberWatch
www.nelwatch.org.uk
www.vanel.org.uk
www.nelwatch.org.uk/neighbourstogether
part of Humber Watch Association
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